When We Kiss Read Free

you?”
    Caught red-handed. She forced a tight smile. “No, I haven’t. I was just using the restroom.” She wanted to make it clear she hadn’t been in the sitting room with Liam, just in case Emily found him in there. “Sorry.”
    â€œIt’s all right. It’s time to make the toasts, and since he’s the best man, we need him.”
    Aubrey was still a bit surprised that Evan had chosen Liam for the role, especially when he had several other candidates, from his brother Kyle to his adoptive brother, Derek, to his sister’s fiancée, Dylan, to his brother-in-law, Sean. Any of them would have been a far more obvious choice. Since their brother’s suicide, Liam was the lone holdout to supporting Alex’s legacy.
    Alex had left his six siblings and adoptive brother a monastery for them to renovate and operate as a premier hotel and restaurant, the crown jewel in their family’s chain of popular brewpubs. One by one, they’d each accepted the role Alex had set out for them. Everyone except Liam. His younger brother, Hayden, didn’t count. He’d initially taken a major part in the project until his lifelong dream of making wine in France had come to fruition last year.
    Hayden had a very good reason for leaving, while Liam had nothing but selfish arrogance keeping him away.
    Aubrey wanted to get out of the hallway before Liam emerged from the sitting room. She’d had quite enough of him for one day.
    Yes, keep telling yourself that. Keep reminding yourself that he hasn’t shown the slightest interest in anything more permanent than getting together for sex and a good time. Sure, you laugh together and share some things in common, but every moment you spent with him was temporary. Fleeting. Do whatever you have to in order to keep him from settling into your heart.
    L IAM STOOD NEAR the massive fireplace in his parents’ great room and watched Aubrey laugh with her date. Stuart the Accountant was tall, broad-shouldered, and bearded. Truth be told, he looked more like a lumberjack than an accountant. And he was completely entranced by Aubrey. But who wouldn’t be? She was stunning.
    Her brows were perfectly crafted to draw attention to her sultry hazel eyes, and she wore just enough makeup to accentuate the elegant line of her cheekbones and the suppleness of her lips. Her red hair was twisted up, baring her long and graceful neck. She wore a dark green fitted dress and black heels. She was sleek and sexy, but he knew that as great as she looked dressed, she looked even better undressed.
    Scowling, he turned away and strode into the kitchen to refill his beer at the tap. He found his brother Kyle and his brother-in-law, Sean, doing the same.
    â€œHey,” Kyle said. “Need a refill? Sean’s doing duty.”
    Liam walked around the bar to where Kyle was standing opposite Sean, who was behind the tap. “Beer me.” He slid his empty pint glass emblazoned with both the Archer logo and Evan’s and Alaina’s names and the date of their marriage across the bar to Sean. Guests would take home a pint glass and a growler of special-edition beer Dad had just managed to brew in time. This had been a relatively quickie wedding, since Alaina was pregnant.
    â€œHard to believe so many of us are married or getting married.” Kyle shook his head with a bemused smile.
    â€œIncluding you,” Liam said. “I can’t believe you’re monogomizing, let alone getting married.”
    â€œMonogomizing?” Sean asked, his British accent giving the made-up word gravitas. He handed Liam his refilled glass.
    Liam took the beer and brought it to his mouth. “What else would you call it?” He sipped the IPA. “Before Maggie, Kyle didn’t do girlfriends.”
    Sean sipped his beer. “You don’t really either, from what I can tell.”
    â€œOh, Liam does girlfriends—for three to six months