“Yeah, well, I’m getting dressed for my date and trying to be smart at the same time. It’s not that easy. All that matters is that Tobias isn’t an A-hole who crushed your heart, and as far as I can tell, Sir Broodiness is doing all he can to heal your heart, not hurt it.”

Madigan sighed. “He totally is. But I’m supposed to be expanding my business, and that whole process has stalled because I’d rather be with him than look over contracts and meet with attorneys and accountants.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Marly said lightly. “Besides, you can afford not to work and live off just your greeting card income. Do you really need to expand right now?”

“I can’t just rest on my laurels. I’m twenty-five.”

“Girl, you have three jobs. You’ll never rest on your laurels. But you finally have someone that makes you want to slow down and enjoy life rather than working all the time. That’s a blessing, not a mistake, and my vote is that you enjoy it.”

She stared at the slow-moving cars ahead of her, thinking about all of the hoops she’d been jumping through for the last few years to keep from slowing down enough to become—or realize?—she was lonely, and she remembered the call she’d gotten from her father two days ago. Her father wasn’t one to gush, but Tobias had been checking out his car for him, and they’d spent a lot of time together, and her father had used words like good man and careful thinker and had said that it might be a good idea for Tobias to prospect the Dark Knights to give him a sense of belonging and family. A few of her brothers, cousins, and friends had mentioned the same thing over the last couple of weeks, and she was glad they were bonding with him, but her feelings were so deep, she’d never survive it if they broke up and she still had to see him all the time. Not that she thought that would happen, but there was no holding back her fear as “What if I get hurt?” slipped out.

“Oh, you will get hurt,” Marly assured her. “All relationships come with some amount of heartache. How else can you learn and grow? But don’t worry. If he ever breaks your heart, I’ll be there to help you through it, and Blaine will spend his life trying to slaughter him.”

“Marly.”

“Hey, he’s your brother. Why are you freaking out about all of this right now? Because you’re a little behind on your self-imposed conquer-the-world deadline?”

Because I think I’m falling in love with him. “Because I’m sitting in traffic and have nothing better to do.”