Free Best Worst Mistake by Lia Riley

she should accept.”
    “Grandma will appreciate fresh blood at the table,” Sawyer cajoled.
    “That’s cruel, man,” Wilder said.
    “Grandma?” Quinn raised her brows. “Fresh blood? What, is she a scary vampire?”
    “Scarier,” both men answered at the same time.
    Quinn stared in disbelief. These were two of the more attractive andpowerful-looking men she’d ever come across and she had worked for an action superstar. Who could strike fear in their hearts? “I’ve seen your grandma at the Chicklits book club but we’ve never spoken. What on earth is she like at home? Pointy ears. Sharp claws. Fangs that only pop out at night?”
    Wilder smoothed a hand over what appeared to be an unwilling smile. “Come and see for yourself.”
    “She doesn’t have fangs,” Sawyer said.
    “Nah, she’d rather gnaw through your jugular,” Wilder added.
    “Wow, you two really know how to tempt a girl.”
    “Just want you to have the facts.” Wilder slouched back in his seat.
    “Remember I don’t have a working truck at the moment,” she said.
    “We can arrange a ride,” Sawyer answered firmly.
    She eyeballed Wilder but he was busy turninga wooden chess piece over in his big hand, a knight from the looks of the horse. Wilder scraped the nose with a blade. Soon it was going to look like a donkey.
    “I—”
    “You’re doing me a favor,” Sawyer pushed. “Annie and Edie will kick my ass to the doghouse if they hear you spent Thanksgiving alone.”
    “I don’t even know them.” She’d seen both women around town and they seemed nice enoughand ran thick as thieves. Sometimes she’d walk over to Haute Coffee and see them sitting at the counter sharing a coffee and laughing and she’d keep going because their easy friendship made her jealous, and she hated feeling jealous. After all, she had Natalie, and her books, and Dad.
    But Natalie had her boyfriend, the book relationship was a little one-sided, and Dad, well, God, he needed her, but didn’t even know it.
    Didn’t know her, not anymore.
    She disliked having negative feelings, the ones that leaked out whenever she was in the shower, face turned to the spray as if they could be washed away before she noticed.
    “Darn allergies,” she’d mutter while toweling off. Allergies that struck in late autumn when most plants were dead or dormant, allergies that had neverappeared until now.
    Hey, it could happen.
    Or maybe she was just allergic to the pressure resting on her shoulders, threatening to bow her spine. The pressure to . . . that was the problem . . . she didn’t even know. It was like there was pressure just to survive, make it through each day. Stress, depression, and burnout from Dad’s condition nipped at her heels. Plus the fear. The alwaysnagging fear. What if Dad’s condition is hereditary? What if . . .
    No. Not now.
    “Sure, I’ll go,” she said. “If it’s not a nuisance. There’s a luncheon at Dad’s place so I need to be there for that, but later I’ll be alone.” God, could she sound any more pathetic?
    “If you’re crazy enough to want to eat with our family then you’re welcome to it,” Wilder muttered, his hand slipping slightly.The blade sliced his thumb, a line of red welled up. He swore softly, ripped a handkerchief out of his back pocket and pressed it to the small wound.
    Looking up, his gaze was frustrated, a challenge, as if “Yeah, I’m just a guy okay, cut me and I bleed.”
    “Do you want a Band-Aid for that?” She realized he expected her to ignore him.
    He blinked. “Don’t have any.”
    “Never fear. Ido.” She walked to her bag, grabbed a small bandage from the box, and passed it over. “No point carrying around a purse as big as my head if I don’t keep it well stocked for anything from a zombie apocalypse to a small kitchen accident.”
    Sawyer’s phone rang. “Sorry, this is work, got to take it. I’ll step outside.” He walked away, taking away the ease of the conversation with