“Nothing. Who knows with him?”
Ilana gave him one of those looks that said,We’ll talk later. “I have to go say hi to some people.” She rose from her seat but bent to put her lips to his ear. “I saw you two leave the reception together. So who’s fooling who?”
Remaining silent, Jude ground his teeth and proceeded to attack the rest of his breakfast.
Doug slid into the seat Ilana vacated. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing.” Jude stabbed at the butter and spread it on his croissant.
“Liar. After all these years together, you think you can foist me off with a ‘nothing’ while you’re busy murdering perfectly good pastry?”
Jude contemplated telling Doug the truth, but the thought of his best friend knowing he’d had drunken sex with his brother gave him a migraine of epic proportions.
“I had too much to drink last night.”
“I know. I saw.”
Jude set his knife down. “Oh?”
“Yeah. But it wasn’t the fact that you got smashed. That I could understand.” A glint appeared in Doug’s eyes. “It was who you were getting drunk with.”
“Just say what you want to already.” Jude’s fingers curled around the edge of the table.
“My brother? Really, Jude? You couldn’t even be in the same room without wanting to kill him. You thought he was a do-nothing party boy.”
“Nothing’s changed.”
“Noth—are you kidding? Don’t you remember?”
His stomach fell. “What’re you talking about?”
“You and Mason were doing shots together. You started dancing, and it became pretty, uh…intense.”
“Oh, God.Noooo.” Jude buried his head in his hands. “Kill me now.”
“Yeah. I knew something was wrong when Mason had to drag you away from the bar. If my brother’s the sane one, there’s a problem. But, dude…” Doug bit his lip, and Jude braced himself. “You left the ballroom together. What happened?”
For the first time, he lied to his best friend, now brother-in-law. “I have no idea.”
Chapter Two
Mason watched his brother and Jude talking quietly with their heads together, and he wondered if Jude would tell Doug the truth or if he’d lie about their night together.
Who am I kidding? That man would sooner commit murder than admit to having sex with me.He drank more of his mimosa, popped a piece of fruit into his mouth, and chewed, staring off into space.
He might’ve been a little drunk last night, but he’d known exactly what he was doing when he got naked and into Jude’s bed. No need to lie to himself. For years he’d imagined what having sex with his brother’s gorgeous best friend would be like. They might’ve sniped at and taunted one another and butted heads when he was younger, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t attracted to the man. Perversely, the more Jude flayed him with his harsh words, the more Mason enjoyed poking the bear.
And God knew, he’d enjoyed being held down and poked by Jude.
Having experienced what Jude felt like inside him, Mason was sure he was now ruined for anyone else. Hours later, his body still hummed with satisfaction, and he could almost feel Jude’s hot, probing tongue licking him. It had left no part of his body untouched, and Mason heaved a sigh of frustration, knowing it was unlikely to ever happen again.
Who knew that under that suit-and-tie shield of armor lay a sexual animal? Jude might be the most uptight man he’d ever met, but when he let go, it was as if a dam broke, releasing a flood of emotional desperation.
From his angle, he watched Jude pale and that hard jaw of his tighten. If he wanted to pretend the night between them hadn’t happened, fine with Mason. He’d never lacked for a bed partner. But the years had brought a sea change inside him, and he’d decided he’d tired of the nomadic life. He wanted to settle down. He wanted to come home.
And what better time than his big brother’s wedding?
Doug left Jude to his meal and slid into the seat next to him. “Doyouwant to tell me what happened?”
