“Tsk.” Zander shook his head. “Geez, I could have found a way too, moron. How about I make up for it tonight?”
“No, no, no!” Duke shouted. “Don’t touch her. I’ll…you don’t even know each other. It would make sense to wait.”
“Yeah, but we’re married,” Zander countered. “It would make sense if we didn’t wait too.”
“Dude, don’t mess with me. This is already hard enough.”
“Is it? Because if I were you, I’d have been on that jet plane fast enough to make heads spin.” When Duke didn’t reply, Zander pressed on. “You actually do want to be married. Is that what you’re saying?”
More silence.
“That’s what this is. A marriage. One she’s been waiting her whole life for.”
“I guess I’ll see if that’s what I want,” Duke finally answered. “That’s what this experiment is for. It’s an experiment, remember?”
The distant sound of running water stopped.
“I’ve gotta go. Don’t answer your phone anymore. You’re supposed to be on your honeymoon.”
“One last thing,” Duke blurted. “Try being more like me, please. I don’t want her to be turned off by Mr. Uptight and Ornery.”
Zander shook his head and moved to set the phone back in place. Yet one last request spilled through the line, just loud enough for him to hear.
“Don’t kiss her too much…”
He hung up the phone and gritted his teeth. “Idiot,” he mumbled. It was hard to tell which part of that conversation bothered him most. If he were honest, it was the tail end of it. Where Duke told Zander to be more like him.
But why? They always razzed one another. And the truth was, they were opposite in a lot of ways. Zander flew off the handle ten times to one compared to Mr. Cool and Collected. Zander was intense. Passionate. Invested. It was in his make, and he was fine with that.
So why suddenly did Duke’s comment feel so personal?
The answer was a fresh jab to the center of his chest. Duke was Kat’s type. At least, that’s what the experts behind the experiment had determined. They’d matched her up with Duke’s answers, traits, and personality. Not Zander’s.
He came to a stand, tucked his hands into his pockets, and spun around just in time for the bathroom door to fling open.
Kat came barreling out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her head and a thick, white robe wrapped around her frame. Water glistened off her flushed skin as she hurried over to the armoire, a wad of clothes in hand. “There’s a hamper in here,” she said to him before dropping the clothes and heading over to the dresser.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she continued, tugging something small, silky, and black from the top drawer. She bumped that one closed with her hip and opened the next one down, snatching a pair of cut off shorts and a tee shirt. “But I took the top two drawers and left the bottom two for you.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Zander said.
She hurried back to the bathroom, moved to shut the door, but stopped short. “Oh, and the shower head is incredible. I swear, it feels like an entire body massage. I’m going to have to figure out how to get my hands on one.”
With that, she closed the door, leaving Zander to untangle the thoughts in his mind. There was a simple ease between them, something that felt natural and right.
His gaze fell to the bed. He pictured Kat sinking beneath the covers after an evening shower. Cheeks flushed, hair pulled up into a bun. All too easily, Zander imagined himself beside her, and then hovering over her for another sample of those lips.Goodnight, babe.
Fire roared, hot and pleasant in his belly at the thought.
He gulped. How was he supposed to play the part of a man getting to know his bride—with the hopes of falling in love with her—without doing that very thing? And would Duke really see it as a betrayal if he did, or would he just shrug it off as an experiment gone wrong?
Perhaps he should’ve warned his brother that he had feelings for this woman. At least given him a heads up. So why hadn’t he?
The blast of a hairdryer picked up on the other side of the door, causing more images to flood his mind. Him, in the shower as she stood at the vanity getting ready for the day. Would the other couples in the experiment get that comfortable with each other? Possibly.
Suddenly, the door cracked open once more. “Hey,” Kat hollered, glancing at him from where she stood at the counter. “Want to head over to the gift shop after this? We can get you some more clothes.”
“Sure,” he said. “That’d be great.”
