Vincent grabbed my arm and pulled me upright. “Shut up,” he snapped good-naturedly and then, ignoring my dirty clothes and hands, he wrapped his arms around me. It felt like coming home and I found myself hanging on tighter than I’d meant to. I knew Vincent sensed the reaction because he didn’t release me, even when I remembered myself and loosened my hold on him a bit. “It’s okay, Ev,” was all he said. It was enough to have me hanging onto him as if my life depended on it.
Several long seconds passed before Vincent whispered in my ear, “Are they still watching?”
“Who?”
“Guard dog one and guard dog two… and the actual guard dog that can’t take her eyes off guard dog one.”
I laughed at the description of Nash, Gage, and Happy. I turned my head enough so I could see that my men and Nash’s stalker were watching us from the back deck. For some reason, my guys did not look pleased.
“Yeah, they’re there,” I said.
“Good,” Vincent said, then he was pulling me in even tighter. His hands went to my ass and he gave me a quick squeeze before moving them up to my back again.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I said as I pulled back from him.
“Payback,” he said. “For that stunt with the watch.” I remembered the watch Nathan had broken in order to get Vincent to come racing back to the house and my role in letting it happen – something Vincent had gone on to coin being ‘broken-watched.’ “And you can thank me later,” he added as he began walking toward the house.
“For what?” I asked as I hurried after him.
“For the fantastic angry sex you’re going to have later when guard dog one and guard dog two ask what the hell all that was about. I speak from experience,” he called over his shoulder.
I looked up and sure enough, Nash and Gage looked pissed. To make matters worse, Gage was actually holding Nash by the arm, presumably to keep him from going after Vincent. My friend, for his part, seemed unconcerned as he reached the deck. “Gotta borrow your man, boys,” Vincent said as I caught up to them. Luckily, he kept his voice low enough that Reese wouldn’t overhear from wherever he was inside the house.
“No,” Nash said, his mouth drawn into a tight line.
“For what?” Gage asked more diplomatically.
“I’m getting hitched tonight and I need my best man,” Vincent said.
I grabbed his arm. “You were serious? You’re really getting married?”
“Yep, Nathan wants to make an honest man out of me, apparently.”
“Any chance he just can’t take anything about you seriously with a name like Dorfmeyer?”
“God, I’m going to fucking kill Dom and Ronan. You know the assholes actually had business cards made with that name, even though they knew I was taking Nathan’s last name in a matter of days? Five thousand fucking business cards. Assholes,” Vincent grumbled.
I laughed again because I’d already heard the story about Dom and Ronan pointing the finger at each other when it came time to answer the question of who’d chosen Vincent’s unique last name for his new identity. “Tell me about this I-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it wedding,” I said. “You know how badly I want to be there, but I can’t risk being recognized?—”
“Not a problem,” Vincent said. “It’s at Dom’s house in the San Juan Islands and it’s literally only family. Not even the whole family. Just Dom, Cade, Ronan, their husbands, and Nathan’s brother and his men. That’s it. We’ll be doing a bigger party for the entire family after Nathan and I get back from our honeymoon. There won’t even be a minister – Dom got certified online to perform the marriage.”
I felt emotion clog my throat. Had Vincent arranged all that just so I could stand by his side when he said his vows?
“Ok, so let’s get you packed,” Vincent said. “Dom’s got plenty of room at his house for you to spend the night.”
“No,” Nash blurted.
“Absolutely not,” Gage said at the same exact time.
“Relax, boys,” Vincent said mockingly. “If you let Ev come with me now, maybe I’ll let him bring a date… or two.”
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
This time the men had reversed their answers. I would have been annoyed by the show of possessiveness…ifI hadn’t been so damned turned on by it.
“Can you give us a second?” I asked Vincent.
