“Seriously, stop.”
She stopped. They stayed silent for a moment, the only sound the ticking of his watch on the… Where the hell was it?
He pinched his lips together. He wasn’t against the institution of marriage. Hewasagainst putting himself in a position to put everyone else’s needs before his own. He’d been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, and lost the scholarship to study with culinary geniuses in Europe and the chance to open his own restaurant. He’d ended up at the local culinary academy and opened a catering company instead—cheaper tuition and overhead he could handle.
But he did still have dreams of his restaurant, and nothing was going to get in the way this time. According to his buddy Dean, the financial planner, he was about a year away from having the funds to open Eats Grillein LoDo—Denver’s trendy neighborhood andtheplace for up-and-coming chefs.
“You okay?” He moved his arm from his eyes so he could see her.
She rubbed at her eyelids with the pads of her fingertips. “I’m fine. You?”
Eli finally answered her question. “I’m mistaked.”
“Yeah.” Marlee pulled her thin white dress over her head, letting it fall down her body like a waterfall of cotton. “Me, too.”
And she was now mistaked to the wrong man. “Marlee…”
“You realize this is going to hit the paper in Denver? There’s no way they’re not going to cover it.” Marlee sat beside him on the bed, scooting closer to examine the marriage license in his hand.
“We’ll fix this.” No one had to know. Just him, and Marlee, and Sadie.
He’d never had anything but brotherly feelings toward Marlee. She was his kid sister’s best friend. But with her hand pressed against his and her perfume in the air, he was feeling things for her he’d never expected. Wires were getting crossed between his heart and his groin, and that was unacceptable. She slipped her hand onto his thigh and left it there like it wasn’t heating his blood and making him question the benefit of an immediate annulment before they could take advantage of the only good part of being husband and wife.
He lifted Marlee’s hand and held it in his own, giving it a squeeze. It was meant to be comforting and not show how he’d moved it because he’d been worried that if she drifted just a few inches to the right…well…they might have a repeat of their three a.m. acrobatics.
Marlee snuggled deeper into the pillows. “Eli?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re not being a dick about this.”
“Why would I be a dick about this?”
She gave him a look. “You know why.”
“You mean ’cause you’re loaded?” he asked.
“I mean because for a guy who has sworn off marriage, you’re handling this”—she held up her own twist-tied finger—“remarkably well.”
“And I’ll continue handling it well if you’ll stop saying that word.” He reached for his cell phone. “Where’s Sadie?”
“Where did we leave her?”
He racked his brain. That must’ve been right around the blackout portion of his evening. “The penthouse with Becca and Kellie.” He snagged his cell phone and pulled up his sister’s number, putting her on speaker.
After three rings, she answered, “Please tell me Marlee is with you.”
Marlee and Sadie were tighter than the twist tie on his ring finger. Of course, she was worried.
“She’s with me.” No doubt. After last night? She was definitely with him.
“You guys didn’t have sex, did you?” Sadie always did have that sixth sense about things. And she didn’t sound happy about what had gone down.
Marlee didn’t answer, she just side-eyed Eli with a what-the-hell-do-I-say expression.
“I’ll take my fifth amendment privilege on that question,” Eli finally said.
“I’m fine,” Marlee said from beside him. “Your brother is very attentive.”
