“It’s nothing.” I shake my head before taking a huge gulp of wine.
“We aren’t playing those games. Tell me.”
“Okay, but you can’t tell Hunter.”
“Oh, well now I am intrigued.”
“Seriously, Jade. I’m so fucking confused I don’t need to add my protective brother to the mix.”
“My lips are sealed.” She motions sealing her lips, grinning the whole time before she leans in.
“So you know Cole is now our neighbor?”
“Yep. I think Leo pretty much shouted it when he came into the house, like he was the local town crier delivering news.”
“Well, he came over to introduce himself and we had some tea and chatted. When he was in my kitchen—I suppose it’s now ‘our’ kitchen—he asked Leo why he married me in Vegas.”
“Oh, shit, did he say something random? The man is unpredictable.”
“Quite the opposite.”
“Oh?”
“He told Cole that he hadn’t planned on doing it then—he had something else in mind— but he heard his favorite sound, my laughter. And he knew then. Why should he wait? Why hold offfor the perfect moment? His forever after is here now and he’s waited long enough. Jade, he sounded so convincing.”
“Maybe he wasn’t lying.” She raises her eyebrow at me as she takes a swig of her wine.
“You’re ridiculous. Leo Brent does not have those feelings for me.” Waving her off, I stare into my glass. “I mean, that’s stupid.” I think about the ring still sitting proudly on his finger and touch the smooth metal of my own. “Right?”
She shrugs. “It doesn’t sound stupid to me.”
“Of course it is.” I let out a humorless laugh. “He treats me like his big sister, and he likes his lifestyle.” The words sound wrong on my tongue instantly.
“I’m not so sure he does treat you like a big sister,” Jade muses.
“Yes, he does.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Give me an example.”
“He married you.”
“We were drunk.”
“Okay, How about in every photo of you two I’ve ever seen, he’s either holding you close to him or looking at you.”
I roll my eyes, chuckling. “That’s just him posing for pictures. The man is a vain asshole.”
Still swimming in that river of denial, Ria.
“He is always doing nice things for you around the office to make sure you can focus on your job. Like he brings you coffee every morning.”
“He’s getting his own and just grabs mine while he’s there.”
You don’t sound convincing even to yourself.
“He still has to be thinking of you to remember, every morning.” A smug smile tugs at her lips. “Oh, what about him making sure when you are out of town he will either water your plants or get someone in to do it if he is away?”
