Page 15 of Baby for My Ex's Brother

“Stepbrother.”

“Who owns the hotel.”

“Correct.”

“And he just—pulled you into a coat closet and offered you a revenge alliance.”

“That’s an accurate summary, yes.”

She’s quiet for a moment, which with Cherry means she’s assembling something. “What does he look like?”

“That’s your follow-up question?”

“It’s relevant context. What does he look like?”

“Tall. Silver at the temples. Scars. Tattoos.” I pick up my coffee. “Very—” I make a gesture that doesn’t fully convey it but is the best I have. “A lot.”

“A lot,” Cherry repeats. “And the reception. You went in together and Hugo saw you and?—”

“He went pale. Right away. Tried to pretend he hadn’t, but I know his tells.”

“And then?”

“We danced. Ivan introduced me to some people. We danced again, slower—” I watch Cherry’s expression do something incremental. “And then we left.”

She picks her coffee back up. Looks at me over the rim. “And then?”

There goes my neck again. Hot. “And then nothing. He put me in a car and I came home.”

Cherry says nothing. She’s patient.

I take a breath. “Eventually, he sent me home.”

She nods. “How eventually?”

“This morning.”

She makes a sound that is not quite a shriek and not quite a sigh but lives somewhere between them, and she reaches across the counter and grabs my wrist. “Luna Ambrose. You crashed your ex’s wedding and went home with his stepbrother.”

“I know.”

“His older, silver fox, apparently very large and very scarred?—”

“And very tattooed.”

“Stepbrother who owns the hotel.”

“I’m aware of what happened, Cherry, I was there?—”

“Was it good?”

I look at her. I don’t know where to begin. “It was… you know how I thought I might be into kink?”

Her eyes go wide as her mouth gapes. “What?”

“Turns out I was right.”

She shakes her head, laughing. “This is the most unhinged meet-cute in recorded history. You know that, right?”