Page 98 of Contentious

She needed a fan and a cigarette.

But wait, she didn’t smoke. Her sleep-deprived mind was running rampant.

“Cres? Are you okay?”

She put her hand on top of his. “I’m okay as long as you are. Do you want me to give you guys some time to chat?”

“No,” they both said at the same time.

Cresley laughed. “I see where Carson gets his shamelessness.”

Spencer’s smile made his eyes twinkle. “He comes by that quite naturally, my dear.” To Carson, he said, “When are they letting you out of here?”

“They said a couple of days.”

“I can set you up with nurses at home and anything else you need.”

“Thank you, but I’m going home with Cresley and Ty. I hired him to take care of me.”

“I see how it is.”

Carson looked up at her with his heart in those dreamy brown eyes. “So do I.”

* * *

“I need to tell you something,” Marlene said later that night when she brought wine and dinner over after Ty was asleep.

“What now?” Cresley asked, unnerved by Marlene’s unusually serious tone.

“It’s nothing bad, at least I don’t think it is, but the other night when we were at the bar… After you left, I got talking to this guy. He was so sweet and funny and hot as fuck.”

“Okay…”

“I ended up at his place afterward.”

This was big news indeed. As far as Cresley knew, Marlene hadn’t been with anyone since her divorce. “How was it?”

“Amazing. He blew my mind.”

“Wow. This is fabulous news! I’m so happy for you. What’s his name?”

“This is the part you might not like. I swear to God, when it happened, I only knew his name was Ethan.”

“Okay…”

“So imagine my heart attack when he came into the waiting room at Cedars the other night—and his heart attack when he saw me sitting with you.”

“You slept with Ethan Remington?”

“Apparently.”

“Oh. My. God.”

“I had no idea who he was! I swear! I literally almost had cardiac arrest when he came rushing into the ER and I put two plus two together to get that we’re sleeping with brothers. I mean, I assume you’ve slept with Carson.”

“You assume correctly.”

“How was it?”