Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Her breath came out in a soft pant as her eyes slowly opened. “Well, that is one way to say hello.”
“What can I say? I missed you.”
She shot me her mischievous grin. “Elsie told you, didn’t she?”
“Elsie told me,” I confirmed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She shrugged. “It was no big deal.”
“Really?” I asked in a disbelieving tone.
“If I keep saying it, it will be true.”
I huffed. “I don’t want you to have to deal with any unpleasantness from my family.”
She laughed sharply. “What like a punch to the face?” She brushed my nose. “She’s just trying to get a rise out of me. I’m not going to give it to her.”
“I love you,” I said and kissed her again.
Then, the rest of the world returned.
Kai had his arm around Elsie’s shoulders, who was smirking at the two of us. “Um…PDA much?”
“You can’t control them,” Kai said with a shake of his head.
“They can’t control themselves,” Elsie said. “Get a room.”
“Is that an option?” I asked.
“Oh my God, Chase,” Ashleigh said, striding across the room.
I turned to my sister, doing a poor job of controlling the anger seething through me. And it was at the same moment, I noticed Kennedy. She was sipping a martini three stools down. Our eyes met briefly, and she held up her hands, as if to say, I had nothing to do with this. I hadn’t seen her in a few years, but I believed her. She was already averting her gaze, slinking out of the picture, as if she could avoid the train wreck that she assumed was forthcoming.
“Ashleigh,” I all but snarled.
Harley pinched me. “Play nice.”
The last thing I wanted to do on this godforsaken earth was play nice with my sister.
“Brother of mine, what a surprise,” she said cheerfully.
“Is it really?”
“You and Kai don’t normally show up for our girls’ weekend. There’s girls in the title,” she said with a laugh.
“Well, when I realized you were so close, I had to come and check on my girlfriend.”
“And how did you find her?” she asked with that condescending smile.
“Enjoying my wine,” Harley interrupted our showdown. “It’s a Wright Vineyard red.”
Ashleigh wrinkled her nose at the comment. Did Harley know that she had struck the perfect chord with Ashleigh? My sister had refused to ever try anything from the vineyard since Julian had dumped her.
“I prefer Sinclair Cellars,” she said with a smile.
I cleared my throat. “Could you cut it out? I know what you’re doing.”
Ashleigh’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Inviting Kennedy.”
“Kennedy has an open invitation,” Ashleigh argued.
“Fine. Then, inviting Harley when you knew my ex would be here and then not warning either of us of the fact.”
“Chase, it’s fine,” Harley said quickly.
“It’s been years, Chase. I didn’t even think about it. Why would any of that matter?”
Ashleigh was so good at playing dumb that I almost believed her. Except I knew her too well.
I took a step forward, putting myself between Ashleigh and Harley. I lowered my voice so that no one else could hear us. “I know you’re still mad about Julian, but if you threaten my relationship again, it will be the last thing you do.”
Her mouth popped open in surprise, and it was so satisfying. Until the look dropped off of her face and the warmth evaporated. “Don’t threaten me, Chase. You’re the one dating the enemy behind Dad’s back.”
“She is not the enemy.”
“The Wrights are,” she snapped. “And you know it.”
“That’s ridiculous. We’ve had it out with them, and it’s old and tired. We need to move on.”
“Just because you’re fucking one of them doesn’t change anything.”
“It did for you.”
She jerked back at my words. “Are you insane? Because I did everything I could do to bring Julian into the Sinclair fold.”
“Look at how that worked out.”
Ashleigh clenched her jaw. She knew it was the truth. Every wrong move she’d taken led to the destruction of her relationship. “So, if it’s all in the past, why haven’t you told Dad?”
“I plan to tell him.”
She scoffed. “If you wanted to, you already would have.”
“None of that fucking matters.”
I stepped back away, fighting to regain control. Ashleigh had reeled me in. Me. Who knew every one of her games. I needed to stop. This would get us nowhere.
“None of that matters,” I repeated more calmly. “Though I remember why I had reservations about this.”
“Can’t let your girlfriend off her leash?” she asked.
“Unlike you, I am not controlling what happens in everyone’s life around me,” I told her. “And I’m not putting up with this shit anymore.” I wrapped an arm around Harley’s waist. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
“Chase,” Harley said, tugging on my arm. She scooted past me and smiled at my sister. “Ashleigh, this was really fun. Call me for next time.”
Ashleigh’s eyes widened with surprise. “Next time?”
“I mean, if you’re paying for the spa again, then yes.”