Page 67 of It Happened Duo
Rex shifted the hair from my face behind my ear. Even though the girls left, he held me in place on his lap. “I’m glad your path led you here with me, Sweetness.”
“What if I had moved to New York City after high school to attend culinary school like I’d originally planned? What would have been the chances of us meeting or even being attracted to each other back then?”
“Without a doubt, one hundred percent, you would have hated me in my teens and early twenties. You think Ihave an ego now? Count your blessings you met me when you did, because every day I count my blessings for you,” he said, melting my heart as he kissed along the sweet spot under my earlobe.
His distractions proved helpful, pushing Jenna and Miriam and her thick binder of wedding planning nonsense out of my mind for the rest of the night. Until tomorrow, at least.
As for Maisy, I had to believe things always worked out for a reason, and in her case, time would tell if she and Brooks were meant to be.
37
PRENUPS & BROTHERLY LOVE
REX
“Damn, man, that hurt,”Rich grunted, massaging his shoulder as he crumbled to the floor of the court at New York City’s Racket Club after one of my serves pummeled him.
“Sorry,” I grumbled. Beating my brother’s ass at racquetball did the trick, for now. I needed a little stress relief and took it out on him.
While making love with Chelsea first thing this morning worked wonders to start the day…as the hours wore on and fifty million messages between my mother and Chelsea blew up my phone about which tone of red the linen napkins at the reception should be, I needed more relief.
“You on a mission to kill me or something? What the fuck’s going on with you?” He scowled.
“One word. Miriam and this wedding.”
“That’s four. I warned you, didn’t I?”
He did, and I was front and center for all the battles heand Mom had about his wedding details—and about his former fiancé. I counted myself lucky that Miriam admired Chelsea enough that we avoided those types of arguments, at least.
“I mean, who knew there was such a thing as orange-red and berry-red in the world of fucking linens? Our guests can wipe their mouths on paper napkins from the dollar store for all I care. Just let me say I do and whisk my bride away on our honeymoon, for Christ’s sake.”
“Ah, the old linen argument,” Richard chuckled. “I know that one well. Only for mine it was a spring wedding andsomeonewanted every color of the rainbow, but Mother wasn’t having it.” The someone he referenced being Janet, his ex fiancé, whose name he hated with a passion, and tried never to mention.
He laughed maniacally about it now, in hindsight, and I was all too happy to see it. He hadn’t been himself these past couple of years since he had to step in front of five hundred guests at the wedding ceremony and call the entire thing off.
He’d gone against Mom’s wishes and not put a prenup in place, thinking he could trust Janet. Only minutes before the ceremony start, he caught her in the arms of another man, and heard their entire conversation about taking Rich for every penny he had.
“Next time, elope,” he joked. I wasn’t laughing.
“Seriously, are you okay?” My brother raised a brow at me, sitting there, lost in my thoughts.
“No. It’s more than napkins. I lied and told Mom thatChelsea signed a prenup, but I haven’t decided if I want her to.”
He practically jumped out of his skin, darting to his feet and hovering over me like a damn bully. “What. The. Fuck. Have you not learned from my mistake? Go to her right now and get her signature on the damn thing. Now!”
I scoffed and shot up, storming past him. “Chelsea isn’t Janet.”
He bristled at my use of his ex’s name, narrowing his eyes. “Everywoman is.”
“Jeez, that’s a boulder-sized load of skepticism you carry around.” I scraped my scowl and the sweat off my face with the gym towel. “Are you ever going to trust a woman again?”
“Nope.”
Poor guy. My heart, hell, mylife,was fuller with Chelsea in it.Iwas a better person with her in it. Sure, a guy like my brother—after all he’d been through—had a hard time seeing the good in people again. But for me, without a doubt, I caught myself an amazing woman.
“I’m just as upset as you are that you got a bum deal, man. But I’m not you and my situation is different,” I tried to reason.
Pissed, a hurt, animal-like sound emitted from his throat. He grabbed his towel and water and rushed to the door, then stopped. “I thought she’d never screw me over. I thought she loved me. So I didn’t get her to sign the prenup. And hours before the ceremony, I caught her in the arms of another man discussing their plans to off me on the honeymoon so they could get their hands on mymoney.”
