11
CASH
LAST NIGHT WAS PURE TORTURE . Everly paraded around the primary bedroom wearing nothing but a lace tank top and booty shorts while she unpacked. Her long legs and generous curves were on full display, and it took all my willpower to keep my hands to myself. I swear she did it to mess with me as payback for not having another room ready for her.
This morning, I woke up to her clinging to me like a second skin, resulting in a raging hard-on. I resorted to taking a cold shower and another long run. The time change must be messing with my head. Plus, it’s difficult to sleep when the woman next to me plays the starring role in my fantasies but is off-limits.
If the past two days have been any indication of how the rest of this arrangement is going to go, I may need to reconsider my stance on sharing a bedroom.
Everly left for work before I finished my run, and after a second cold shower, I walked to the office, wanting more time to clear my head.
I’ve been so distracted with thoughts of her that I haven’t been able to get much done, and it’s already mid-afternoon.
My inbox is overflowing. I have a backlog of projects due this week, and several calls have been scheduled with Harrison and Dylan. Not to mention the massive stack of résumés Harrison sent via courier for several open associate positions in our London office.
Fortunately, I have Carol to help me sort through them all. She’s a retired real estate manager in her late sixties who re-entered the workforce when she found my job posting for a temporary assistant position. Her industry knowledge is impressive, and she doesn’t miss a thing.
I’ve been staring at the same cover letter for ten minutes when my phone pings with a text.
Mom’s Favorites Group Chat
Mom: Did you and Everly make it back to London?
Presley: More importantly, has Everly had enough of you yet?
Cash: Yes, we made it back.
Presley: You ignored my question.
Cash: It was a lame question.
Mom: Cash, apologize to your sister this instant.
Presley: Yeah, Cash, listen to Mom.
Cash: At least now we know who Mom’s favorite really is.
Mom: I don’t have favorites.
Cash: That’s not what the name of our group chat says.
Mom: Presley, I thought you changed that. I told you before that Harrison and Dylan will be upset if they see it.
Presley: They’re big boys, they’ll get over it. It’s their fault for not wanting to be a part of our conversations.
Last year Presley started a group chat for our siblings and parents. My dad didn’t join because he never checks his phone. Harrison left the group after his phone went off one too many times during a board meeting, and Dylan followed suit after we teased him about his nonexistent dating life before he and Marlow got together. Now, I’m the only one Mom and Presley have to pick on.
Cash: I’m happy to trade places with one of them if they’ve changed their minds.
Presley: Very funny.
Mom: Cash, when are you and Everly coming back to visit?
Cash: We were just there two days ago.
Mom: Yes, and? I miss you and want to get reacquainted with my new daughter-in-law.
Presley: What about Jack and me??
Mom: I miss you both too, sweetheart.
Cash: I should get back to work.
Presley: Funny, I’ve never heard you say that before.
Mom: Presley, be nice to your brother.
Presley: Oh, now who’s your favorite?
Cash: Have fun, you two.
I put my phone down on my desk and lean back in my chair. No one has ever doubted my family’s strong bond. We may be a tad overbearing, particularly my mom, but her unwavering love for her kids is heartwarming—Everly included.
I sit up straight when I hear Carol’s voice from outside my office.
“You can go right in,” she says brightly. “I’m sure he will welcome the interruption.”
There’s only one person she would let into my office without checking with me first, and if I’m right, this conversion will not end well.
I am seriously considering hiding under the desk when Theo steps inside my office. He’s dressed casually in jeans and a white T-shirt, but his murderous expression is all business. The vein in his forehead looks ready to burst.
I should have made myself scarce while I still had the chance.
“Tell me this is one of your Stafford pranks and that you did not marry my sister.” He slams a photocopy of the Aspen Grove Gazette on my desk, staring at me accusingly with deep brown eyes the same shade as Everly’s.
“Where did you get that?” I ask calmly, maintaining my composure. Not my best response, but I’m caught off guard by the bitterness in his voice.
Theo has every right to be furious, and I figured Everly and I would break the news to him together to ease the tension. Why is it that she’s conveniently absent whenever I tell another person that we got married in Vegas?
“Dylan forwarded it to me this morning with the subject line Welcome to the family ,” Theo fumes, running a hand through his dark hair.
Shit.
This reeks of one of Dylan and Harrison’s practical jokes, and the timing couldn’t be worse.
We’ve pulled a lot of incredible pranks on each other, our family, and our friends. Like when Presley brought Jack back to Aspen Grove, and we had him arrested for trespassing. Or when Dylan was training Waffles, and Harrison and I tied a treat to his tail so he wouldn’t obey when Dylan gave him a command. However, I don’t find this particular prank very funny when my life is on the line.
“Is this why I haven’t heard from you or Everly since last week? I should have known something was up when you didn’t text me back,” Theo says.
He’s my best friend and I’m afraid of how this will affect our relationship. He’s privy to every detail of my checkered past and has been my wingman since we were eighteen. There’s no way he will let me off easy for marrying his sister, and that’s why I ghosted him over the weekend. Everly is the most important person in his life, and he’ll see it as a betrayal, especially since he made it clear she was off-limits years ago.
“We should wait to have this discussion when Everly can join us,” I hedge, subtly sliding my chair away from where he’s standing.
As kids, Everly was the only one who could reason with Theo when he lost his temper.
“Oh, now you’re dependent on my sister to fight your battles?” he growls. “You better tell me what the hell is going on before I lose my patience,” he demands.
I think we’ve moved past that already.
I may be in good shape, but my workouts focus on cardio and moderate weightlifting whereas Theo prefers heavy lifting and boxing. I wouldn’t stand a chance against him in a ring, let alone here in my office.
I’m totally screwed.
“Four months ago, you fucked a model you met in France, and the month before that, an actress in LA.” He sneers in disgust. “And now, out of the blue, you’re married to my sweet and fragile sister?”
Everly sweet and fragile? Try fierce and unyielding.
“For the record, I haven’t slept with anyone since the model in France. Including Everly,” I add before he can make assumptions. “I’m not claiming to have changed overnight, but she makes me want to be a better man.”
That’s the truth. Every minute I spend with her ignites the longing to be her knight in shining armor. She deserves someone who will stand beside her, ready to help her conquer her dragons.
“When are you going to get to the part where you married my sister without telling me?” Theo jabs his finger at the news article on my desk, then recoils. “Have you been seeing her behind my back?”
I vehemently shake my head. “No. We ran into each other in Vegas. Funny how you conveniently never mentioned she’d be there.”
“You haven’t seen her in years. I didn’t think you’d care.”
“Of course I would. It’s a good thing I was there because a guy with wandering hands was accosting her.” I frown at the memory of his meaty paw digging into Everly’s smooth skin.
Theo’s anger morphs into unadulterated rage. “Tell me you roughed him up.”
“I would have, but I figured Everly wouldn’t want me to make a scene, so I took a different route with better results.”
I explain how I bribed the hotel security manager to send me the surveillance footage—which I sent to Van, a friend who works on the IT team at Stafford Holdings headquarters. He tracked down the man who harassed Everly. It turns out Larry Hansen is a mid-level manager at an accounting firm in Atlanta. Or should I say he was? My family’s network is pretty damn impressive if I do say so myself.
“And what, that gives you an excuse to take advantage of Everly?” Theo spits his question.
“I would never hurt her, and you damn well know that,” I state. “I took her to a piano bar to catch up and reminisce about the good ole days.” I rake my hand through my hair. “Remember the night of senior prom when Everly and I hung out alone?”
“Yeah,” he says with apprehension.
“She was upset about her breakup with Jacob, and I wanted to comfort her however I could. We made a marriage pact on a Willow Creek Café napkin and agreed that if we were both single in our thirties, we’d marry each other.” I realize how silly it sounds when I say it out loud. “After one too many drinks, it came up and one thing led to another…” I trail off, reluctant to say the rest.
“Spit it out,” Theo demands, frustrated at how long it’s taking me to get the point.
I might deserve his anger, but if Everly were here, I doubt this conversation would be spiraling out of control.
“We got married at a chapel on the Strip.”
“So the announcement in the Gazette was real?” Theo’s voice is deadly, his dark eyes narrowing into slits.
“Yeah, Everly and I got hitched.”
Before I can process what’s happening, he grabs me by the collar and slams me against the nearest wall.
“You son of a bitch,” he snarls in my face. “How the fuck could you do this to Everly? She’s not a disposable plaything for you to use and discard. Don’t you think she’s been through enough after what Landon did to her?”
“Why does that name sound familiar?”
“He was Everly’s douchebag fiancé.” Theo’s voice drips with disdain.
Everly was engaged?
Now that I think about it, I recall him mentioning Everly’s snooty boyfriend a few years ago, but he left out the part about them taking their relationship to the next level.
“What did he do to her?”
Now that Theo has had some time to release his anger, I push his hand off me and step to the side, putting some space between us.
“She caught him banging his assistant at his apartment when she stopped by unannounced. Now it makes sense why he didn’t want to live with her until after the wedding. He was using his place to hook up with other women,” Theo says.
Everly’s distrusting behavior makes so much more sense now. The barriers she has in place are to protect herself from getting hurt, because the person she should have been able to trust above anyone else betrayed her. I can’t imagine what she went through in the aftermath and the strength it took to build herself back up.
No wonder she’s been so wary of me. She assumed I was a playboy who toys with women’s hearts, just like her lowlife ex-fiancé.
“Damn, I wish I knew sooner,” I say.
In the past, Theo and I didn’t talk much about Everly, but now I wish we had.
“She asked me not to tell anyone, and didn’t want to be pitied.”
That tracks, but it must make for a lonely existence without a support system she can confide in.
“I have something to say, and you’re going to let me finish before you try slamming me against the wall again. Got it?” I raise a brow, waiting for Theo to respond.
“Fine, but make it quick,” he snaps.
He’s never been one for patience.
“My crush on Everly started in the tenth grade. Hell, you threw me up against a set of lockers just for looking at her the wrong way, so your reaction now doesn’t surprise me.” I massage my sore shoulder. “I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either of you.” I hold his gaze and say with conviction, “Everly and I are both adults, and I’m not forcing her to stay married to me. So you can either get on board or explain to her why her brother isn’t willing to support her decision. After everything she’s been through, the least you can do is trust her judgment.”
“Damnit, Cash.” Theo blows out a breath as he sits on my desk. “You’re not playing fair.”
“This isn’t a game, and Everly isn’t a pawn,” I state as I perch next to him.
“At least we can agree on something,” he says as he glances over at me. “I’m just having trouble wrapping my head around how she could be okay with this. She’s a workaholic, keeps to herself, and hasn’t been on a proper date since she ended things with Landon. Now she’s married to you? You have nothing in common.”
“We balance each other out,” I answer truthfully.
“Fuck.” He rises from the desk and scrutinizes me as if searching for any sign of deception. “I was really looking forward to punching that pretty-boy face of yours.”
I burst out laughing. “Aim for the left side the next time you have the urge. Everly might tolerate half my face being fucked up, but I don’t think she’d like it if I didn’t have a pretty side.”
He scoffs. “You’re joking, right? She’s always had a thing for your scar. I heard her tell Whitney it was sexy as hell after she caught her talking shit on you in the hallway the week after you two broke up.”
Warmth spreads through my chest. “Everly said that?”
“Yeah, she did,” he assures me. “I’m not happy about this new development, but I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt. However, if you do anything to hurt her, I won’t hesitate to punch you next time.”
A twinge of guilt prickles at my senses.
I wish I could come clean about the buyout—the real reason Everly is staying married to me. Theo won’t be so forgiving once he finds out I withheld important information, but I can’t betray Everly’s trust.
“Now that Everly and I are married, I can call you brother , right?” I rib him.
Theo shakes his head, smirking. “Not a chance.”
Not only do I have to win Everly over, but now I’ve got to prove to Theo that I’ll always be there for him too. No matter what it takes.