Chapter Three
Chase
The next morning, the hotel was completely quiet when I woke up. I liked to start the day with a run. At home, I used a treadmill even though my loft was close to the beach, but now I wanted to be outdoors.
Running on sand was different, harder than running on a treadmill, but I liked challenges. I started at a slow jog, then worked up to my normal pace. I was the competitive type, always competing against myself and past achievements. It was the only way to get better.
Finishing my run fifty minutes later, I slowed my pace to a brisk walk and checked the stats on my Apple Watch. Not bad—I’d shaved off a few seconds from my last run and hadn’t really tried.
Slowing my stride, I checked my email. My assistant hadn’t gotten back to me yet.
My parents used to own a general store back in the day. They had to sell it in the divorce, and now it was back on the market. I wanted it and had hoped she’d have some news about the transaction. It would be a surprise for them. My assistant also didn’t make headway on Jeremy’s video game, but I’d only told her about it yesterday.
I sent my mom a quick text on my way back. She lived on her own, and we took turns stopping by her house and checking if anything needed fixing.
As I approached the hotel, I was surprised to see the staff was already milling around in the garden, setting up for the wedding. The ceremony was still hours away, but they were already getting things in place.
Intending to go straight back to my room and take a shower, a familiar shape caught my eye. Hannah was there, talking with a tall blonde woman. Neither of them looked happy. I walked straight toward them.
Hannah was wearing a short pink beach dress that wasn't covering too much. Her ass was utter perfection, and her legs were long and tanned.
What the hell were the odds of us attending the same wedding?
"Good morning," I said.
Hannah startled, turning around, and then her gaze dropped to my chest. I’d soaked through my shirt, so I’d taken it off. My attention was now on her full lips as she pressed them together, moving them about.
I enjoyed her reaction more than I cared to admit.
"Chase, good morning," she said.
The other woman nodded at me. "Hi, I'm in charge of catering.”
I offered my hand in greeting. “I’m the best man.”
After we shook, she quickly dismissed herself. "All right then. I’ll leave the two of you and get started on my to-do list." She was clearly in a hurry to escape.
Once she was out of earshot, Hannah sighed.
"What happened?" I asked.
"The wedding planner called me this morning. She has a stomach bug and can't make it."
"For fuck's sake," I exclaimed.
"My thoughts exactly," she replied, then finally made eye contact again. She was watching me so intently that I suspected she was making an effort not to look down. A gentleman would put on his shirt, but I was enjoying Hannah’s discomfort.
What the hell?
"When is her backup arriving?” I asked.
“No backup. It’s a one-woman show. She gave me access to all her lists, but still, I’m sure I'm going to screw up some things."
"Hannah, you can't run your sister's wedding. You’re the maid of honor. You've got enough to do."
She shook her head. "Chase, don’t start."
"No, I mean it. If you manage everything, you won’t have any time to enjoy the wedding.”
"No, but my sister will enjoy it, and that's the point of this. I don’t have any choice now, do I? If you'll excuse me, I need to go back to the caterer to finalize some things with her."
Hannah mustered a small smile before turning around and heading to the caterer.
Fuck, she looked so damn hot in that pink dress, making my imagination run wild. I barely held back from going after her.
I wanted to help her in some way, but I needed to go clean up. Then I had my own best-man duties to deal with. Yet I knew I couldn't leave her alone to take care of everything. Her determination to give her sister the best wedding possible was endearing. What idiot agency didn't have a contingency plan if they got sick on a client's wedding day? I deeply disliked unprofessional people, but what was done was done, and now Josh and Blair needed a solution.
Back in my room, I showered and changed quickly. I had an idea. All my brothers, except Wyatt, were attending the wedding. Between the five of us, we could do some heavy lifting.
Duncan was closest in age to me. Growing up, Mom said we could be twins in personality and looks. But he’d grown up faster than me because he had Jeremy when he was twenty-two.
Griffin was the most impulsive of us all. Wyatt was more cerebral than Griffin but shared his spontaneity.
And Knox and Finn were... different. You never knew what they were up to or what they were thinking.
When Duncan and I had the idea for Sterling Investments, Griffin and Wyatt had just graduated from college and immediately joined us. Finn was a freshman in college, and Knox was a senior in high school. Initially, I’d been against them joining us at such a young age, thinking they should enjoy their college years before they got strapped down in the business world. But they were stubborn and 100 percent into it, and really good at what they did—developing software. In hindsight, it would've been more difficult launching the company if we hadn’t had their expertise.
I was fiercely protective of my brothers. I had their backs no matter what. And the reverse was true as well. I didn’t take that for granted.
Sterling Investments was one of the first brokerage companies to offer an online platform where clients could do many of the transactions themselves. The technology was cutting edge, and it was more user-friendly than what the competition offered. It was one of the keys to our success.
I went to Finn’s room first, because it was right next to mine. I knocked a dozen times before he finally opened the door.
"You're early." His voice was muffled.
"Morning," I said. "How are you? Not up yet?"
"It's eight thirty."
"I know. Listen, we've got a situation."
He narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to pawn off your best-man duties on me?"
"No. This is worse."
"Okay, hit me." He didn't sound sleepy anymore.
"The wedding planner is sick."
"Oh for fuck's sake. Isn’t there someone else in the office who can fill in for her?”
“Apparently not. I don’t know the whole situation, but it really doesn’t matter.”
“Gotcha. Then we do have a lot to do," he agreed.
"Exactly."
One of the things I liked most about working with my brothers was that we complemented each other well. Most of the time, we knew what the others were thinking without saying it out loud—part of the reason why we’d had so much success in business so quickly.
"I'm heading back outside to get started on things. Hannah’s got all the lists of what to do from the wedding planner.”
Finn flashed a shit-eating grin. “The legendary Hannah. Can’t wait to meet her.”
Yeah, Duncan and Griffin had spilled the beans last night about our first meeting. Those fuckers all had a field day.
I cocked a brow in warning as Finn held up his hands in defense.
“I’ll rally our brothers," he said. "Where should we meet you?”
“In the backyard, on that stretch between the garden and the beach.”
He nodded. "Okay. I’ll be out soon.”
"Thanks, brother."
I headed to the back, intending to put Hannah’s mind at ease. I disliked seeing her stressed.
When I stepped into the backyard, I saw her carrying a chair from the stack of fifty or so the workers had set out.
"I'll take that," I said.
Once again, she startled, glancing at me after putting the chair down.
"Chase, you're back." She sounded surprised.
"Of course."
"Why?"
I stared at her. "Isn't it obvious? I'm helping. Come on, hit me with that list."
The tip of her tongue darted out, licking her lower lip. Damn, I wanted to taste what she was tasting.
“Are you sure? I can handle things.” I had to give her credit for her can-do attitude, but the tone of her voice was definitely tentative.
“I’m sure you can. Send me that list.”
The corners of her mouth lifted.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re sounding a little too commanding for my taste.”
“Hannah.” My voice was stern even to my own ears.
“Fine, give me your email, and I'll forward it to you."
"Gladly," I said, rattling off my email. She grabbed her phone, unlocked the screen, then groaned. "More bad news?"
"Yes, but this time it's not about the wedding."
"What happened?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Doesn’t matter. All right, list forwarded. Between the two of us, we should be okay, as long as each takes over half the tasks."
"Don’t worry, I'm bringing reinforcements," I told her.
She glanced up abruptly. "Oh?"
"My brothers. I enlisted them."
She flashed me a grin. "That’s great. Things will definitely move faster with more people. You’re sure they don’t mind?”
“They'd better not. There are six of us in total. Wyatt isn't here, but all other hands will be on deck.”
“Wow, Chase Sterling, aren't you full of surprises?" Then she lowered her phone, focusing on me.
"All right. I propose a truce," I said.
"I'm listening." She was cute. Those lips captivated me.
"We focus on the wedding—"
"And not on each other?" she finished for me. "I like that."
I was focusing on her all right, just not in the way she thought.
I glanced at the list. “Why are you moving chairs around? It says here that there's a whole team that’s supposed to do it."
"I was just trying to speed things up," she said sheepishly, "but I'll stop. It’s harder than I thought, and I’m already sweating. I'd better be careful, because this fabric is thin and gets see-through very easily."
Fuck me! If I even got a glimpse of her breasts, I was toast.
"All right, put us to work," Finn's voice sounded from somewhere behind me.
I looked over my shoulder. All my brothers were there.
I turned to face Hannah. She was smiling from ear to ear, eyes focused on my brothers. Finn looked rough, with dark circles below his eyes and still seeming half asleep. Griffin was holding a huge cup of coffee. Knox was yawning. Duncan was the only one who seemed fresh and able to help. Then again, the man could run on three hours of sleep if need be. Back when we started the company, he worked like a madman while taking care of a newborn all on his own. One time he'd confessed that those years had completely messed up his ability to sleep properly.
"Hi, Hannah. I’m Knox. This is Finn. We’ve heard through the grapevine that you're in charge today." He grinned.
"That's right," she said. "Okay, so I sent Chase the list I got from the wedding planner. Let’s divide and conquer. With so many of us, it should be easy if we each take one or two tasks. Want to divide it now?" she asked.
"Sure," I said.
My brothers looked over my shoulder at the list displayed on my phone.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Griffin exclaimed. "How can there be so many things to still be done for a wedding?"
"I know, right?" Hannah murmured. "Which is why I want us to deal with things so Josh and Blair aren't worried about any of this.”
Griffin glanced at her. "You're a great sister."
"I just want everything to work out," she said. It was obvious family was important to her, as it was to me. In my book, that meant a lot.
For the next ten minutes, we debated how to split up the tasks.
"Thank you so much, guys," Hannah said once we'd decided who would do what. She seemed far more relaxed than when I'd run into her this morning.
"It's all Chase," Finn said. This seemed to amuse him for some reason. "He had the idea of roping us all in."
"Or he just wanted to make life easier for himself," Knox added, "so he didn't have to work as much. You know, I wouldn't put it past him."
Griffin cleared his throat. "Yeah, Hannah, don't be fooled into thinking he's a good guy."
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," Hannah replied, winking at me. She and I had the least number of tasks to do, but that was on purpose. We had best-man and maid-of-honor duties to take care of as well.
"Let's hit the ground running," Duncan said, pointing at Finn and Knox. My brothers quickly dispersed throughout the property.
"Damn, it's hot," Hannah said. "I’ll have to reapply sunscreen.”
"You need a hat," I told her.
"So you only pretend to talk in a normal voice when your brothers are around, and as soon as we're alone, you try to boss me into whatever you want me to do?"
What I wanted to do was kiss her sassy mouth until she begged for more. But she didn't need to know that. "I mean it, Hannah. Go inside and find a hat."
She pointed at me. "I was going to do that anyway, okay? I'm not doing it just because you say so. Did you tell your brothers to be careful in the sun?"
It was on the tip of my tongue to say, " No, because they're grown-ups who can take care of themselves, " but that applied to her too.
“No.”
"So what gives, Chase?"
I had no answer. "Hannah." I weighed my words carefully. "We have a truce, remember?"
She grinned. "True, we do. But I'm not sure we'll be able to honor it," she said over her shoulder as she went back into the hotel.
I was 100 percent sure she was right.