Chapter 44
CLEO
Iwoke up alone.
The bed was empty beside me, sheets cool to the touch. For a second, panic flared. Had last night been a dream? Had I imagined all of it? Was he having second thoughts? He didn’t seem to be drunk last night, but maybe he had been. Maybe all of it had been a fever dream because I was drunk.
I sat up and that was when I saw it.
A note on the pillow.
Went for a run. Didn’t want to wake you. There’s coffee downstairs.
I smiled and stretched, feeling deliciously sore in all the right places. Sand from last night was still in my hair. My dress was draped over a chair, looking like it had been through a war. Evidence everywhere that last night had been very, very real.
I checked my phone and gasped when I saw it was almost eleven. I’d slept through the entire morning.
I showered quickly, washing out the last of the beach, and threw on casual clothes.
Leggings and an oversized sweater I’d packed for the trip home.
My hair went up in a messy bun. Minimal makeup.
I looked exactly like someone who’d been up until three in the morning having the best night of her life.
When I got downstairs, the house was transformed.
The chaos from yesterday was completely gone.
The place was spotless. Like a cleaning crew had descended in the night and erased all evidence of the wedding.
I’d seen them on the patio but damn. Like the mice from Cinderella scurrying about and righting everything.
Voices drifted from the patio. I followed them and found the bridal party scattered across the outdoor furniture. Some on lounge chairs, some at the big table, all of them looking relaxed and happy and slightly hungover.
Someone had set up a breakfast buffet. And not just pastries and coffee. This was a full spread. Omelet station, waffle bar, fresh fruit carved into elaborate shapes, at least six different types of juice.
Because of course there was. These were Bancrofts. They weren’t basic bitches settling for a cheap yogurt cup and a carton of OJ.
I grabbed a plate and started loading it up. I was starving. Beach sex apparently worked up quite an appetite. I was reaching for a croissant when a voice behind me said, “Morning, Cleo.”
I turned. Finn was standing there with a cup of coffee, looking entirely too awake for someone who’d been up as late as I had. Maybe later. And sporting one hell of a hickey on his neck like a badge of honor.
“Morning,” I said. “Might want to put a cold spoon on that. It looks painful.”
He winked. “It is.” He picked up a strawberry from the fruit display, examining it like it held the secrets of the universe. “Sleep well?”
“Fine.”
“I’m sure.” He popped the strawberry in his mouth. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about my brother.”
My stomach dropped. “Okay?”
“Cash is an ass.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“He’s a Bancroft. We’re all asses in our own special ways.
” Finn popped a grape into his mouth. “Cash specifically? He’s impulsive when he thinks he’s being rational.
He’s reckless when he thinks he’s being careful.
And he has a bad habit of choosing business over everything else when he gets stressed. ”
I set down my plate. “What are you doing?”
“Just making sure you know what you’re signing up for.
” He shrugged. “If you’re cool with all that.
The chaos, the family drama, the occasional public scandal.
Then hey, welcome to the family. You’ll have a shit ton of sisters-in-law.
You’ll have babies. You can build that whole nuclear family thing.
Maybe get a fancy closet. Luxury mom car. Cash is pretty good at gift giving.”
He was testing me. I could see it in his eyes, The way he was watching for my reaction, waiting to see if I’d crack.
“You won’t scare me off,” I said.
“No?” He grabbed another strawberry. “Do you know our father is married to our aunt? We have brother cousins.”
“I am aware.”
“And we’ve got some pretty colorful characters in the family.”
“Have you met me?”
He grinned. “I mean colorful as in a few drunks, guys that like to get rowdy, one of our cousins that is not a brother cousin, just straight cousin. Actually, maybe he’s a second cousin? Our uncle banged his mom? Does that make him a cousin? Anyway, he owns a casino. Shady dude, but a good dude.”
I didn’t know Finn, but I did. I knew his type. I could read people and I wasn’t picking up on any malice.
“Whatever this is?” I gestured between us. “It won’t work. I know exactly who Cash is. The good parts and the complicated parts. And I’m not going anywhere.”
Finn’s expression changed completely. He broke into a huge grin. “Just had to make sure you were good enough for my brother, that’s all.”
“Are you kidding me right now?”
“Nope. Come on.” He grabbed his coffee. “Let’s go sit. You passed the test.”
“That was a test?”
“An important one. Can’t have just anyone joining the family.” He winked. “You did good though. Very fierce. Cash needs someone who won’t take his shit.”
I stared at him. “You’re all insane.”
“Absolutely. But you love us anyway.” He headed toward the patio. “You coming or what?”
I grabbed my plate and followed, shaking my head. What a weirdo. But I supposed I couldn’t blame him for being protective of his brother. In a twisted way, it was kind of sweet.
The patio was full of Bancrofts and their partners. Cash spotted me immediately and stood up, pulling out the chair beside him before I’d even reached the table.
“Good morning,” he said, kissing my cheek as I sat.
“Morning.”
“How’d you sleep?”
“Like the dead.”
He leaned in close, his voice low enough that only I could hear. “I woke up with sand on my balls.”
I snorted into my coffee. Hard. Coffee went everywhere. Everyone at the table turned to look at us.
“You okay?” Melody asked, grinning like she knew exactly what had just happened.
“Fine,” I managed, wiping coffee off my chin. “Just swallowed wrong.”
Cash was trying very hard not to laugh. His hand found my knee under the table and squeezed.
“Before everyone scatters,” Austin said, standing up with Melody beside him. “We have wedding gifts for all of you.”
“Under your chairs,” Melody added. “Little thank you gifts for being part of our day.”
Everyone reached under their chairs. I found an envelope taped there and pulled it free. Inside was a photo. An ultrasound photo.
I looked up at Melody, confused. We already knew about the baby. I studied it, wondering if there were two little beans.
“We’re having a boy!” Melody announced, her whole face glowing.
The patio erupted. Cheers and congratulations and everyone getting up to hug the happy couple. I looked at the ultrasound photo again, tears already forming.
A boy. My best friend was having a son.
Finn raised his coffee mug. “Here’s to Bancroft son number 397.”
Everyone laughed and drank. Cash’s hand was still on my leg, warm and solid.
He leaned in again. “One day, we’re next.”
My heart stuttered. And I found myself choking again.
“Just saying.” He smiled. “When you’re ready. No pressure.”
“You’re insane.”
“About you? Absolutely.”
The party broke up gradually. People finished breakfast, said their goodbyes, and headed off to various plans for the day.
Kent and Sylvie were driving back to Northwood with Tiana.
Hayes and Isaac were catching a flight back to the city.
Finn was doing something mysterious in LA that he refused to elaborate on.
Melody pulled me aside before she and Austin left for their honeymoon suite at a hotel down the beach.
“So,” she said, grinning. “You and Cash.”
“Me and Cash,” I confirmed.
“I’m so happy I could burst.”
“Please don’t. You’re pregnant.”
She laughed and hugged me tightly. “Thank you for everything. For being the best maid of honor. For being my person. For being happy. You deserve this, Cleo.”
“So do you.”
“We both do.” She looked over at Austin and Cash talking by the patio doors. “Look at us. Best friends marrying brothers. This is like a romance novel.”
“A very chaotic romance novel.”
“The best kind.”
After they left, Cash found me. “Want to get out of here?”
“God yes.”
We threw our bags in his car and headed out. Not back to the city. Not yet. Instead, Cash drove us down the coast, windows down, music playing, his hand occasionally finding mine on the center console.
We pulled over at a scenic overlook about an hour later. The ocean stretched out below us, blue and endless. There was a small hiking trail that led down to a secluded beach.
“Come on,” Cash said, grabbing a blanket from his trunk.
We hiked down together, and I couldn’t help but notice he’d thought this through. The blanket. The location. This wasn’t spontaneous.
“Did you plan this?” I asked.
“Maybe.”
“When?”
“This morning. During my run.” He spread the blanket on the sand. “I wanted some time with just you. Before we go back to reality.”
We sat down and I immediately curled into his side. He wrapped an arm around me and we just sat there for a while, watching the waves.
“What happens now?” I asked eventually. “When we get back to New York?”
“What do you want to happen?”
“I want to keep working on my business plan. Start making it real.” I looked up at him. “I want to be with you. Figure out what that looks like.”
“Me too.”
“But I also don’t want to rush anything. Or make assumptions about anything.”
“Cleo.” He turned to face me fully. “I’m going to court the hell out of you.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You heard me. Proper dates. Flowers. The whole thing.” He was grinning now. “I’m going to romance you so thoroughly that you forget we did everything backwards.”
“We didn’t do everything backwards.”
“We had a fake engagement before our first real date.”
“Fair point.”
“So.” He kissed my forehead. “Get ready to be wooed.”
“Wooed?”
“Extensively wooed.”
I laughed. “Do your worst, Lurch.”
“Oh, I will.” He pulled me closer. “I’m thinking dinner at that place you mentioned once. The one with the view of the Brooklyn Bridge.”
“You remembered that?”
“I remember everything you tell me.” He kissed me softly. “Then maybe a weekend trip somewhere. Not Rome. Somewhere new. London. Scotland.”
I kissed him. Long and deep and trying to pour everything I felt into it.
“I love you,” I said when we broke apart.
“I love you too.”
We stayed there for another hour. Talking about the future. About my business plan and his sabbatical. About where we’d live. His place was bigger. Obviously. I lived in a shoebox. Anywhere was bigger. About whether we’d get a dog.
“I’ve always wanted a dog,” I reminded him.
“I know. We’ll get one.”
“Really?”
“Really. You pick. I’ll handle the logistics.”
“Even if I pick a huge messy one who drools, sheds, and farts?”
He cringed. “If that’s what makes you happy.”
“You know what would make me happy?”
“That’s pretty vague.”
“Got any of those condoms stashed in a pocket?”
He arched a brow at me. “We don’t have the cover of darkness.”
“We have a blanket. Come on. Live a little.”
And we lived.
By the time we were finished, I was sated and ready for the long drive back.