Epilogue
Noah
“Cheers, mate.” Jaxson tapped his glass against mine as we both took a sip of our drinks. We were at the table watching some of the couples dance in the middle of the floor.
The wedding had been beautiful, and I had definitely shed a fucking tear watching Knight and Quinn profess their unwavering love.
I looked from Knight and Quinn to my mum and dad who were spinning on the dance floor.
My dad was whispering something to her that had her throwing her head back in laughter.
I knew how fucking lucky I was to have two parents who loved each other like they did.
To get to witness the beauty in their relationship growing up.
It was inspiring, and looking at Asher and Sutton, I was pretty sure we would be at their wedding next.
“Do you ever think about settling down?” Jaxson asked, pulling my attention to him. “Seems like there’s something in the air.”
“Me?” I put my hand on my chest. “I couldn’t do that to the ladies.” He snorted and took a drink. “You?”
I watched him closely as something crossed over his face.
Jaxson was tight-lipped about his past before we met him in uni, at least with women.
He may come out with me, have a woman on his arm, but I was fairly certain he never took them home, even though he acted like he did.
There was something there but I didn’t push.
At least not unless I needed to.
Asher came up to the table, sitting down with a sigh.
The man was quiet, sullen, and intimidating.
Dude was built like a linebacker and had tattoos covering his hands.
I’d been with him since he was fourteen though and he was a brother, so his attitude didn’t bother me.
Honestly, I liked to try and provoke him.
The more murderous he got, the more of a thrill it gave me.
“Did I hear Sutton mention she was paying rent?” I asked Ash as he looked over at where his girlfriend was dancing with my dad now, laughing.
I definitely got my charm from that man.
Asher suppressed his smile into the top of his beer. Something he hadn’t done a lot of before Sutton and her daughter came into his life. “Yeah, she wanted to contribute.”
“Are you struggling for money?” Jaxson looked over at him, confused.
We were three of the six board members of Knight Enterprises, a multibillion-dollar corporation. As we built our business over the last ten years, we also built our wealth. None of us were struggling for money.
Asher shot him an unimpressed look. “I’m putting it all into a fund for Sophie. I match every amount I move. She’ll be taken care of for the rest of her life by me but I know it’s important for Sutton to save for Sophie’s future. I’m just making that easier. It’s a good compromise.”
“Compromise? That she doesn’t know about?” I knew the answer before I asked. Asher just ignored me.
“This way Soph can go to medical school then law school then throw it all away and become an artist for all I care. As long as she’s happy.”
“Man.” I shook my head. “Can we even call him Grump anymore?”
Jaxson snorted. “Don’t think so.”
Asher just shrugged, his eyes locked on Sutton.
Looking around the room, I found my own distraction at the bar.
“Anyone want another?” I asked. They both shook their heads, showing me they still had drinks in their hand.
I was having fun tonight but I was keeping my head. And the reason for that was at the bar, pounding enough wine back for the both of us.
Wandering over, I leaned next to her. She didn’t acknowledge me as she looked at the booze bottles on the back wall. I faced her so I could take her in.
A respectful distance between us, of course.
“Emmaline.”
She still didn’t look at me, which was fine by me. Gave me more time to peruse her. Her long brown hair was down and pin straight, not a piece out of place. Her makeup was dark, some shiny shit on her cheekbones. She was wearing a stunning strapless green floral dress that molded to her perfectly.
To be honest, she was a fucking knockout.
“That’s not my name,” Emma finally said, still not looking over at me. I did know she went by Emma, but her full name was Emmaline and I liked poking her a little.
Okay, a lot.
I’d only ever met Emma a handful of times and the longest we’d ever spent in the same room was at her dad’s funeral in her childhood home in New York.
Tonight, though, something was wrong with her.
The smiles she gave seemed forced—well, more forced than normal.
She’d refused Will’s offer to dance while she sat in her chair pounding wine.
She wasn’t very chatty and she gave off a cold vibe but I could see her relax every once in a while with Quinn, when she thought no one was looking.
Unfortunately for her, and me, I was always looking.
“Can I get you another?” the bartender asked me, pulling my attention from the stunning woman.
“No, I’m all set.” I lifted the glass in my hand.
The bartender gave me a nod and then looked to my right. “And you?”
I moved my eyes over to Emma and the empty wine glass in her hand. “Don’t you think you should slow down, darling?”
Her eyes cut to me and narrowed. They were this stunning deep blue that was only intensified by her dark hair. “I don’t like cutesy nicknames.” She didn’t seem very charmed by my British accent. That was new. “And I wasn’t looking for advice.”
“Well.” I turned to lean my hip on the counter. “What’s got you taking down wine like we might run out? I promise Knight didn’t skimp on the alcohol.”
She turned to face me. “I’m enjoying my brother’s wedding.”
“Tell that to your face,” I said, sending her a charming smile.
“And is anyone supervising your drinking?” She looked down at my gin glass pointedly.
“They should be.” I took a sip as she watched.
That wasn’t true.
But there was no reason she needed to know how sober I was. Although, I was second-guessing myself on how much I’d seen her drink since her words were completely clear, and she didn’t waver on her heels. When she met my eyes, they didn’t look glassy.
“Well, I’m coming off a breakup and based on the size of this wedding, I don’t think I’ll be finding anyone to give me a good orgasm tonight.”
I choked on my gin at her words, coughing and pounding my chest to clear it.
“Jesus, Emma,” I sputtered as I cleared my throat. She seemed so prim and proper that I was not expecting anything like that to come out of her mouth.
She just shrugged, grabbed the gin out of my hand, and took a sip. “You asked.” I couldn’t tell if she was shitting me or not. And now that was where my thoughts were.
But she was Knight’s sister.
Well, half-sister.
That still put her off limits.
Right?
“James is single.” I shifted my head toward one of Quinn’s work friends. I actually knew nothing about the fucking guy but I wanted to see what Emma said.
“James has been sitting there with stars in his eyes talking about how much he wants to find a love like Quinn and Knight’s.”
“Hmmm.” I leaned in closer. Her scent was woodsy and fucking delicious but I had no idea what was in it. “Not interested in love?”
“I told you.” She glanced around the room before looking back at me, leaning in too. “I’m just looking for an orgasm. I’m not interested in getting in a relationship or falling in love.”
Clearing my throat, I had to work to make sure my bulge wasn’t visible to the rest of the room. This woman was hot, I’d give her that. And hearing that she wasn’t interested in love were usually the magic words that got me moving.
“Two shots.” I turned to the bartender who was cleaning a glass. “What do you want?” I looked at Emma.
“Tequila.” She pushed her wine glass away.
Two shots later I was feeling a very light buzz as I tried making jokes that just got me a lift of her eyebrow.
“How drunk are you?” she asked as she looked me up and down.
“One gin and two shots aren’t going to take me down, honey.”
That earned me an eye roll. “Are you sober enough to decide to sleep with me?”
“Are you?” I challenged, even though I was getting more excited.
As we’d been standing here, I’d determined she could either hold her liquor well or I’d been wrong about how much she’d drunk. Either way, she didn’t seem incoherent or unable to make her own decisions.
“Sober enough to know that you look like the best option for me to maybe get an orgasm tonight.”
“One orgasm? That’s a pretty low bar.”
“Pretty high one actually.” She pushed back from the bar.
I was competitive by nature. I liked to win. I liked a challenge and hers sent fire through my veins.
Looking around the room, I saw Knight and Quinn were still dancing.
The night would probably be winding down soon and they were too lost in their own world to notice my absence.
I’m not even sure how they were still down here.
Knight had tried to whisk her away the second the dinner plates were cleared.
“Time’s ticking, Noah, otherwise I’m going to go help myself.” She started to walk away as images of her fingers on her pussy, back arched as she pleasured herself, ran through my head. My blood rushed to my cock.
She’d just made my decision for me.
I started to follow her, looking back at the room over my shoulder. Jaxson caught my eye. He shook his head subtly and then went back to his conversation with Asher.
“Your room or mine?”