Chapter 19 #2
We ran hand in hand through the tunnel of sparklers, straight to the 1965 Mustang convertible—in candy apple red, of course. I opened the driver’s side door, and the photographer snapped away as Catherine got behind the wheel.
Someone had attached a banner that read Just Married on the bumper. The likely suspects were Mason and Levi, since they had hidden the car for me and brought it out during the reception.
The top was down, so I hopped over the door and dropped into the passenger seat. “Do you know how to drive stick?”
Catherine grinned as she smoothed her hands over the perfectly restored steering wheel and leather interior. “Yes, I do.”
I pulled the cowboy hat off her head so it didn’t blow away and held mine on. “Alright, Mrs. Wilder. Let’s get out of here.” I cupped her chin and kissed her. The rapid click of the camera shutter and raucous cheers reminded me of the optics, but that’s not why I was kissing her.
The crowd whooped and applauded as Catherine revved the engine. We peeled away from the tent and headed down the lane toward the gate.
Since we weren’t going on a honeymoon or even leaving town, we cruised around Honey Hollow for the inaugural ride in the Mustang.
The two of us stayed out just long enough for the guests to clear out of the estate, enjoying the cool mountain breeze as the stars came out to celebrate.
“So,” I said when Catherine neared the estate again after an hour of cruising. “Lewis got married.”
She gasped. “You’re joking.”
I chuckled. “I wish I was.”
Her shock turned to laughter. “You know, you have yet to tell me where the bad blood started. Because marrying people to one-up each other isn’t normal.”
“And yet, you married me anyway.”
Catherine grinned. “I said it wasn’t normal. I didn’t say it wasn’t fun.”
I draped my arm across the back of her seat, grazing her shoulder with my fingers.
“It wasn’t a competition between us until my parents—our dad—passed away.
Lewis’s mom had married his stepdad before I was born, but my dad had always made time to be present for Lewis and kept him and his mom very financially comfortable.
My mom loved him and treated him like her own so he never felt weird coming to stay with us.
We were brothers in every sense of the word.
” I sighed. “After my parents died, Granddad took it upon himself to make sure the financial support my dad had given Lewis and his mom continued. From what I heard, Lewis’s stepdad saw it as a payday and put pressure on Lewis’s mom to ask for more and more money.
Granddad knew what was going on and refused.
But Lewis saw it as me getting more than him because I had to move here to live with our grandparents. ”
Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. “It’s not like it was your choice. Your parents died. I’m sure you would have given anything to keep that from happening.”
“Anything” was an understatement.
I traced abstract shapes on her skin. “After that, he stopped being my brother. Nothing was ever good enough when he had voices whispering in his ear that he deserved more.”
“Yeah, but now he’s a grown man who’s still acting like a little shit,” Catherine snapped as righteous anger flooded her perfect face.
I chuckled. “Alright, pipe down, slugger.”
Lights appeared as we crested the last hill that peeked over the estate.
Vendors had almost cleared out the tent, and the guests had disappeared.
Catherine pulled around to the back of the house and parked beside my SUV.
As soon as she cut the engine, reality and the weight of what we had just done came crashing in.
She let out a slow breath. “This was the best surprise.”
“I’m glad you like it. And it’s road safe, unlike your bucket of bolts. But it is rear-wheel drive, so no snow or heavy rain. I want you to drive my SUV if the weather is bad.”
Her tone mellowed. “I can’t accept this, Hayes. It’s too much. You’re already bankrolling my life and my social initiative. It’s—”
“Cath.” I captured her attention by drawing her gaze to me with my hand on her jaw.
I kissed her, deep and slow. This one wasn’t for show.
This was just for us. Her lips opened on a gasp.
I traced them with my tongue before pulling her closer and tangling my hands in her hair. I wanted more. Needed more.
But I backed away.
“It’s not nearly enough,” I whispered against her lips.
Catherine’s eyes were heavy and dazed. She nodded with distance in those baby blues. “Okay.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? You’ll accept it?”
Her smile went from demure to mischievous. “I mean, it is my dream car.”
I chuckled and got out, circling the hood to open her door. “Come on, Mrs. Wilder. I think we’ve earned some sleep and a lazy day tomorrow.”
We crept through the darkened house and up the stairs, rounded the corner, and came to an abrupt halt.
Lewis was waiting between his and Catherine’s bedroom doors, arms crossed. “Well, well, well.” He pushed off the wall and slowly clapped. “That was some show.”
“It was a nice wedding, wasn’t it?” Catherine said sweetly, putting on the facade of the bubbly bride. “We’re so glad you and your wife could join us to celebrate.”
Lewis harrumphed. “Cut the crap, blondie. You’re just mad I stuck your grant request in the shredder.”
“You better watch the way you speak to my wife,” I barked.
Catherine didn’t look fazed, but the way she slid her hand into mine wasn’t lost on me. “Are you heading out?”
“Heading out?” Lewis cackled. “Why would I head out? I’m going to hang around the estate for a while. After all, my grandfather always made sure I was welcome here.”
“You are welcome here,” I said sincerely. “We’re still brothers.”
“Half brothers,” Lewis corrected with a sneer of haughty derision.
“I think Hallie’s planning a big brunch tomorrow. You’re welcome to join us,” Catherine offered.
“Excellent.” Lewis clapped his hands together. “Then I hope it doesn’t bother you that I’ll be right on the other side of the wall.” He tapped the space between Catherine’s and his bedrooms. “All night long.”
Catherine’s grip on my hand tightened.
“You see, I expected you two to be off on your honeymoon, defiling some tacky hotel suite outside of the Dulles airport before you jet off to a cliché beach resort in the Caribbean.” He scoffed. “At least, that’s what real newlyweds would do.”
“Is that what you and your wife did?” I countered with a bit of snark in my voice.
Lewis cackled. “Her? That’s just some woman I paid to marry me in Vegas. I don’t need a big ceremony to convince people I’m married. The paper is all that matters, and now I have one too.” He jabbed a finger in my direction. “So you better watch your back. This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Catherine said. “But congratulations to you both. I can’t wait to meet my new sister-in-law.”
I was supposed to walk into my bedroom. Catherine was supposed to walk into hers. Boundaries. Rules. That’s what we had planned on. This was the point where we were supposed to get off scot-free.
But from the way Lewis was staring us down, I knew he would use every minuscule reason he could find to call our bluff.
And I couldn’t risk that.
I kissed Catherine’s temple. “Ready for bed, sweetheart?”
Her eyes met mine. Silent questions danced between us both.
What the fuck do we do now?
Your room or mine?
Does one of us sleep on the balcony?
Is he going to be listening? Gross.
“Goodnight, Lewis,” Catherine said in that sugar-sweet voice, then tugged on my hand, leading me into her bedroom.
Maybe we should have gone into mine, since it didn’t share a wall with Lewis, but her room was bigger. I had given it to Catherine so she would have all the space she could ever want.
Space. That was what I needed. Space, and a lot of it.
The click of the door closing behind us was barely audible, but it might as well have been a gunshot. The room smelled of the sultry floral perfume she had been wearing that day. It was hypnotizing. Alluring. Intoxicating.
I had been hanging on by a thread all day, doing my best to respect those boundaries that I wanted so badly to blur.
But now? I was fucked.