Hayes #2
I sigh and stare at the phone again. I dial and wait for the phone to connect. Music and loud voices greet me before my brother does.
“Merry Christmas, Hater. You and our perfect little Paige having a good time in Savannah?” Zander says when he answers.
I grit my teeth and try to remember he’s family and I can’t disown him. “Zander. Where are you right now? It’s ten in the morning and you’re partying?”
“I’m in Aspen with some friends. We wanted a white Christmas and the snow bunnies provided.”
I roll my eyes. Of course, Zander is off fucking some models or actresses in the snow. “I hope you don’t have plans for New Year’s Eve.”
“Actually, I do. I was going to hit up Abu Dhabi and meet up with a Sheikh friend who throws the best New Year’s parties.”
“I guess you’ll have to miss the wedding of the century,” I say, almost glad he’ll be out of the country. “Paige’s family insisted on an actual wedding and we’re throwing it in Savannah. I’ll save you a piece of cake if I can.”
“Fuck me,” Zander says, with genuine sadness. “I’ll cancel my plans if you let me throw you the best bachelor party ever. I know exactly what you need. No strippers and blow, I know that’s not your thing, but we can do this up good. We gotta do Vegas.”
“I’m already married, Zand. There is no need to go to Vegas and do some bullshit bachelor party, especially not if you’re throwing it.
I will end up arrested and on every gossip site in the country before the night is over.
That’s exactly what we need with Olympus already dealing with all this bullshit.
” I scrub my hand down my face, smoothing out the furrow between my brows.
Zander gives me a headache. Not everything has to be an adrenaline rush and dopamine dump.
“Fuck no, man! I’m talking racing supercars at the Las Vegas raceway and penthouse suites, clubbing ’til three, and the hottest girls around falling all over themselves to sit on your lap. That kind of thing.”
“I own a one-of-a-kind multimillion-dollar Maybach plus a garage full of supercars, and I can stay in any penthouse at any hotel in the world. Why would I choose Vegas and a night or more away from Paige?”
“Goddamn, you are a goner.” Zander’s voice carries legitimate shock like he can’t imagine a world in which what he offered would be a temptation anyone could pass up. It’s not even a consideration, honestly. “So, no bachelor party, at all?”
“I don’t need one and there’s really no time.”
I pause and wonder if I actually want some sort of last hurrah to my single life.
I have fucked my share of willing and interested women who got my cock to jump and scoured the world for the next car, property, or business that would satisfy my urge to conquer and have something coveted.
As soon as Paige stepped into my life, my desire for any other woman, any activity that would keep me away from her, just…
dematerialized. What Zander offers doesn’t even give me a tiny flicker of interest.
“You can have your own party at The Abyss after the rehearsal dinner if you want. I’ll give you the manager’s number and you can go crazy. Just show up on time for the wedding, because you’re a groomsman and can’t be shit-faced at my wedding.”
“You’re such a downer, Hater. I knew you were no fun, but this is epically bad. You need to have something, even a small bachelor party. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. There has to be something fun to do in Slow-vannah. It can’t all be historic homes and themed restaurants, right?”
“Whatever, Zand. Just be there by Friday morning and bring a tux or I’ll make you rent one.”
“Gross,” he says with what sounds like a shudder at the thought. “Later, Hater.” The call disconnects before I can say goodbye.
That’s two calls down.
The third takes a while to connect, ringing a few times before Payton answers. “Speak of the devil,” he says instead of hello. Why can’t my family just answer a call normally?
“Talking about me, again?”
“Oh, just checking out the Atlanta Haute List this morning and seeing you and Paige front and center, once again. There may or may not be a mob of fangirls outside that pretty new house you recently inhabited. The Haute List just about printed your address for the South. Who knew doxing would make it to gossip sites that usually preserve just a tiny bit of privacy for their main stories?”
Shit. “How is that stupid site able to get this much access to us? Who do I have to fire next to make the damn leaks stop?”
“Don’t underestimate the willingness of those around you to share every detail when given the chance. Your realtor probably shared the details before the ink was dry on the papers.”
He sounds almost bored, and I wonder at the amount of information in his head after all these years of searching out every last article, blog, and story about us to ensure our public image and mystique is maintained.
“Anyway, why are you calling? Shouldn’t you be snorting Christmas cookies off Paige’s ass or something?”
I let out a surprised laugh. “Now, that’s a picture I won’t be able to get out of my head anytime soon. I may have some new dinner plans.”
It’s Payton’s turn to laugh. “Glad I could be of service.”
I try to stop thinking about Paige’s ass, and the delectable things I could do to it, and return to the reason for my call. “We’re getting married, for real. New Year’s Eve in Savannah. I want you to be my best man, so cancel whatever plans you may have had and get your ass down here by Friday.”
“So, you’re doing this right, after all?”
“Paige’s parents—her mom, really—are insistent. She seems to think a big-ass wedding will solve our problems, both for me and Paige personally as well as helping with Olympus’s rep right now.”
“She’s not wrong,” he says, repeating my exact thoughts when it was brought to the table.
“A wedding, especially a big one, with lots of media coverage, could be good for everyone. The mine stuff is working its way out of the headlines and the holidays have given media outlets more to talk about than just what we are or aren’t doing for our workers overseas.
I have a contact at Blush Magazine who would pay big bucks for an exclusive after the wedding. ”
I bristle. “There is no way I am going to sell myself, or our story, to a magazine.”
“Not like that. What I’m talking about would cement your status as America’s sexiest couple, and the It Couple‘s wedding would mean your story would be in the hands of housewives and horny fans all over the country who would be talking about it with husbands, business partners, and more. Where popular opinion goes, so does the news coverage. It’s good press, and exactly what we need. ”
“I’ll take your word for it, but I don’t like it. Paige is incredibly private. She won’t be interested in a magazine feature, even if I sell it the way you just did.”
“And thank God for that. Can you imagine if Paige was live streaming your entire relationship for the world to see? Every interaction would be even more dissected than it already is. If she was posting cutesy photos and videos of everything nice you did, or vague posting about every fight, how much more fire would that feed?”
I shake my head, wondering at the social media-averse woman I fell in love with and how it could have been so different. I’m a lucky sonofabitch.
“So, you’ll be my best man?” I ask, not liking where my brain goes when it imagines the other possibilities for my life, and how easily I could fuck up the best thing I’ve ever had if I’m not careful.
“Of course I will. Did you tell Zand already or does he think he’s planning some God-awful last-minute bachelor party for you?”
I chuckle. “I told him he was a groomsman and could have a party after the rehearsal dinner if he wanted, but it wouldn’t be a bachelor party for me. I don’t want one.”
“Of course you don’t,” Payton says with finality. “There’s nothing that could compare to spending another night with Paige, even if her mama is gonna do everything in her power to keep you separated the night before the wedding and you’ll have nothing better to do.”
An icy chill goes down my spine. Would Caroline insist on just that, despite us being legally married already? Yes, she absolutely would. “Fuck.”
“So we’ll do something small and classy, just a few guys from Olympus. You’re inviting at least senior leadership, right?”
“I will now. Caroline has been pretty closed fist on all things wedding planning. I had to put my foot down to get her to loosen up her chokehold so Paige could ask for the one thing she actually wanted out of a big wedding, and that wasn’t a pretty fight.
We could use someone like Caroline Thackery Fairchild on our negotiating team.
No one would stand a chance against that titan. ”
“She sounds fierce. I can see where Paige gets it from.”
A smile turns up the corner of my mouth. “Paige is something else entirely. She doesn’t have to be fierce to be a great leader. She has everyone under her spell without having to crack a whip.”
“Okay, that’s enough swooning for now, save it for the Blush feature. I’ll get you connected with Jenyssa, my contact and she will reach out for an interview and photos once the wedding is over. Text me the itinerary and what to wear. I’ll see you later.”
With that call ended, I’m finally able to go back to work. It doesn’t take long to be so engrossed in everything that the door opening to the office startles me.
“Hayes? It’s after six.” I look up and catch Paige’s worried face.
Despite that, she looks incredible, wearing a soft-looking camel-colored sweater dress and knee-high boots that make her legs look so goddamn good.
She turns to shut the door and her ass is a sight in the tight dress.
Payton’s quip about Christmas cookies comes back to me, and I’m growing uncomfortably hard at an alarming rate.