“Ohoho. We get it, lovebirds,” Cole said. Ryker whistled when we broke apart.
Ryker and Cole had a similar build—both were over six foot two. Both had deep blue eyes, but Ryker had dark blond hair while Cole’s was jet-black. Somehow that gave him a (completely unearned) gentlemanly air, while Ryker often looked as if he belonged on a concert stage rather than on Wall Street. He did play the guitar in local bars after work sometimes, when he unleashed all that bad boy charm.
All of our plans to tackle the family one member at a time went down fast. Skye and Tess were cornering me. To my astonishment, the guys were cornering Hunter. At least, that’s what I thought they were doing. They were at the opposite end of the room, but Hunter looked pretty surrounded to me. I’d have felt sorry for him if I wasn’t so desperate myself.
Amelia and Mick were chatting, occasionally glancing at me or Hunter.
“We need to throw you an epic bachelorette party,” Tess said. She and Skye exchanged conspiratorial glances.
Skye clapped her hands. “Yup. Alcohol will flow. We need to lure out every single detail. When did you first start having the hots for Hunter? Why didn’t you tell us? How long has this been going on?”
Shit, shit, shit. I was certain I could survive an interview with the immigration services and lie through my teeth. But I wasn’t sure I could survive Tess and Skye, especially if there was alcohol involved. I’d never been able to lie to them. And they looked at me as if they were expecting answers right now. I didn’t have any.
I glanced in Hunter’s direction and blew out a relieved breath when I caught his eye. I hoped my expression conveyed just how desperate I was.
It must have, because Hunter stalked toward us. I got up from the couch where I was sitting with the girls, and he walked right into my personal space, placing an arm around my shoulders.
“Hey! Stop accosting my future wife.”
I shuddered. It was the first time he’d said wife.
“But she won’t tell us anything.” Tess pouted.
“Maybe it’s a sign you should stop asking.”
Tess grinned. “Or a sign that I have to dig deeper.”
Skye elbowed her. “Let them keep their secrets for now. We have all the time in the world to question her during the bachelorette party.”
“When are we going dress shopping?” Tess asked.
“I don’t want a white dress.”
I realized this was a mistake the second the words were out of my mouth. Because guess who knew that I’d dreamed about a white dress forever? Tess.
She might have bought my change of heart about the ring, but she’d never believe I didn’t want a white dress.
“You’re kidding, right?” Tess asked incredulously. “You’ve always wanted a white dress. Remember that time we went shopping for bridesmaid dresses for Mom’s wedding and you tried one on for fun?”
I blushed. Of course, I remembered.
“There’s not enough time to find the right one,” I said lamely. “Better just to have an evening dress.”
“Nonsense. With a body like yours, you’ll find something off the rack that fits you.”
Hunter came to my defense. “Girls, don’t pester her. Let her have whatever she wants.”
“Promise me at least that you’ll try any dresses off the rack that catch your eye,” Tess said.
And maybe it was the fact that Tess was giving us a funny look, or that I couldn’t resist the idea of trying on wedding gowns, but I found myself nodding. Oh boy, it was easy to get swept up in all of this.
“I don’t understand the rush,” Tess said.
“When you know, you know,” Hunter declared confidently, and everyone within earshot melted...including me.
Chapter Seven
Hunter
Next week was a shitshow. Somehow, everyone in my circle had gotten wind of the engagement. I had to field calls left and right. I had no time to answer questions like When’s the wedding? Where? When can we meet the bride?
The biggest problem was that everyone I spoke to was expecting an invitation. I’d promised Josie a small party, and I wanted to respect that promise.
That proved to be wishful thinking when Tess showed up at my apartment one morning with breakfast.
“To what do I owe this surprise?” I asked as we sat at the bar counter just in front of my kitchen.
“I need to talk to you about the wedding.”
“Okay.”
Amelia and Tess had declared they wanted to be the official organizers. Josie and I had been relieved. Neither of us was in a state to deal with that.
“You said you want a small party, but I don’t think it’s possible. The sheer number of people who expect to be invited is astronomic.”
“How is that even possible?”
Tess grinned. “Hunter, you’re famous in this city. Not only because of your business. Our charity parties are notorious. Everyone knows and loves the Ballroom Galas. We’ve done well with that.”
She was right. Years ago, my company renovated an older building on the Upper East Side. I ended up keeping it. Now it houses two different ballrooms where we organize charity events we call the Ballroom Galas. All my cousins were involved. It was our joint project.
Cole and I brought in high-profile donors. Ryker, Tess, and Skye were masters at organizing events. We’d come up with the concept together, betting on the fact that fancy events would make donors part with their money easily, and we’d been right.
The ball season ran from September to June. We had several events spread throughout that period. Whenever we didn’t have galas, we rented the rooms out to event companies.
“And I had an idea. Given the size, we should have the wedding in one of the ballrooms.”
“Do we really have to invite everyone?”
“It would be rude not to invite your business partners and the biggest donors at the galas.”
“I’ll run this by Josie and get back to you.” I didn’t want to make this even harder for her.
Tess watched me carefully.
“What?” I asked.
“My spidey-senses tell me something’s not right... but I can’t quite tell what. Why don’t you fess up?”
“What do you mean?”
“You tell me.”
I stubbornly held her gaze, hoping she’d change the subject. She narrowed her eyes but shook her head.
“By the way, Ryker’s throwing your bachelor party.”
A real bachelor party to go with a fake wedding? I needed to stop it.
“Can you get me out of it?” I asked.
“No. And even if I could, I wouldn’t. It’s a milestone. You can’t miss it.”
“So why did you tell me? To torment me?”
She grinned. “No, to give you time to prepare.”
“How generous.”
“I’m throwing Josie’s party. Man, I’ve dreamed about finally throwing one of the girls a bachelorette party forever. I’m bringing out the big guns.”
“No strippers.”
Tess laughed. Laughed. “I don’t remember asking you.”
The thought of Josie putting her hands on another man... goddammit. No. I was getting increasingly possessive, and she was not mine.