Chapter 3

     ▪️ Emily ▪️

          “Yeah, well, I paid for it. Trust me.”

      “Hangover?” Olivia cast her a sympathetic glance and gave her arm a squeeze. “Make sure you drink lots of water.”

        “Now who’s hovering?” Emily teased her as she continued to pour from the pitcher. “But yeah. You know I don’t get drunk. Guess I let it all get to me.”

     “I know you’ve been my big sister who never stopped watching out for me, but it’s time you got your own life in order.”

                        “My life is fine.”

        “Because you have none. All you do is work and go home, and until now, worry about me.”

       Emily squirmed. “I didn’t mind. And I have a life. I go to the theater and ballet. I work out.”

       “That’s not a life, when you do it with people you don’t care about.” A painful noise escaped her, one Emily never wanted to hear from her pretty face. “You’re not fooling me. We know you bury yourself in the company and give it your everything. But it’s time for you to take a breather and enjoy yourself.”

      “Why does everyone think I need a partner to be happy? I’m fine on my own.”

      “How would you know? You’ve never even tried. You’ve spent your life watching over me. Not that I don’t love you to pieces, but you need to find another outlet. Liam and I want to start a family and—”

       Emily laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll manage. Contrary to what you might think, I’m not a loser who sits by herself in the dark.”

     She either went places by herself or hired someone to come along with her when hse needed a plus one. Not for sex, for companionship. Her physical needs had dwindled to minimal.

     “What was Ace talking about before? You hanging out together?”

               “Nothing. Who knows with him?”

     Olivia gave her one of those looks that said, We’ll talk later. “I have to go say hi to some people.” She rose from her seat but bent to put her lips to his ear. “I saw you two leave the reception together. So who’s fooling who?”

      Remaining silent, Emily ground her teeth and proceeded to attack the rest of her breakfast.

    Liam slid into the seat Olivia vacated. “What’s gotten into you?”

     “Nothing.” Emily stabbed at the butter and spread it on her croissant.

      “Liar. After all these years together, you think you can foist me off with a ‘nothing’ while you’re busy murdering perfectly good pastry?”

Emily contemplated telling Liam the truth, but the thought of her best friend knowing she’d had drunken sex with his brother gave her a migraine of epic proportions.

            “I had too much to drink last night.”

                      “I know. I saw.”

                  Emily set her knife down. “Oh?”

    “Yeah. But it wasn’t the fact that you got smashed. That I could understand.” A glint appeared in Liam's the eyes. “It was who you were getting drunk with.”

     “Just say what you want to already.” Emily's fingers curled around the edge of the table.

       “My brother? Really, Emily? You couldn’t even be in the same room without wanting to kill him. You thought he was a do-nothing party boy.”

                       “Nothing’s changed.”

           “Noth—are you kidding? Don’t you remember?”

          Her stomach fell. “What’re you talking about?”

      “You and Ace were doing shots together. You started dancing, and it became pretty, uh…intense.”

      “Oh, God. Noooo.” Emily buried het head in her hands. “Kill me now.”

    “Yeah. I knew something was wrong when Ace had to drag you away from the bar. If my brother’s the sane one, there’s a problem. But, …” Liam bit his lip, and Emily braced herself. “You left the ballroom together. What happened?”

       For the first time, she lied to her best friend, now brother-in-law. “I have no idea.”

                 ▪️Ace▪️

       Ace watched his brother and Emily talking quietly with their heads together, and he wondered if Emily would tell Liam the truth or if she’d lie about their night together.

         Who am I kidding? Ace thought. That woman would sooner commit murder than admit to having sex with me. Ace drank more of his mimosa, popped a piece of fruit into his mouth, and chewed, staring off into space.

        He might’ve been a little drunk last night himself, but he’d known exactly what he was doing when he got naked and into Emily's bed. 

           No need to lie to himself. For years he’d imagined what having sex with his brother’s gorgeous best friend would be like. They might’ve sniped at and taunted one another and butted heads when he was younger, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t attracted to the woman. Perversely, the more Emily flayed him with her harsh words, the more Ace enjoyed poking the bear.

       And God knew, he’d enjoyed holding her down and pounding her.

            Having experienced what he felt like inside Emily, Ace was sure he was now ruined for anyone else. Hours later, his body still hummed with satisfaction, and he could almost feel Emily's hot, probing tongue on him. 

        It had left no part of his body untouched, and Emily heaved a sigh of frustration, knowing it was unlikely to ever happen again.

           Who knew that under that power suit-and-tie shield of armor lay a sexual animal? Emily might be the most goody two shoe he’d ever met, but when she let go, it was as if a dam broke, releasing a flood of emotional desperation.

           From his angle, he watched Emily pale and that jaw of hers tighten. If she wanted to pretend the night between them hadn’t happened, fine with Ace. He’d never lacked for a bed partner. But the years had brought a sea change inside him, and he’d decided he’d tired of the nomadic life. He wanted to settle down. He wanted to come home.

         And what better time than his big brother’s wedding?

           Liam left Emily to her meal and slid into the seat next to Ace. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

         Curious to hear what Emily had said, Ace asked nonchalantly, “What happened? When?” and popped another piece of fruit into his mouth.

          Liam gave him the side-eye. “You know, you’re giving me the same runaround Jude did, which tells me nothing.”

                     “What exactly did he say?”

        Liam's lips thinned. “That she had no idea what happened. Which, as we know from Emily, is an impossibility. Emily doesn’t forget anything.”

              “She does if she’s drunk,” Ace mumbled.

                     “What?” Liam pounced.

            Ace contemplated Emily face noting the slump of her shoulders. This had to be a hard time for Emily. Sympathy welled inside him; he didn’t want to kick the woman when he was down.

        “Nothing. Emily had too much to drink, and I brought her back to her room and made sure she went to bed.”

                         All true.

    “And that’s it? Nothing happened between you two?”