A Night

"So, Lucky, how long do you plan to grace us with your presence?" Becket asked his fiance's best friend as he studied the interaction between the women seated on the sofa. It had been three days since Lucky showed up in his house without an invitation. He didn't get many guests, but for those he did have, he required them to ask beforehand. There were the occasional run-ins with his drunk friends or his meddlesome parents, but even his brother and cousins had the decency to give him a heads-up. He watched Cherokee push herself sideways so she could look at him and her friend gave him the awful expression, as if he dared to ask her that question. 

"Is it a bother for her to be here?" Cherokee snapped. Something Beck did not expect to happen. The times that he had been around his new fiance, she was sweet. Full of hope, kind, and not at all like the display of raw emotion he just witnessed. 

"No. Not at all. I was just inquiring." Becket brought his attention back to his phone and tried to mask his expression as if he was studying an important email. That was far from the truth, though. He had been mindlessly scrolling through his phone. He wanted to take Cherokee out on a date. He wanted to be near her. Sure, they slept together every night, and that had been difficult enough for him to control himself. But he found himself wanting to be in her presence. It was a wreck in his brain. He knew he could never love anyone, not fully. He already drew up the contract. A few times, he thought about Cherry and how she acted around him. He was coming out of his shell. 

"I was going to leave tonight," Lucky mentioned with sarcasm laced on her lips that he knew he couldn't mistake. "I have a date with the Adams brothers." She giggled as she rose from her seat.

"What? Both of them?" Cherokee asked as she kept her brown eyes on her friend as Lucky made her way around the glass coffee table.

"Mmhmm," Lucky answered as she glanced at Beck, who watched Cherry's every move as if he was making mental notes of her movement. "I have been dating both of them,"

"OH, MY!" Cherokee squealed as she jumped up. "Lucky!" 

"Well, how lucky," Becket spoke as he looked up from his phone. Trying to look as sincere as possible. He knew his cousins well, sure they took plenty of women to bed and have been known to have sex with one girl at the same time. But to date one together? He would have to get to the bottom of it before his wedding.

"Yes! I am!" Lucky remarked as she shot Becket a glare before taking off down the hall to pack her bag.

"You should be nicer to Lucky," Cherokee stated as she heard the click of the guest bedroom door. "Lucky is my only family. We both only have each other." She walked around the table and made her way towards the hall. "She knows, by the way," 

So Cherokee told Lucky about their agreement? Maybe that was the reason why she was so hostile to him. He desperately wanted to go after her and tell her that he was her family, that he would be there for her, but he knew he couldn't. He knew he had to push aside his feelings and get through the wedding because, after a short time, he could get divorced and forget this whole fiasco. She broke the contract; he thought carefully. So, that's what he would focus on. She couldn't even hold out to get the money. "I'll have Reggie come around whenever you're ready!" He called out to Lucky. 

"Ugh, I'll just leave now," Lucky barged into the living room as she swung open the front door. Quickly Becket texted his driver to meet his fiance's best friend outside as he watched Cherry run after her. He didn't miss her narrowed eyes in his direction as she disappeared out the door. He surely didn't understand why she acted this way. He was nothing if not cordial toward her. Shrugging his shoulders, he stood up and walked into his bedroom. 

"Why did you say that to her?" Cherokee asked as she entered their bedroom. She watched as he stripped out of his black jeans and button down green plaid shirt. Unable to take her eyes off of his muscular build. 

"I only said when she was ready to let me know so that I could have Reggie take her home. Surely that was better than her taking a cab." He noticed her eyes roaming his body and normally he would have taken the opportunity and scooped her up and had his way with her. But not now, no he knew it was lust, and he just needed to get through this with no strings. "I'm going to shower...." He studied her jaw as it flexed open and closed like she wanted to retort, so he took the chance to make her uncomfortable. "Care to join me?" Throwing out a flirty grin, he walked into their bathroom in his underwear. 

Cherry didn't answer, she was too shocked at his physic and the words that came out his mouth. He must have been joking. This was a business deal. A transaction. There was no way he could be serious. So, she stomped off and sat back in the living room. She knew why Lucky was acting that way toward Becket. She had let it slip that she was beginning to fall for him, but she was sure he didn't feel the same. Lucky had to remind her that it wasn't real. Because there was no way he would ever fall for her. Not after what she heard from his own cousins the other day. That was the whole reason why she came over. It wasn't to hang out. It was to tell her about what kind of person he was and to see how Beck treated Cherry. Lucky wanted to make sure Cherry could keep her feelings in check. "Where are you going?" Cherokee asked when she saw Becket dressed in a suit, walking toward the front door.

"The office,"