Page 75 of One Wealthy Wedding

I shake my head. “I really don’t think so.” If he does, it will just be biology, like it was when I was on his lap last weekend.

We walk back to the pool deck. “We’ll see about that,” she says. “I do so love to see a man brought low.”

I choke a laugh and step onto the deck. The air is freezing without my sweater. Lane yelps, and we hustle over to the pool, where steam swirls into the night air. The water is blissfully warm, almost hot tub temperature. I sink gratefully in, all the way to my chin. My eyes snag on Theo, who is talking to a pretty brunette. I look away. Theo can talk to whomever he wants. This marriage will be over in eleven months. He won’t be alone forever.

Miles swims over, stealthy and silent in the water, and splashes Lane from behind. “Miles,” she exclaims. “I’ll kill you.” He pulls her into the water against his chest, grinning and kissing her neck. “You like me too much,” I hear him tell her while she pushes at his chest. My friends’ antics make me smile. Lane is lucky. And Theo is still talking to that woman. She puts her hand on his arm. His bare arm. I can’t blame her. He has nice arms. They’re slick with water and firm with muscle, but not so much that he looks like a gym bro. Strong too, my traitorous brain reminds me.

Don’t go there.

But I always go there. Not a week goes by that I don’t remember that kiss and the way Theo held me up in the water, like he would always be there to protect me. And like every time, an ache starts inside me, and I inevitably think of the next night. When I got all dressed up for a party Theo begged me to attend, and I walked in to see a girl on his lap. His hands on her waist, a smile playing on his mouth, and every ounce of his attention on her.

Like it is now.

My chest constricts, and it’s not jealousy. Not all of it, at least. I shouldn’t have made assumptions. We were just friends. Theo owed me nothing.

I turn for the bar. I need a drink. Theo sees me and straightens. From here, I can see his expression sharpen. He scans me, his jaw flexing. He steps forward, ignoring what the woman is saying. My heart starts a frantic beat in my chest. I feel like prey.

Before he can take more than a single step, I hear “Cat” in Cole’s deep voice. I turn. Theo’s brother is there, with Grant, their goalie.

“Captain Archer,” I say.

“I was hoping you’d be here,” Grant says with a flirty smile.

Cole smiles but quickly rolls his lips between his teeth.

“Were you?” I raise my brows.

Grant nods. He really is handsome. Both he and Cole are slabbed with muscle, and Grant has a hard-edged beauty to him until he smiles and his face softens.

But nothing about him makes my pulse pound like Theo does.

“Company is bad at these, but now it’s way better,” Grant says.

Cole snorts. “Speak for yourself,” Cole says mildly. “I’m perfectly happy.”

Grant grins. “He’s going to escape in twenty minutes to go read, just watch him.”

I laugh. “Sounds great,” I say. “I have to study later, or I’d be reading too.”

“Study?” Grant cocks his head. “For what?”

“I’m getting my MBA.” I wait for the inevitable surprise that an heiress would be in school, but instead, Grant’s eyes flare with interest, and he steps closer.

“Tell me about it,” he says. His eyes are intent on me, and a frisson of awareness skitters under my skin.

Cole gets called away by a teammate, and it’s just Grant and me in the shallow end of the pool.

“My favorite class is the two-week intensive on mergers and acquisitions. Corporate takeovers. Levered buyouts. Tender offers.”

“Mmm, tender offers.” He wags his brows, before grinning sheepishly. “Sorry,” he says. “Tell me more.”

I open my mouth to respond, but I hear “Hitting on my wife?” in Theo’s deep voice before his arms slide around my waist.

25

Theo

Grant fucking Dawson is hitting on my wife. I should have been at her side this whole time instead of talking to Jonah’s sister. I knew this would happen. Cat’s wearing a bathing suit that must be specifically designed to make me want her, because I can’t stop thinking about yanking it down. Grant is probably thinking the same thing.

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