Page 34 of A Crane Family New Year

“Be careful. Got it,” Zander said for his brother’s benefit.

“I gotta go. Someone was asking for me.”

“I heard. Have fun.”

“I always do. Tell J to stay away from the band. She’s got her eye on one of them, and I don’t want to have to make a Chicago house call to kick some dude’s ass.”

Zander opened his mouth to respond, but Brody had ended the call.

When he lowered the phone and turned around, Jaylyn was standing behind him, her arms folded over her chest.

“I wondered where you and Chloe disappeared to.” She shifted her weight onto one hip and gave him her sternest expression. “I need details.”

Chloe had never done an actual walk of shame, so it seemed unfair that her foray would be into a room filled with billionaires. Maybe they wouldn’t notice. She’d taken a few extra minutes to fluff her hair and reapply her lipstick. Other than a few missing crystals on her dress, she looked virtually the same as when she’d arrived.

She accepted the glass of water from the bartender. She was parched after the bedroom acrobatics with Zander. There hadn’t been any eyes on her when she reentered the room—everyone had been involved in their own conversations, but there was at least one pair on her now.

Rachel parted the crowd with her pregnant belly, her blond hair bouncing around her small shoulders.

“Well, well, well.” The other woman collected her own glass of water from the bartender. “Where have you been? Take yourself on another tour?”

Chloe sipped from her glass to bide time. Rachel did the same, her blue eyes expectant. Since Rachel was stone sober thanks to the baby incubating her belly, her senses were keener than most.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chloe angled away from the bartender.

Rachel followed, and then dropped the act. “Please, please tell me what happened.” She went as far as to fold her hands in prayer pose around her glass. She offered a dazzling smile. “Please?”

Chloe stole a look over her shoulder. Far as she could tell, Zander hadn’t reentered the party yet. He’d been talking to someone on the phone when she’d bypassed him. “Zander and I?—”

“I knew it,” a different voice, this one over Chloe’s left shoulder, said. Isabella stepped around her to stand next to Rachel. “I knew you two were going to hit it off. I told you I’d find you someone.”

Even though meeting Zander had nothing to do with Isa, Chloe smiled.

“What happened?” Isa asked.

“That’s what I’m in the process of finding out,” Rachel told Isa with a note of impatience.

“What are we finding out?” Merina glided over, entered the circle, and arched one perfectly plucked eyebrow.

“Zander and Chloe sneaked off the dance floor earlier. Then they vanished.” Rachel wiggled her fingers dramatically. “That was nearly forty minutes ago.”

“Forty minutes,” Isa trilled. “That’s enough time to get up to something fun.”

“Chloe. We are going to think the worst unless you tell us what happened.” Rachel leveled with her.

“Or the best,” Merina added.

Chloe typically told Isa everything, so her asking was no surprise. She wasn’t used to telling all to Rachel and Merina, but she didn’t doubt for a second that they had her best intentions in mind. Plus, she needed to talk about what she was feeling and thinking. She had no earthly clue how to handle this situation, or what to say to him when she saw him again…which would happen sooner than later.

“Okay, but not here.” Chloe grabbed Isa’s arm and walked with her to the far wall. Rachel and Merina scuttled after them. Once their huddle had moved away from the bulk of the crowd to a quiet corner, Chloe confessed. “We know each other.”

“You mean, like biblically?” Rachel joked.

“Tag is rubbing off on you,” Isa said with a chuckle.

“All they do is rub on each other.” Merina pointed to Rachel’s belly. Rachel’s cheeks glowed a happy shade of pink. Merina gestured to Chloe. “Go on.”

Chloe inhaled and said a silent prayer that the ladies understood where she was coming from. “We met online—on an app for artists. He posts paintings, and I share my photos.”

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