Page 73 of Honor

Since the neighboring houses are a good distance away, silence fills the air.

Basil breaks it by clearing his throat. “If that’s all, sir, I’ll head back to the city now.”

“That’s all,” Randall tells him before I can get a word in. “Reid can catch a ride back with my friend tomorrow, or if he wants, he can board the party van with us on Sunday.”

Basil suppresses a chuckle by covering it with a cough. “I’ve already made arrangements with Mr. Hunt for his return trip to Manhattan.”

“Sure, whatever.” Randall isn’t holding a drink in his hand, but the slight slurring of his words tells me he’s already indulged in more than one.

Since it’s almost eight, he’s had more than enough time for a couple of drinks on the road, as well as a few since he got here.

Basil’s eye catches mine. “I’m just a text away, sir.”

I can read between those lines. Basil will be close to his phone in case I need to break free of this bachelor party early.

“Thanks for the lift, Basil.”

His eyes widen since I rarely offer gratitude in any form other than financially. “You’re very welcome, Mr. Hunt.”

With that, he gets back in the SUV and takes off, leaving me to find a way to soldier through the next twenty-two hours without staring non-stop at my executive assistant.

“Come inside,” Randall says, motioning toward the door. “Everyone is hanging out by the pool.”

A brief image of Miss Starling in a bikini flashes through my mind before I strategically ask if she’s already here. “Who is everyone?”

“Pete, Linus, Kyle,” he lists names of men I’ve never heard of. “That’s Jimmy’s car there. Like I said, Reid, you can catch a ride with him tomorrow. It would save Basil the drive.”

I glance at the black BMW parked near one of the closed garage doors.

“Is Charlotte here?” I skirt around the question I really want to ask. I want to know if Evangeline is here, so I ask about his fiancée since I assume they’re making the drive up together.

Slapping me on the shoulder, he chuckles. “You don’t know Charlotte very well yet, but you’ll come to see that it takes her forever to pack for anywhere. They’ll be here within the hour. Apparently, she rented a car, and Evie’s driving them up.”

I smile. “Evie can drive?”

He studies my face. “It sounds like you know her as well as you know my fiancée.”

He’s right about that, but I’m not going to own it.

“You’re not staying long enough to get to know either of them better.” He laughs. “No surprise there, though. It’s always been all work and no play for Reid Hunt.”

If that’s my reputation, I don’t take issue with it. Hard work got me where I am, and I have very few complaints about it.

“Unless you’re heading back to the city early for some fun and games.”

I leave that unanswered even though a simplenowould put his suspicions to rest.

“Speaking of games, I wanted to give you a heads up that we’ll be teeing off before lunch,” he says. “Just us guys, though.”

Evangeline will likely hang out with Charlotte by the pool while Randall takes his friends, including me, golfing tomorrow since there’s a course not far from here. We went there with Randall’s folks when we were kids. He loved it. I couldn’t hit a ball with a club to save my life.

I haven’t had a minute alone with Evie since I blurted out that I wondered if she would kiss a man like me. The words escaped me before I had a chance to think them through. I don’t think she even heard me. Still, it was a momentary slip that I can’t let happen again.

I can’t kiss my assistant.

Once this damn wedding is over, we’ll go back to only seeing each other at the office. That’s how it should be. It’s more professional and a hell of a lot less dangerous than being at a beach house with endless alcohol.

“Let’s get you that drink.” Randall gestures toward the house. “I want to toast to the weekend ahead because I know it’ll be one we’ll never forget.”

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