Page 17 of Love and Other Trials
He wasn’t going to snort. He was going to be a good person. Forget he and Rob had ever talked.“Okay…”
“It’s a terrible idea, I know, but at least I talked her out of putting goldfish in jars on the wedding tables. PETA and animal lovers—myself included—aren’t in favor of using animals for entertainment purposes. I tried to convince her to have a cocktail party at the aquarium, but she wouldn’t spring for it. This was the best I could negotiate.”
“I’ll shower and get changed.” He passed her in the hall. “Maybe we have something we need to pick up before we land the fish.”
“What’s that?”
“Garlic,” he called teasingly over his shoulder.
Her hearty laughter rang through the house.
FIVE
Garlic.
Maybe they really should stop and buy some when Dax got out of the shower.
The shower…
Oh, good heavens, the images in her naughty mind. Dax all wet and naked with steam rising around him, muscles rippling as he washed. In her relievedthe wedding was still oneuphoria—okay, she was a little conflicted for Dax—she could all too easily see his hot body and smell the clove-scented resort shower soap as he slicked his skin with it.
But she was getting a little hot herself as she waited for him in the living area, so she picked up her phone and smiled.
Jeffrey had texted. Yeah. She needed to update him. Or maybe not the part about Tiffany. He might rib Tiffany about it, causing unneeded explosions.
Best Brother Ever
Hey! I heard you’d shacked up with Captain Hotpants already. Oooh! Way to trust my feeling about you two. Girl, I am so proud of you. Forget the Three Tornadoes bitching about you not babysitting their babies. Yes, I heard. Take that tall hunk in hand.
She snorted, all too easily imagining taking Dax’s eggplant in hand. He’d be big and gorgeous and hot.
We’re bonding. It’s crazy. Maybe it’s the fact that we both have high-risk professions. Also—he’s normal.
Best Brother Ever
I knew it! He looks like the all-American boy. Perfect for you. Have you smooched?
Not yet. Close. Last night it would have been like kissing a narcoleptic or someone sleepwalking.
Best Brother Ever
You’re not tired now, right? Girl, you’d better jump that man, or I will tie him to your bed for you.
You’re the best. Best to have him the first time without zip ties…
Best Brother Ever
Depends on what you’re going for. You know where Home Depot is… Talk later. Antonio is finally stirring.
Ariel was so glad Jeffrey was happy. He’d had a few long-term relationships, but none had worked out so far. But that hadn’t stopped him from believing in love, and that was where they differed.
She wasn’t sure there was happily ever after for people like her. Although she’d never been married, she had one failed engagement in her past, which seemed to prove that she was a Deverell woman after all. Part of a family tree that looked more like a bush, honestly, because no one in her family had lasted. On either side.
But her brother was determined to find his prince, and if Antonio was his forever plus-one, she’d be cheering them both on with all her might.
She checked on a few more wedding items before heading to the front door to see if her golf cart rental had arrived since Dax still hadn’t appeared. Opening the door with Sherlock, she stopped short as her mother halted halfway up the steps. “Mother!”
“Ariel!”She sprang up the final stairs in a green linen sundress with youthful pep for a sixty-two-year-old, something fostered by her regular yoga classes and daily wellness juices. “I’m sorry I missed you last night, but I was beat from traveling. If I’d been up, I would have run to the airport for you.”
