He kissed me again, then said, “What do you say we take refuge in a heart-free zone and move this to the shower?”

  I’d follow him just about anywhere at that moment, and a shower sounded full of possibilities, depending on whether one time was enough for Holden or he was open to more.

  “A shower sounds good,” I said.

  He rolled to the side, severing our intimate connection, then slid to his feet. “Wait here.”

  The view as he walked to the bathroom was incredible—his ass was incredible—and I watched the muscles in it and his thighs shift with every step and let out a quiet sigh of appreciation.

  The water started, and a few seconds later, he emerged, plucked up the second condom from the nightstand, then surprised me by hoisting me off the bed in a cradle hold and carrying me into the bathroom. Turned out, he was open to more, and shower sex with Holden did not disappoint. I was reasonably certain no sex with Holden could ever disappoint.

  It was maybe an hour later, after our memorable shower and a sampling of the, of course, heart-shaped chocolates we’d found in a candy dish in the kitchen, that we were tucked back in bed, the throw pillows tossed to the floor, the lights out, and Holden back on his side of the bed and me on the other that it really hit me.

  By giving in to my years-long attraction and having sex with Holden, I’d upped the stakes incredibly. I might’ve told myself I would deal with the fallout later, that I’d somehow be okay, but lying there in the dark on my wedding night, I knew without a doubt… I was so screwed.

  My heart was going to be wholly, devastatingly crushed when this was over.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Holden

  I’d been married for two days—and two nights—and I had to admit… I could easily get used to this. I wouldn’t, because it had an expiration date in 363 days, but for now, “married with benefits” was rocking my world.

  It was Sunday morning, and Chloe and I were heading to the Dragonfly Diner for breakfast with my family, instigated by my sister, Hayden. Sometimes the youngest Henry and I butted heads, but since she’d married Zane and become a mom to the cutest little boy in the known universe, she’d mellowed around the edges and we got along better. I had to give her credit for excelling at her mom role, particularly after I’d doubted her when she and Zane had first confessed their oops.

  Hayden had insisted we Henrys get together to celebrate my marriage this morning before Cash and I had to head into the restaurant to oversee brunch. It fit Chloe’s and my agenda perfectly—our first married public appearance, which we’d both agreed needed to happen sooner rather than later. The bonus was I’d get some prime spoiling time with six-month-old Harrison.

  We’d decided to walk, since the diner was two blocks from my house and it was a bright, sunny spring day. As we turned onto Main, I took Chloe’s hand in mine. She outclassed me in my jeans and polo by a mile this morning, wearing tailored ankle pants, a tank, and a thigh-length draping wrap thing along with heels—lower than her usual, she’d claimed when I’d reminded her we were walking.

  I knew she was uneasy but I wasn’t sure why. She looked fantastic. We had this. We didn’t have to fake the affection between us, and we sure as hell didn’t have to fake the sparks.

  “You know my family already loves you, right?” I asked as we strolled past several businesses that weren’t yet open for the day—Posh Salon, Fat Cat Yarn Shop, Lake Girl Boutique. “Their shock has passed, and they just want to welcome you into the family.”

  “I know. Your family’s awesome. They were warm and welcoming at your dad’s wedding, even though I hadn’t seen most of them for years.” She flashed a smile I almost believed, but there was a slight wobble to it. “I’m still getting used to being back in town in general,” she said.

  We had to walk by the windowed front of the cafe to get to the door, and the place was crawling with people. As I glanced inside, eager to see who besides my family was there, I felt Chloe tense at my side.

  “I’m right here with you,” I said as we reached the door. I pulled it open and let her precede me in.

  The diner was on the corner, and not only was the front side windowed but the righthand wall was too, and booths lined both of them, back-to-back, their upholstery bright aqua. In the open space were faux-wood tables of four. On the left side of the diner, a single apple-green upholstered bench ran the entire length, from the front window to the back of the place, with four-toppers spaced evenly along it and two chairs per table opposite the bench. Nearly all of the tables were occupied, as was the counter at the very back.

  The Henry group took up three of those adjacent tables along the wall on the left, putting them pretty much right smack in the middle of everything. Chloe, I realized, wasn’t looking at them but rather was scoping out the place like some kind of fugitive who expected to be blindsided by the law. Her gaze lingered first on a table with Olivia, Anna, Maeve, and Emerson sitting around it, all focused on Olivia as she appeared to be telling a tale. Next, her gaze skipped over to the last table on the window side and paused there, where Magnolia and her fiancé were sitting across from each other.

  With my hand at the small of Chloe’s back, I gently nudged her toward my family, leaning down and saying into her ear, “Smile, EVP.”

  The nickname did its job, and by the time we reached the group, she appeared to have forgotten those she considered threats.

  “There he is,” my dad said. He sat with his back to the wall, next to Faye, the woman he’d married last month, who was smiling warmly as she got to her feet.

  “The other newlyweds,” Faye said as she held out her arms to Chloe for a hug. “It’s so good to see you again. Congratulations, Chloe.”

  They hugged while my dad slid out to give me an overzealous but quiet back-slap man-hug.

  “Hi, Dad.”

  “Congrats, son,” he said, his eyes crinkling at the corners with his approval.

  He and my new stepmom traded places, and Faye hesitated for a moment as she searched my face. Her reluctance was understandable since I’d struggled with my dad’s remarriage and hadn’t really embraced it until their wedding day.

  “Come here,” I said to her with a welcoming grin and my arms open.

  “I’m so happy for you two,” Faye said as she eagerly accepted the hug.

  Cash had his back to us, seated across from our dad and Faye, and once the older newlyweds were out of his way, he stood and hugged Chloe.

  “Welcome to the family officially,” he said. He’d given me congrats and skepticism yesterday at work and nodded at me now, saying, “Holden.”

  Next to Cash was his new BFF, Zane, Hayden’s husband. When Hayden had broken her pregnancy news to my brothers and me over a year ago, Cash had put on his badass brother act for all of about five minutes. Then he’d learned Zane was fresh out of the Navy, and the two had bonded over their military ties.

  “Congratulations, you two,” Zane said.

  “Thanks. It’s good to see you again,” Chloe said. She’d met Zane for the first time at my dad’s wedding.

  “Who is that?” Hayden asked in the baby voice she used for her beloved son. She sat at the end, on the other side of an empty high chair. Harrison, world’s cutest baby, was bouncing on her leg until she hugged him to her and stood. “Do you see Uncle Holden?”

  My favorite chubster of all time peered up at me with the corner of a slobbered-up soft purple block in his mouth, unsure blue eyes, and a serious expression on his rosy apple-cheeked face.

  I made my eyes go big, smile go exaggerated, and then I leaned in slowly toward him and said, “Hairrrrry baby!”

  Hayden pretended to hate my play on hairy and Harry, but then she’d started calling him Harry as well, despite insisting his name was Harrison—and only Harrison—when he’d been born.

  It was my destiny to be the kid’s favorite uncle, and little Harrison finally gave me what I was working for—a big, toothless grin and a near hit of my nose with the purple block. I held my hands out and took the boy from my sister.

  “Chloe,” Hayden said as she hugged my wife. “I can’t tell you how thankful I am to have another female in the family. With you and Faye, we’ve almost caught up.”

  “Until you count the North side of the family,” Seth said from his spot next to my dad. He’d also congratulated me and tossed me plenty of good-natured shit yesterday at Henry’s.

  “The North babies are throwing it all off,” Hayden said. The family she’d married into consisted of five sons, of whom Faye was the matriarch. Female genes were proving hard to come by even with the newest generation. “Besides Harrison”—she addressed Chloe—“Zane’s brother Mason has Jasper and Calvin. Gabe and Lexie have Wyatt. No girl babies to speak of so far.”

  “I’m considering offering a reward for the first granddaughter,” Faye said with a laugh.

  “Harrison’s darling,” Chloe said, watching the baby in my arms as I lifted him over my head then made motor noises as I lowered him to my face and kissed him. His giggle was infectious, his hesitancy completely gone.

  “Holden needs one of his own,” Hayden said, and Chloe’s eyes popped wider, as if she hadn’t even considered the possibility.

  Obviously, we hadn’t had anything resembling the do you want kids someday talk since we knew there was no someday for the two of us.

  “Can we just be married first?” I jumped in.

  “Of course.” Hayden didn’t miss a beat. “You just went from friends to engaged to married on fast-forward, so…” She shrugged. “You never know. These things happen.”

  Everyone at the table laughed, because this chunky, lovable baby in my arms qualified as these things, being the unplanned pregnancy that had brought Zane and Hayden together.

  “My unsolicited advice,” my sister continued, “is to take your time and do exactly what you said. Be married for a good bit first. While I love that little man to pieces, he comes with lots of stress.”

  As soon as Chloe slid in next to Seth and I sat on her other side, still holding my nephew, Maribella, one of the servers, came by to get Chloe’s and my drink orders. Chloe was looking over the menu, as were Faye and Zane, while the rest of us knew the offerings by heart and talked about Sergio Vega’s new-to-him Lincoln, which he used to drive Nigel, his Boston terrier, around the square every day like clockwork. After Maribella delivered our drinks, she took our orders and disappeared again.

  When everyone else was deep in conversation, Chloe leaned over and, peering back at Magnolia’s table, asked in a whisper, “Who’s she with?”

  “It’s her fiancé. Rick something. He’s from Nashville.”

  “I don’t understand what someone could possibly see in her. She’s pretty on the outside but…”

  “Possibly her daddy’s company. I believe he works for her old man.”

  “That makes more sense.” She shook her head. “All these years later and she still gets my dander up. I know she’s not worth it.”

  “She has that effect,” I said, hating that such an insecure, mean woman affected Chloe after all these years. Magnolia had always been the most heartless mean girl of them all but had kept a foot in the popular crowd by virtue of the lavish parties her parents would throw for her, and later, the parties she’d throw when they were out of town. “You shouldn’t worry about her anymore. You’re prettier, more successful, kinder, and a decent human to boot.”

  That drew a smile from Chloe, and she momentarily leaned her head into my shoulder, squeezed my arm, and affectionately tweaked Harrison’s little nose.

  A few minutes later, I’d just handed Harrison across the table to Zane to put him in the high chair when I heard Chloe’s intake of breath. At first I thought it was because the baby was so damn cute, but when I glanced at her, it was alarm I saw on her face. I followed her gaze to the main door, saw what she saw, or rather who, and I was still confused.

  Chloe

  My heart skipped a beat when my parents walked into the diner. Their appearance threw me off for two reasons. First, because my parents had never gone to restaurants much, other than when they came to Nashville and I treated. They’d never had the money for going out. The second reason I was shaken was because I had insta-guilt for not inviting them to this celebration.

  “We should’ve invited them,” I said quietly to Holden.

  “We’re having dinner with them in two days to celebrate,” he said. “They’re welcome to join us though.”

  He was right on both counts, and I relaxed slightly—I didn’t know if I would ever fully relax when out in the heart of Dragonfly Lake, frankly—and stood, slipping between the two tables to make my way toward my mom and dad.

  Before they spotted me, I was taken aback again as my mom beelined for a table along the front window. I slowed down as my dad followed her. They greeted a couple close to their age, my mom hugging the woman and my dad shaking hands with the guy, and then before I could get there, my parents slid into the booth across from the two.

  They had a breakfast date with another couple? My parents, who’d had no social lives to speak of for all the years I’d lived with them? It was obvious they were close to these people.

  I realized I’d slowed almost to a stop in the middle of the diner and forced myself to head that way.

  “Mom? Dad?”

  They turned toward me as I reached the table, and my mom swatted my dad’s forearm to let her back out of the booth.

  “Chloe!” she said as she stood and hugged me. “My beautiful girl. Look at you. You’re glowing! Chloe—” She cut her overzealous self off and asked, in a quieter voice, “Can I tell Hank and Shirley your news?”

  I nodded as I hugged her back, soaking in the smell of her lotion and feeling less off-kilter.

  “Chloe and Holden Henry got married this weekend!” my mom said, loudly enough that multiple heads turned her way.

  Chalk up Operation Going Public as a success then.

  Sixty seconds later, fully aware of the stares from all corners of the diner, I’d been introduced to Shirley from my mom’s knitting group—I didn’t even know she had a knitting group—and Hank Moody, friends of my parents, who they apparently had a standing Sunday morning date with.

  My parents had friends?

  It blew my mind a little, and I was suddenly certain that they fit into this town more than I ever would. I was happy for them but it just showed how disconnected I’d let myself get.

  I invited them to join us, and the four of them eventually traded tables with the people next to us. It was a big commotion, but hey, Holden and I were already the center of attention since my mom had told literally half the town about our marriage in a single breath. It made my skin crawl, but hopefully things would die down any second now.

  By the time our food was served, my mom and dad had met and oohed and ahhed over little Harrison and been introduced to Zane as well as Faye at the opposite end of the row of tables. I expected things to turn awkward, but my mom became engrossed in a conversation with Hayden about baby food and teething, and my dad, when he found out Zane was a pilot, had a dozen and a half questions for him.

  Shirley and Hank had apparently shopped at Hayden’s home furnishings store on Hale Street in Nashville. It was close to my apartment—less than a mile away—but I’d never visited it, because I’d had my furnishings since before she’d gone into business, and home décor was not on my radar.

  Hayden and I had reconnected at Mr. Henry’s wedding three weeks ago, but we’d never been what I’d call close, even when I’d spent so much time at the Henry house as a child. The two-year age difference back then had been a barrier, and I’d always gravitated more to Holden, who was my age and grade in school, than his little sister. It hadn’t helped that, back then at least, Holden and Hayden had bickered nonstop, often making me glad I was an only child.

  Now, though, I liked my new sister-in-law. She was warm, friendly, funny, and she and her new husband, Zane, were so in love it could make a girl rethink her anti-forever-love policy.

  Two servers delivered our food, including the four newcomers to the group, and conversation flowed at both ends of the table, with Holden having no trouble keeping my parents and their friends engaged, while Hayden and I talked business—Holden’s little sister was sharp and entertaining, and she asked a lot of questions about the hotel. Work, of course, was my comfort zone for topics—much safer than whether Holden and I were going to pop out any kids.

  I ignored the little jump in my pulse at the thought of that, because it wasn’t a possibility. I didn’t have kids on my radar and never had. They didn’t go with demanding careers, at least not for me. A woman could do both if she wanted to, but I’d never wanted to. I didn’t want to be the mom who left before her kids were awake to go catch a plane and then FaceTimed them from another part of the world more than she saw them in person, and that’s how it would be if I was at the helm of Marks International.

  I was halfway done with my scrambler skillet when Anna Delfico and her friends stood from their table to leave. I’d had one eye on them as well as Magnolia since we’d been seated. I wasn’t sure why. I knew Magnolia wouldn’t attack me when I was ensconced in the Henry family, and Anna and Olivia and their group, like Holden had said the last time I saw them, had never been mean girls. Still, they intimidated me even now, made me feel like a bumbling idiot even from across the room. It was unwarranted, I thought as I glanced down at my designer cross-body bag and clothing that I knew was on trend. On the outside, I wasn’t a bumbling idiot. In business, I wasn’t a bumbling idiot. In Nashville, I could don a mantle of confidence with the best of them. I needed to get over this crap even if I had to fake it till I made it.

  I needed to do that ASAP, apparently, because instead of heading to the exit, the four of them made their way toward our group, all smiles and calling out greetings to the Henrys and stopping in the center, opposite Holden and me. My heart was racing like a scared rabbit’s.