His father looked up, his eyes widening. “And there’s our dessert.”
Beck tried to get his mother’s attention to see if she’d give him an inkling about his dad’s health, but she was busy digging into the cake the server had placed in front of her first. He held back a groan, telling himself he shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It wasn’t like he spent all his time thinking about his sister, but she was always there, ready to pop into his mind and remind him how quickly things could change. How fast life could turn to loss.
“Beck? I asked if you’d like a piece?” his mom asked.
He nodded, knowing it would make her happy. “Hit me up,” he said. “And make it a big slice.” Pushing sad thoughts out of his head, he focused on enjoying the here and now. Something he was still learning how to do, many, many years later. Losing a sibling to leukemia had been harsh and difficult, and they all still suffered the aftereffects all this time later.
“Hey, when we finish eating, who wants to head to the bar downstairs and have a drink?” Drew, the lawyer in the family, asked.
“I’m in,” Tripp said, shoveling the cake in his mouth as he spoke.
Laughing, Beck lifted a piece onto his fork. “I’ll join you,” he said, then took the cake into this mouth. The chocolate melted and he damn near moaned out loud. “This is amazing,” he said, going in for another bite.
“Mom? Dad?” Tripp turned their way. “Want to come?”
“Oh, no. You boys stay out and have some fun. We’re just going to go home like the old people we are.” She grinned and they all rolled their eyes.
His mom had married his father after she’d graduated college. Then she’d gotten pregnant with Drew at the age of twenty-three. Now fifty-eight, she looked a lot younger than her years. Nobody would call either of his parents old. But if they wanted to go home, everyone understood.
A little while later, with the check taken care of and goodbyes said to their parents, Beck, Tripp, and Drew made their way out of the restaurant and headed toward the main lobby bar.
A nighttime hotspot, the lobby was crowded, people lining up past the entrance and mingling in the main room and around the fountain in the center.
“I guess we’re not getting near the drinks any time soon,” Drew muttered.
“Doesn’t seem like it.” Tripp stopped walking so they could talk and regroup.
“Do you want to go somewhere else? Or we could head back to my apartment and have a few drinks there.” Beck didn’t care as long as he spent time with his siblings.
“Your place sounds good. I’m not looking to pick anyone up tonight,” Drew said.
“I’ll get us an Uber.” Tripp pulled out his cell.
They began to head toward the side entrance where it was quieter and they could more easily locate their ride share when a burst of feminine laughter caught Beck’s attention.
He glanced up in time to see a bride walking across the lobby, surrounded by three other women in matching dresses.
“Gives a whole other meaning to women going to the ladies’ room together,” Beck said to his brothers.
Tripp laughed only to be tag teamed by two of the bridesmaids.
“Ooh, you’re cute,” a pretty brunette said.
“I saw him first, Wendy. Go find your own guy.” The proprietary woman grabbed Tripp’s elbow and hung on tight.
Beck’s sibling raised his eyebrows but didn’t attempt to disengage his new appendage.
“I’ll take this one then.” The woman with auburn hair latched on to Drew.
Beck didn’t know whether to be insulted or relieved that none of the women had chosen him.
“I know you!” The bride, who had obviously gotten waylaid because she just joined them now, tripped and fell against Beck’s chest.
He braced his hands on her bare forearms, steadying her as he helped her stand up straight. When she didn’t wobble, he released her and met her gaze. Long blond hair fell in waves around her exquisite face, and blue eyes with a darker rim around the edges stared back at him, reminding him of someone he knew.
“Beckett Daniels, right?” she asked.
“Yes.” There was a familiarity to her features. He knew her, he just couldn’t place her. “And you’re…”
“Chloe Kingston. Linc’s sister.” She treated him to a megawatt smile that had the power to knock him on his ass.
Son. Of. A. Bitch. Linc, his one-time best friend. Now a man he barely spoke to.
“You and my brother are business competitors,” she said and let out a little hiccup. Clearly she was as drunk as her bridesmaids.
“That would be putting it mildly.” But he wasn’t about to elaborate on his relationship with her brother. If Linc hadn’t seen fit to tell her the sordid details, he wasn’t going to go there, either. It was a time in his life he’d much rather forget.
Looking at Chloe, her flushed cheeks, in her inebriated state, he assumed the ceremony had already taken place. “So you kept your maiden name?” he asked. Because she hadn’t introduced herself as Chloe Kingston Something-or-Other.
“Oh, no. No, no, no.” She waved her hand through the air, her long nails a pale white color. “I’m not married.” A deeper flush rose to her face. “I was left at the altar.”
Beck blinked, then stared at her, stunned. “What kind of asshole would stand up a gorgeous woman like you?” Despite her relation to his sworn enemy, Beck couldn’t deny the fact that the girl he’d met in college was all grown up and one hell of a knockout.
“You’re sweet.” She sniffed and he was afraid he’d triggered a crying jag, but she forced a smile instead. “He found someone who completes him,” she said, using quotation marks with her fingers. “And he hopes I find the love and excitement he has.” She finished with more finger quotes.
She sniffed again. “But the bastard did it by text. And I’m celebrating because everything is paid for, and I think just maybe he did me a favor. Even if I sometimes want to cry.” She fluttered her thick black lashes, and Beck was afraid she’d do just that.
He didn’t know what to make of Chloe or what to do with her. On the one hand, he wanted to beat the crap out of the man who’d hurt her. On the other, he needed to remember she was Linc’s sister and he ought to stay far away.
“Anyway.” Chloe interrupted his train of thought, which was going in a direction he didn’t like but which still held some appeal. “I figured why let everything go to waste? So we’re partying! Come with me!” she said, tugging on his sleeve.
He glanced at his brothers, who were preoccupied with her bridesmaids, and rolled his eyes. No matter what they decided to do, he was not going in there and dealing with her brother.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Her wide smile dimmed. “Why not? You want to dump me, too?” Her pout was too fucking adorable, and her words hit him in the gut.
“No, I don’t want to dump a beautiful … umm … bride like you. But Linc and I aren’t on the best of terms.”
“Oh!” Her smile returned. “Well, that’s no problem. Linc’s not here. I made my family go home. I didn’t want to see their sad, worried faces at my non-wedding party.” She flung her arm, gesturing toward the double doors on the far side of the lobby.