Page 25 of Bad Boy for Hire

The woman was beautiful, with an intimidating air surrounding her.

“Careful,” he told May, only half kidding.

“She’s harmless,” May assured him.

“Meet you over there in a minute.” Then he went to the bar to order a glass of wine for May and a beer for himself. Potentially with a sidecar of vodka to reset his thoughts. Regardless of arguing with himself about not being the right guy for May, his blood ran hot at the idea of her with anyone else.

That shit would not do.

When Paisley spotted May coming toward her, she practically shoved her husband to the floor to get to her. May had to laugh when the other woman embraced her. She’d always thought of Paisley as the older sister she’d never had. Her embrace had been missed.

“I wasn’t sure you were coming! Posy received your RSVP three days ago.”

May winced, embarrassed about her indecisiveness. It wasn’t like her. “I wasn’t sure if I had a date until the last minute,” she sort-of lied.

“And do you?” Paisley raised her eyebrows in interest.

“Yes. The bearded guy at the bar.”

“Daaaaammn.” Paisley never minced words, so May trusted the sincerity. “That’s one pretty white boy.”

May chuckled. She wouldn’t argue with that.

“How’d you two meet?”

“He owns Salty Dog.”

“An entrepreneur. I approve.”

And a millionaire, May thought but didn’t say. It was even more impressive that he was self-made.

“I met Sarina.” That was the equivalent of throwing a baited hook into the lake and waiting for a pike to grab hold.

Paisley, far too elegant to be compared to a pike, was also utterly incapable of resisting fresh bait. She made a noise in the back of her throat. “Do not get me started on that one.”

“She mentioned the diamond ring and the house in the same breath.” May remained neutral but was silently delighted when Paisley rolled her eyes.

“She does that.” Then, in a rare moment of softness, Paisley added, “Someone should have told you about the engagement.”

“It’s fine.” May waved her off.

“Yes, but it would have been more fine if you’d known ahead of time. I told Posy that. She was afraid you wouldn’t come if you knew he was engaged and living with someone.”

May considered that for a second. She might not have come. Not because it was painful to see Prescott with someone else—it wasn’t—but because it was painful to think of what she’d lost.

“I still would have come.”

“You’re a beautiful liar,” Paisley said with tenderness.

A few minutes later, Xavier and Terrell returned with drinks and were soon deep in their own conversation. Xavier had mentioned that he could hold his own, and May was pleased to learn he hadn’t been exaggerating.

“Pres used to say marriage was a scam,” Paisley said, picking up where they’d left off. “And then he meets this woman, they date for three months, and boom, engaged. House. Insanity.”

Three months. That was how long he and May had been dating when her mom passed away. The memory rushed back in, vivid and sharp. Her future could have been wife to Prescott, sister-in-law to Paisley and Posy, daughter to Cherie and Howell.

Some of it sounded nice. Every part, save being married to Prescott.

“When you know, you know.” May’s offered cliche fell flat, but Paisley didn’t call her on it.