Page 35

Bishop

I moved to meet Crosby, leaving Eden behind me. I needed to put some distance between us because … what the fuck had just happened?

“You’re late.” Crosby’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I took the hand he was holding out and shook it.

“Traffic.” The lie came easy.

“Typical. Ma held off lunch because she couldn’t let her beloved Bishop go hungry until dinner.”

I snorted. Crosby’s mom had become like a second parent during my teen years, and I’d spent a lot of time at their house. Crosby often joked that she loved me more than him.

“I better go in and say hi to her then.” I started to walk past him, then stopped and turned. “This is Eden.”

At her name, her head jerked up and she pushed away from the car to join us.

“Hi.”

Crosby’s eyes swept over her, pausing at the way she was twisting the rings around her finger.

“Bish? Do you have something you’d like to tell me?”

I reached out my hand and drew Eden closer, linking my fingers with hers. “I’m officially off the market.”

My friend frowned at me, then turned his attention to Eden. “Pleasure to meet you, Eden.” His eyes darted back to me. “I feel like there’s a story here, and you’re going to tell me the whole thing after lunch.”

“There’s nothing much to tell.”

“She’s wearing a wedding ring. I think there’s a pretty big story to tell.”

“I met her. I married her. The end.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

His lips pursed. “I see. You know my mom isn’t going to be satisfied with such a short retelling, don’t you?”

I released Eden’s hand and draped my arm across her shoulders. “And I’ll be happy to tell her all about it. After we’ve unpacked and eaten. Or are you going to make us stand out here all day?”

My friend frowned at me for a second longer then smiled. “Where are my manners? Let’s go inside. Welcome to Frogsmore, Eden. I’ll get one of the staff to come and pick up your cases to take to your room. Come and meet the family.”

Fingers lifted to find mine where they rested on her shoulder. I gave them a small squeeze. This was it. The moment we would discover if we could pull off the lie. If we couldn’t convince Crosby’s family that our marriage was real, there was no way Susannah would swallow it.

We followed Crosby inside and along the hallway to a spacious room where three other people were seated at various spots. An older woman was seated on an armchair, knitting needles on her lap and a ball of wool beside her. She tossed it to one side when we walked in and jumped up.

“Bishop! There you are.” Her arms opened. “Come here and give me a hug.”

I dropped my arm away from Eden and stepped into the woman’s waiting arms. “Tallulah.” My voice was warm, and I pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You look as gorgeous as ever.”

“Stop flirting with my mom,” Crosby grumbled from behind me. “Mom, Bishop brought a date.”

“ What? ” Tallulah gave me a gentle push. “Where? Bishop, introduce me to the girl!”

Laughing, I turned and crooked a finger at Eden. “Tallulah, this is Eden.”

“Let me look at you, girl.” Crosby’s mom stepped in front of me. “Oh my gosh, look at you!” She threw her arms around the unsuspecting redhead.

Eden’s eyes were wide as she looked at me over the other woman’s shoulder, and clumsily hugged her back. “Hi.”

“You must be important if Bishop brought you here.”

“They’re not just dating, Mom.” Crosby drawled. “Check out the rock on her finger.”

“You’ll pay for that,” I mouthed to my friend, who smirked at me.

Tallulah released Eden and grabbed her hand. “Married? When?” She spun to face me. “Bishop, you got married and didn’t tell anyone?”

“It was a spur of the moment thing.” I shrugged.

“When?”

“Couple of days ago. We didn’t want to take away from Crosby’s weekend.”

Tallulah waved a hand. “That’s tomorrow. Today we celebrate you and your new bride. Come, my dear, we need to plan a small party for tonight.”

“What? No, really—” Eden finally found her voice.

“Yes, really!”

I accepted the glass of bourbon Crosby handed to me. “You knew exactly what you were doing,” I murmured.

“She’s been driving Dana crazy. Now she can focus on your girl and give mine a break for a couple of hours.” He slapped my shoulder. “I can’t wait to hear how she stole your heart.”

“It was unexpected.” I ignored Eden’s look of panic and lifted my glass toward her as Tallulah dragged her out of the room.

“I hope you’re not expecting to see her for the rest of the day, son.” Crosby’s dad boomed out from across the room.

“She’ll be fine. I wouldn’t have brought her if I didn’t think she could handle you all.” I took a sip from the glass. “Where’s Dana?”

“Her agent called. She went into the study to argue with her. They’re trying to get her to fly to France for a photoshoot the week before the wedding.”

“She doesn’t want to do it?”

“Fuck, no. She told them weeks ago that the entire month was off-limits. Doesn’t stop them from trying though. I’m not worried. She’ll get her own way. She’s too sought after for them not to work around her.” He slung an arm over my shoulders. “Come on. I’ll show you to your room, and then we’ll go rescue your wife.” He chuckled. “That’s going to take some getting used to. Do Rook and Knight know?”

“They know. Rook has already met her. I haven’t seen Knight yet. I’m taking Eden to meet him next week.”