Page 15 of My Ex-Best Men (Ex Marks the Spot #4)

***Anthony***

“ S end my calls and emails to Mark or Nevayah. I don’t want anything with work bothering me this week. Understand?” I waited for my assistant, Paul, to agree before continuing. “As for the house, have breakfast sent over daily and be sure there are snacks available all day long. Dinner might be-”

“Look, Will, it’s a CEO in the wild. See how he bosses his employees around and stands as stiff as stone?”

I glared at the pretty boy rockstar who’d somehow ended up in my way. “I’ll call you back, Paul.”

Zane smirked at me as he grabbed a glass of fresh juice. “You do all of this for us? How sweet.”

Will grunted. “It’s fucking seven o’clock in the morning and he’s already in a suit. You couldn’t pay me enough.”

I glanced down at my suit and then at the pair of them. Will was in a firehouse t-shirt and Zane looked like his henley had been through a few world tours since it’d last been washed. “Seems as if no one does.”

I heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs and looked up just as Claire walked into the kitchen and froze.

She was dressed in another one of her Uncle Sal’s outfits and every curve was on full display in the tight little pink dress.

Even with her feet bare, her legs looked a mile long.

Her hair was in a pile on top of her head and her black-framed glasses were sliding down her nose.

She was an intoxicating mix of sexy and innocent.

After a few seconds of staring at us, she focused in on Zane and her eyes widened. “You’re awake this early in the morning?”

I bristled at the familiarity between them.

Of course I knew that she’d dated before me and after me, but she’d always been everything to me.

There’d never been another woman who came close to capturing me the way she did.

Maybe it was greedy to want that same devotion from her but I fucking wanted it.

“Cut me some slack, Claire. I was a stupid kid when we dated. I’m a grown man who recognizes the benefit of an early morning now.” The prick winked at Claire. “Especially when he knows you’re an early riser.”

I leaned against the cabinet and lifted my mug to my mouth. “You two dated? I didn’t know.”

Zane cut me an annoyed look. “Yeah, we dated. You must’ve come before me if you didn’t know that.”

Claire’s face turned red and she quickly turned, opened the fridge door, and leaned inside. “Um… I dated Anthony after you, Zane.”

Zane scowled at me. “And you didn’t tell him that we’d dated?”

I smiled back at him, something cold and cutting. “Must not have made much of an impression.”

“I doubt that, rich boy. What Claire and I had was special. Still is. Some things just don’t fade. That much was made obvious by the moment we shared on the plane ride here.” Zane’s smirk made me want to punch his lights out.

“I’ve always heard about the drugs you rockstar guys do and now I’m seeing the effects. You’re delusional.” I looked at Will. “Are you hearing this shit?”

Will, the guy I knew only as Jake’s soon to be brother-in-law, rested his elbows on the table and narrowed his eyes at me.

“I hate to give Zane credit in any way at all but I was Claire’s first in every way and she kept that secret tight, I’m willing to bet.

The woman’s a vault when she wants to be.

As for shared moments… You saw me coming out of Claire’s room, Zane. ”

Claire spun around, face and neck blood red, and glared at Will. “You… You can’t just announce that! All of you need to stop talking!”

Zane and I were suddenly drawn closer by a common enemy. I studied Will in a new way and decided I wouldn’t hate destroying the asshole. Zane’s face said that he agreed.

“What? It seemed like we were all raising our legs like a bunch of dogs and I didn’t want to be left out.” Will cut his eyes at me and I got the feeling he’d be a worthy opponent. It’d been a while since I’d gone up against anyone who felt that way.

“This is… I… I’m going back to my room.” Claire shut the fridge door hard enough to rattle its contents and stomped out of the kitchen. “If everyone could just stop talking about special moments and first times, I’d love that, thank you very much.”

Zane sighed after we heard the bedroom door upstairs slam. “Well, that went well. So much for spending the morning with her.”

Will groaned. “That was fucking embarrassing. I think I just blacked out.”

I looked at both men and shook my head. “I have work to do.”

“Thought you took the week off.” Zane raised his eyebrows. “You wouldn’t happen to be plotting to get your own special moment with Claire, would you?”

I tapped my knuckles on the counter and let a cold smile twist my lips. “I didn’t get to where I am by exposing my hand.”

I stayed downstairs for the next hour as I waited and watched.

Zane wasn’t wrong. I refused to let Claire be taken in by a smarmy rockstar or her best friend’s big brother.

Not when I’d never stopped wanting her. I knew the morning schedule for the groomsmen and smiled as I heard both Will and Zane leave the house to report for their duties.

Maybe I should’ve gone with them but I was a backup groomsman for Jake and as his friend and boss, I was giving myself a little leeway.

I shrugged out of my jacket and rolled up my sleeves on the way upstairs.

I could hear Claire inside her room, talking to herself as she paced.

I had no plans on making things easy for her.

I’d done that once and it’d been the wrong choice.

If she wanted to get away from me again, she was going to have to work for it.

I opened the door and strode inside. She looked up and went still as she watched me coming at her. Her lips parted and I felt her soft exhale a moment before I slid my mouth over hers. Wrapping my arms around her I held her tight and proved to her that I’d forgotten nothing.