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They both turned to see Mae threading her way through the crowd.
“Nice turnout,” she exclaimed.
“My mom knows how to draw them in,” Shelby boasted. “Free food and drinks.”
“You don’t think your dad has a little something to do with it?” Roxanna teased.
“Eh.” She shrugged her shoulders with a sassy grin and they all laughed as they reached the private meeting room reserved for family adjacent to the stage area. Asher and Honor stood just outside the room with Merit and Robert.
Roxanna’s pulse sped up as she cast a glance around, but she didn’t spot Loyal’s dark head anywhere. Asher pulled her into a side hug as Celia joined the group, and the noise level rose with everyone’s greetings.
“I don’t think he’s here yet,” her best friend whispered.
“Who’s not here yet?”
He gave a soft snort of disbelief, and she allowed a slight smile. He knew her too well. Plus, she’d talked to him and Honor the Sunday after Halloween. He’d been upset, but it seemed more so out of concern for her getting hurt than her having slept with his older brother. It was a relief he wasn’t mad at her, and yet his worry was another reminder that there was no future with Loyal.
“You good?” he asked quietly.
“I’m good.” She shot Honor a quick smile and raised her voice to address the rest of the group. “How’s everyone holding up here? Excitement is super high, I see.”
“Numbers are just starting to come in.” Celia pointed to a TV beside the stage with reporting data scrolling along the bottom of the screen. “So far, they look promising despite the exit polls.”
“It’s still early,” Asher cautioned.
They’d all shifted to form a circle, with Celia and her husband opposite Roxanna; Asher, Honor, and Mae to her left; and Merit and Shelby to her right. A little tingle of energy from the youngest Diamond brother drew her glance to see his gaze on Mae as Honor formally introduced her workaholic best friend to everyone. His aura sparkled bright red, though that was nothing new with the playboy brother. A fleeting tinge of pink, however, piqued her interest.
“And this is Asher’s youngest brother, Merit,” Honor finished.
When Mae’s gaze met his, her eyebrows flashed upward.
He offered his trademark sexy grin to the pretty blond. “Yes, my name is Merit. But you can call me Handsome.”
Sexual energy arched between the two like an invisible lightning bolt. There was an answering surge of red in Mae’s aura, but to her credit, she rolled her eyes with a laugh. “How much use does that line get?”
Yep. The savvy single mother wasn’t about to get snowed by a cute come-on, no matter how smoothly delivered.
“Too much,” Asher answered for him.
Merit let it slide off his back with a smirk, completely unapologetic of his philandering ways.
“Does it actually work?” Mae asked him directly.
“Every time.”
“Well, sorry to break your record, but I’ve heard all about you, Merit.” She put the slightest flirtatious emphasis on his name.
“That’s not fair. I haven’t heard much about you at all.” He flicked an accusing gaze toward his older brother and Honor, then shifted his attention back to Mae, his charm at full throttle. “But I’d like to, gorgeous.”
“You have no shame,” Celia declared.
“Leave Mae alone, Merit,” Asher warned. “She’s already got a man in her life.”
His crestfallen expression sparked a round of laughs.
“Where is Ian tonight?” Honor asked.
Roxanna only half-heard the blond’s cryptic answer as she spotted Janine Diamond in the private reserved room with Estefan and Elena Torrez.
