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Cash looks away, trying to keep the smile from crossing his face. “It’s alright, I guess.” On my tiptoes, I crane to grab his lip between my teeth, and Cash moans. “Okay, it’s better than alright.”
I smile widely. “Exactly. Jonathan doesn’t get any of that. He didn’t have to put himself into the press like he did for me. He did that because he’s my friend, and I’m doing him a favor by attending an event because I’m his friend. That’s all this is.”
Cash runs his teeth across his lip. “I just don’t like that he gets any pieces of you.”
I lean against his chest. “No one gets the pieces you do, Whiskey. You get all of me. Friendship, love, lust, roommate,” I tease.
Cash smiles as he wraps his arms around me. “I’m liking all the new titles we keep adding. Now let’s go have dinner. I’m starving. Roomie.”
Chapter 42
Cash
“There’s an awful lot of throw pillows and candles in here for a bachelor pad,” Carter says, looking at me as he picks up a candle Grace placed there the night before. The majority of her stuff is still at her apartment, but we went shopping yesterday afternoon so she could “cozy up” our new home. I never thought much about throw pillows and candles, but it warms up the entire space, reminding me of our home in Bristol. I wonder for the seventieth time this week what my mother would think about me ending up with Grace. It still blows me away that she knew Grace. The idea that my mother would be happy for me, that she actually met the woman I hope to one day marry, makes me feel closer to my mother. Like I share this special secret with her. Like she actually had something to do with my life—like we share something, which for a guy who has no memories of his mother is everything.
Folding my arms over my chest and leaning against the island in the kitchen, I reply, “Grace is moving in. So not a bachelor pad anymore.” I feel pride when I admit it, like I’m doing something that everyone should approve of, and by the smile on Carter’s face, I know he does.
“That’s great, Cash. I really like her. ”
I run my teeth across my lip. “Not loving that tonight she’s going out with Hanson.”
Carter meets my eyes. “What do you mean she’s going out with Hanson?”
I huff out a breath before turning around to grab a bottle of whiskey. Pouring two glasses, I wait for my brother to come over and take it before I continue talking. “She says she owes him, because of the damn statement.” I grit my teeth. “I should have put out a fucking statement.”
Carter sips his drink and then puts it down. He starts to say something and then quiets himself, as if he’s trying to figure out how to say it.
“What is it?” I ask, mildly annoyed.
“Cash, don’t freak out, but the event Hanson is going to tonight is the same one we are going to.”
I slam my glass down. “What?”
“Remember how I told you she was at an event with Landry last week? Well, tonight is Landry’s event. Hanson is definitely going to be there. He’s competing for that business just as much as we are. I’m sure that’s where he’s going.”
“But why?” I ask, losing any sense of calm I’d managed to maintain for the last few days over this damn date.
Carter shakes his head. “I don’t follow your question.”
The truth is I don’t even know what I’m asking. I knew Hanson Liquors was courting Sintac just like us. I knew Jonathan and Grace’s event was tonight. How did I not put two and two together?
“Fuck,” I mutter.
Carter scratches his head. “You can’t freak out. You can’t be a jealous ass tonight. You have to be one hundred percent focused on this deal.” I nod in understanding, but I don’t think Carter believes me. “I’m being serious, Cash. I know you love her, or whatever it is you feel for her…”
I cut him off. “I love her.”
“Right. But this is business. This isn’t just for me and you. Cat and Chase are relying on you. Pa is relying on you. You have to stay cool.”
“That motherfucker,” I grit out and Carter laughs.
“Yeah, it now makes so much sense why he put out that statement. He planned this all along. He’s trying to fuck with your head. You can’t let him.”
I should have known better. All Hanson has ever done is use people. But honestly, I thought he’d grown up. I chalked up the way he acted years ago to immaturity and his constant one-upping with my brother. I trusted that he cared about Grace. I never expected him to go this low—to use Grace in this way. “Fucking asshole,” I mutter as I take my phone out of my pocket and spin it in my hand, trying to figure out what to do.
Carter watches me with bated breath. “You don’t think she knows, do you?”
I recoil at his insinuation. Grace would never. “She’s not like that.”
