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"Thanks, man!" He releases Isla’s hand, and nods in Liam’s direction.
Liam holds out his hand, "Liam Kincaid."
"Cade Kingston."
The two men shake hands.
"Looking forward to seeing you play at Lord’s next month." Liam refers to the upcoming match at the well-known cricket grounds.
"Can’t wait to play there; it’s my favorite venue," Cade acknowledges.
"We’ll be off then." Liam heads toward the door with Isla in tow. He and Hunter exchange chin jerks in the manner of friends who know each other enough to say a lot to each other without saying anything. The door snicks shut.
I glance between the two men who are resolutely not looking at each other. Which means both of them are glowering at me. I blow out a breath. "Care to take a seat? Or do the two of you prefer to stand there and ignore each other?"
"Prefer to ignore each other," they reply at the same time.
A dull ache stabs behind my eyes. My stomach jumps in response. I rub at my temple and resist the urge to rub at my stomach. Oh, god, I can’t really be preggers… And if I am? Best to wait until I have a positive test before I begin to panic, though truth be told, a part of me already knows.
"Zara, you okay?" Hunter’s voice reaches me. I open my eyes, take in the concern on his features.
"What do you think? My boss beat up my brother, and you’ve probably made tabloid headlines with that asinine stunt."
My brother winces. "It’s not pleasant to get on her bad side," he says in a conversational tone.
"So I’m learning." Hunter’s lips twitch.
They finally look at each other, twin expressions of wariness on their features. Apparently, they’re in agreement about something, and naturally, it involves their opinion of me. I make a sound at the back of my throat, and both men look at me in alarm.
"You sure you’re okay, Z?" My brother—the clunkerhead asks.
"Don’t keep asking me that as if I am an airhead who needs to be mollycoddled."
Cade raises both his hands. "Just brotherly concern, is all."
"And where were you all these months? You take off touring the world on your job, then show up at a gala. You could have told me you were going to attend."
"I didn’t know you would be here," my brother protests.
"The biggest event of the season, with influencers, entertainers and politicians in attendance, and you didn’t think my job would demand that I be all over it?"
My brother drags his fingers through his hair. "You’re right. I should have thought it through. Should have reached out and checked how you were doing. I took the easy way out and stayed away so I wouldn’t have to visit the folks. And calling you would have reminded me that I haven’t been in touch with them, either." He raises a shoulder. "That was cowardly of me; I’m sorry."
I deflate a little. It’s tough when your sibling is being all reasonable.
Hunter looks from Cade to me, then back to Cade. "How did I not spot the similarity?"
"Probably because you had your head stuck up your arse?" I retort.
Cade whistles. Hunter seems like he’s having a difficult time controlling his mirth.
I glower at him. "You won’t be laughing when your reputation is all over social media, and the two of you become a meme."
He leans forward on the balls of his feet. "No phones in the ballroom, remember?"
I scoff. "Do you think everyone in there followed the rules? There’s bound to have been someone who had a phone stashed away. Someone who, at this very moment, is uploading footage from your faux pas to the internet, as we speak."
The knobhead grins. He actually grins. "You forget, I have the best PR manager in town who will, undoubtedly, stop anything like this from happening," he murmurs.
