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Everleigh, my boss and my former fling, had just called me.
Shaking my head, I slipped the phone into my pocket and tried to ignore the semi in my swim trunks. The throbbing had nothing to do with Paula the puck bunny, and everything to do with Everleigh King – the one woman I could never have.
THREE
EVERLEIGH
After a nightof drinking with Colton and Ali, the cold water of Lake Casper woke me up but didn’t chase away the hangover. It had been a mistake to drink the prosecco after the scotch, but the first few drinks hadn’t cleared the image of Gunnar with a puck bunny from my brain.
It was stupid. I had been the one to push him away, so I couldn’t be upset when he did what hockey guys always do – dumb shit. I had grown up around players. My brother had been a star ever since the minor leagues, and my father had added the New York Thunder hockey team and its stadium, renamed King Coliseum, to the King Corporation’s business portfolio. Yeah, I knew everything about hockey – the good and the bad.
Surprisingly, my brother Colton had actually grown up and fallen in love with Ali. And now, my father was the one doing something dumb – getting married, a mistake I would never make. I had seen the carnage left behind from his three marriages since my mom had passed away. And Marisa was clearly after the family fortune.
A light breaststroke was all I could manage, and I swam out in the dark blue water, squinting into the early morning sun. The mist had just burned off the lake, and while everyone in Colton’s cottage had been sleeping, I’d made several business calls and had instructed my assistant to set up a meeting with my father. We had a few major things to discuss. The roster for the upcoming season was the first; the second, making sure that his prenuptial agreement to Miss Gold Digger – I couldn’t bring myself to say her name – was rock solid.
Instead of using the swim ladder, I planted my palms on the dock boards, and with one flutter kick I hoisted my body out of the lake. The exertion almost made me vomit. I steadied myself by putting a hand on the arm of the red Adirondack chair. I slid my hurting body into its curved back and covered my eyes with the crook of my arm, not caring that the chair was covered in dew.
“Hey.”
I didn’t have to uncover my eyes to know that my brother was standing beside me. “Hey is for horses.” I repeated one of mom’s favorite quips.
Something warm nudged my hand and I peeked to see a steaming cup of coffee. “I thought you might need this.”
“I think I need an oxygen drip, or whatever it is they give to people in Vegas.”
Colton laughed. “I haven’t seen you that drunk since I visited you in College.”
I had finished my MBA years earlier. “Sounds about right.” I wished I had brought sunglasses to the dock and gripped the mug with both hands, inhaling the earthy aroma. “Blue Mountain?”
“Of course.” Colton raised his mug.
We sipped the expensive coffee together. Our mom had drunk the Jamaican roast exclusively, and it, along with the smell of Chanel No. 5 and the horse barn, was a scent that brought on my memory of her stronger than any photo. I touched the five-carat ruby necklace that she’d left me, as I took a sip of the coffee.
Colton sat on the end of the dock and swirled his foot in the lake. “So what brought on Party Everleigh?” he asked. “Was it the dress fitting?”
“Ugh.” I groaned. “I almost forgot about that.”
“Ali told me that it was painful. I still can’t believe that you agreed to be in the bridal party.”
“Like I had a choice.” I returned my arm to its place over my eyes. The pressure seemed to ease the pounding in my skull.
“Everleigh King always has a choice.”
“Oh, baby brother. I’m trying to put on a brave face for our father. I’m not a spoiled teenager anymore. Daddy deserves to be happy, and if that means being nice to GD, then I’ll do my best.”
“GD?”
“Gold Digger.” My brother had gotten the athletic prowess in the family; I’d gotten the smarts. I took a sip of the coffee and felt my body start to come to life. “Have you asked him about his prenup?”
“Me?” Colton pointed to his chest. “That’s more your department, isn’t it?”
“I’ve asked Greg to set up an appointment with Daddy to discuss it. Remember the loophole the last one found?” The previous wife had been a little older and a lot savvier than Marisa. She’d managed to cheat on my father in the first six months and still walk away with a seven-figure settlement.
“Glad you’re on top of it.” Colton stretched out on the end of the dock. “But if that’s not it, what’s bugging you?”
I sighed. The image of a model’s legs wrapped around Gunnar’s eight-pack came back with a vengeance, only this morning, in my imagination, there were more than one pair of legs draped across his body. Great. The scotch had chased away visions of Gunnar with a puck bunny, only for the hangover to replace them with a fricking bunny orgy. “Nothing. I just felt like letting loose.”
Colton nodded, his lips forming a tight line. I could tell he didn’t believe me, but I also knew he wouldn’t push the subject. “Ali’s still in bed. She can’t handle her booze either.”
