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“And there’s Alan,” I say. “He must have woken late this morning. Do you think that means he’ll be grumpier than he was yesterday?”
Bradford reaches for his phone to check the messages. “That wasn’t Alan.” He hands the phone to me. “It was Charlize.”
Charlize: Bradford! Can you please pass a message onto my third best friend who is ignoring our group texts. We’re trying to plan lunch with her today.
Charlize: Sorry, hit send too early. If Kristen is free today, we’re having lunch at twelve. We promise not to bombard her with more sex talk. We really just want to make sure she’s okay.
Charlize: Oops, I forgot to tell you where we’re going. Clementine’s.
Charlize: Also, Bradford, I have to thank you for canceling golf on Owen this morning. He spent the morning hiking with me instead.
I frown and glance up at Bradford. “Have you eaten at Clementine’s? I’ve never been there.”
“No.”
“Ugh, lunch with the girls and all their emotions at a restaurant I don’t know…it sounds like a recipe for a bad time.” At his look that says he’s not convinced, I say, “You think I should go to lunch, don’t you?”
“I think you should do whatever you want. I also think you might have fun with the girls.”
“I think your idea of fun and mine might be different.”
“I highly doubt that after what we just did.” He leaves the bed. “I’m going to shower. Feel free to join me after you finish with your third best friend.”
I roll my eyes at his grin.
I then watch him walk into his bathroom, struggling to remove my eyes from his impressive body. When I can no longer see him, I go back to his phone and reply to Charlize.
Bradford: Hey, Charlize, it’s Kristen. I’m free for lunch. I’ll see you there.
Right as I hit send, Bradford receives his first text from Alan for the day. I place the phone on his nightstand without reading it and then head into my bathroom. As much as Bradford told me to join him, I know he’s got a busy day ahead and I don’t want to make him late, which I know I would if we went for round two.
I shower and take my time styling my hair into long, loose waves before applying my makeup. I dress in a pair of black skinny leather pants, a white silk blouse, and black stiletto ankle boots. I then go in search of my husband and breakfast.
I find him downstairs on the bottom floor of the condo, talking with my brother in the grand salon.
“This is a surprise,” I say, greeting Grayson.
My oldest brother has always been overprotective of me and I see in the hard set of his shoulders that this is the reason he’s here.
“I wanted to meet your husband,” he says, all business and determination.
My brows pull together. “You two have never met?”
“We have,” Bradford says. “But only briefly.”
“And not as family,” Grayson says.
“Right,” I say, rolling my eyes on the inside. “This is the obligatoryI’ll make you hurt if you hurt hermeeting. Have you almost finished or did I interrupt before you got there?”
Grayson doesn’t crack a smile, but then, I don’t expect him to. He takes his older brother duties very seriously. When the full extent of Johnathon’s cheating was revealed, he let him know exactly what he thought of the way he devastated me, and let’s just say that my ex was lucky to limp away from that encounter. “Jenna tells me you two have known each other for a long time. That this wasn’t just some accidental drunk marriage while blowing off steam in Vegas.”
I caught my sister up on my history with Bradford yesterday and am thankful she’s given Grayson the rundown. “Well,” I say, smiling at Bradford, “weweredrunk and itwasaccidental, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. This marriage is very real and you can skip the interrogation, okay?”
“No,” Bradford says, “ask whatever you want, Grayson. I’d do the same if I had a sister.”
Grayson assesses him, and if I’m not mistaken, he respects what Bradford just said. “Are you free for lunch today?”
I know Bradford isn’t, so I’m surprised when he nods and says, “Yes.”
