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“How unfortunate for all of those who have children.” I turn to look at Briggs. “I suppose we could delay our trip. You just let me know what you want to do.”
“You weren’t planning on being here for Christmas?” Jaxon asks.
Briggs’s thumb never misses a beat.
“No. We were planning on spending it with her family in New York, and then we’re headed to Nice the week between Christmas and New Year’s.”
I randomly mentioned this year’s family trip to him on the drive in, but I didn’t actually think he was listening to me. But by him saying this, he has me wondering if he would like to go? He certainly would make it more fun for me, and I’ve been there enough times where I could show him around and make it fun for him too.
A different server walks over to us, and he has two glasses of champagne and two glasses of scotch. We each take a drink and thank him.
“Where did you two meet?” Adele asks, looking only at Briggs.
“Horizons Valley,” he says at the same moment Jaxon takes a sip. This surprises him, and he lets out a choked sound.
“I just love it there. It’s quite possibly my favorite place on earth,” I say, giving Adele a smile that speaks of many, many unmentionable moments with Briggs, and then I turn and smile up at him. His eyes lock with mine and very intimately roam over my face. In my stomach, tiny butterflies flap their wings.
“Hungry?” he asks, speaking to me as if they aren’t even there.
“Starved,” I tell him. “But maybe we should circle the room once. There are so many people we should say hello to. I saw Charlie Levitt, and I just adore him.”
At this, Jaxon clears his throat in disbelief. Charlie Levitt is notoriously a ruthless businessman who’s made his fortune in the shipping industry. He does business all up and down the East Coast, so I’m not surprised he’s here mingling with the high rollers in Charlotte. He makes grown men shake in their shoes, and then they leave the room crying.
“You know Charlie Levitt?” he asks, not in a way that says he’s surprised by our acquaintance, but in a way that’s condescending, as if he thinks I’m lying.
“Of course. Our families are close friends, and I grew up with his youngest daughter, Lauren.”
And with this statement, Jaxon knows. I am one of those Rhodes. His eyes widen and take in the two of us again. I smile up at Briggs like I think he hung the moon, and in return, he leans forward to again brush his lips across my forehead where he speaks gently, but audibly, next to my ear.
“Let’s make those rounds so I can get you fed.”
I nod in agreement.
“You’re the best.”
And with that, Briggs pins his brother with one last look, never glances in Adele’s direction, and without saying another word, we walk away.
19
BRIGGS
Having Cora at my brother’s engagement party was a thing of beauty. She worked the room like no one I have ever seen before, and it was not lost on me how often my father and my brother watched her. My father out of curiosity, in the way of how he can use knowing her to his advantage, and my brother out of pure envy.
We didn’t even have to do anything to make him feel one-upped. Just the two of us together, united and happy, was enough.
Of course there’s the small detail that she was quite possibly the richest person in the room. Combining her family’s money with her music career is impressive to everyone, no matter who you are.
Regardless, she flitted around, introduced herself to people, and even though her posture and air screamed class and sophistication, every time she laughed, light poured out of her like the blonde goddess that she is, casting a spell over the entire room.
And I have no problem admitting she enchanted me most of all.
Of course I wanted her even on the first night. What red-blooded man wouldn’t have? But now it’s bordering on a level that will drive me insane.
I’ve replayed her pressed up against me, her hand in mine, and her lips brushing my skin more times than any man should care to admit. Toss in her smart mouth, her long legs, and the fact that I know how incredible her breasts are, and my mouth waters, and well, parts of me farther south ache for attention.
It’s a bad idea; it really is. She’s my neighbor and has become my friend. Crossing the line would mess things up, but still, it’s so tempting.
Tempting and also not the right time. Maybe one day, if she’s on board, but I can’t change things between us now because I owe her. After what she just did for me, I owe her that trip to New York, and I can’t change any of the dynamics that might make it uncomfortable or impossible for us, so instead, I’m at the grocery store picking up what I need for my next prank.
