“It’s not that much of a pleasure,” Mason called out from across the car. “I’m telling you, if she really liked you, she’d be yelling at you right now.”

Cole was surprised when Lena winked up at him.

Then, she turned her head to lock eyes with Mason. “Langley, you know I only enjoy arguing with you. It gets me all hot and bothered.”

As she turned back to Cole, finally releasing his hand, she told him softly, “He’ll come around. Just give him time.”

Cole thought that was probably good advice, but as he looked back to the brother-sister pair glaring at one another, he thought it was a shame he’d never been one to take good advice.

“Well, I hope so since I just married his sister.”

What is that phrase? Oh yes, there it is, Cole thought with a shit-eating grin aimed at the tall Langley currently glowering at him. If looks could kill.

22

It’s official, Rachel thought as she stared slack jawed at Cole from across the trunk of the car. This man is fucking insane.

“What did you just say?” her brother practically growled.

The sound was so foreign coming from her usually congenial brother that Rachel lost the words she was about to yell at Cole, and instead, she spun around to face Mason. That was when she heard Cole’s reply.

“I said I married your sister on Saturday.”

“Oh my god,” Lena muttered.

“Not helping, Cole,” Rachel pointed out as she faced her seething brother.

If she had been worried at all about her dealing with Mason’s wrath over the matrimony, she needn’t have bothered. All of his annoyance and anger was solely focused on Cole.

“Mase, come on, calm down,” Rachel tried to reason with him.

“I will calm down when you tell me that what he just said is bullshit.”

Um, not going to happen. What he said is all true.

“If you just listen, may—”

“Maybe, what?” Mason finally demanded, turning to pin her with a look full of anger, confusion, and something much worse—disappointment. “Maybe you’ll finally tell me why you’ve been acting so distant lately? Or why you have decided to stop talking to everyone? Or maybe you will explain to me how you ended up married to a guy you don’t even know!”

Rachel took a deep breath and balled her fists at her sides. She tried to remind herself that this was Mason, her brother. He was the one person in the world who loved her unconditionally. Well, he used to be the only one.

As she glanced across the car to where Cole was standing next to a shocked face Lena, Rachel felt herself calm. Cole was looking at her with such certainty. He believed in her and trusted her to do the right thing here.

Looking back at Mason, Rachel squared her shoulders. She was never one to back down from any argument, and so she simply replied, “I love him.”

“Excuse me? You just met him!” Mason exclaimed, pointing his finger at her.

Rachel reached out and gripped his finger. “And you haven’t even bothered to meet him!”

She watched as her brother’s blue eyes narrowed on her, and he dropped his hand.

“You never bothered to introduce us, Rachel. Or did you forget that?”

“Of course, I didn’t forget! I didn’t bother introducing you because the one night he turned up at the restaurant, you acted like an idiot. And you’re doing the same right now.”

“I’m acting like an idiot? Oh, that’s rich. I don’t know what you expect from me,” Mason told her through clenched teeth.

“I expect you to quit acting like an ass, and instead, be the supportive brother I know and love.”

Mason shook his head and pushed his hands into his jeans pockets. “Yeah? Well, when the sister I know and love shows up, maybe she’ll be able to find him.”

Rachel felt her heart physically ache as Mason turned on his heel and marched to the back door of Exquisite where he wrenched open the door and stormed inside. When it slammed shut behind him, she turned to face Cole and Lena, who were both staring at her silently. Lena’s expression was contemplative, and Cole’s—damn him—was proud.

With a quick nod and a fake smile, Rachel announced, “Well, that went well.”

* * *

Cole watched Lena as she moved around the car to where Rachel was standing. The two women whispered back and forth before they both turned to face him. Knowing he was the topic of conversation, he raised his left hand and gave a quick wave.

Well, that little reveal to Mason had not gone well, not that Cole had expected it to. The man had taken the pissed-off brother act to brand new heights. Mason was raging mad.

The cool air started to bite, and as Cole made his way toward the women, he heard Lena assuring Rachel.

“He’ll come around. He’s been so worried about you lately. And this? Well, this is a bit of a shock.”

When Cole stopped at the end of the car, Rachel looked to him and gave a small smile.

“Want to head inside?” he asked as Lena also turned to face him.

He waited for accusations of coercion, but instead, he got a huge grin.

“Come on, it’s time to meet the rest of the family, brother,” Lena announced.

Rachel let out a small laugh as she moved toward him. She slid her hands inside his jacket and around his waist, laying her cheek on his chest. “You ready?” she whispered, looking up at him from beneath dark lashes.

Cole removed his hands from his pockets and smoothed them over her hair. “As ever. You?”

“No.” She chuckled nervously.

Leaning down, he kissed her on the forehead.

Glancing up, he noticed Lena was watching them closely. Her eyes softened, and she mouthed, Thank you.

That’s an odd thing to say, Cole thought.

As Lena turned and made her way to the back door, he pulled away from Rachel and took her hand in his.

“Come on, let’s do this.”

* * *

Well, this is awkward, was all Rachel could think as she sat beside Cole at their family table in the dining room of Exquisite.

Mason was seated at the head of the table where he always sat, and Lena was off to his left. Beside her were two empty chairs—one for Shelly and one for Josh—who, of course, hadn’t arrived yet because they were running late. Great, just when I’d kill for some of Shelly’s over-the-top attitude, she’s nowhere in sight. And that left the seats to Mason’s right where she was sitting with Cole.

Mason still hadn’t said a word to her. Instead, he was staring…no, glaring at Cole.

“So, Cole, what do you do?” Lena finally asked, attempting to break the arctic ice surrounding the table.

“He’s a lawyer,” Mason answered before Cole had the opportunity to open his mouth.

Rachel tensed, knowing how much it annoyed Cole to be interrupted or cut off in a conversation, but instead of saying anything, Cole took the much higher road than her pouting brother.

“Yes, Mason’s correct, I’m a lawyer. In fact, I’m the lawyer for Joshua’s company.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Lena gave a forced laugh. “I knew that.”

“No problem. I don’t mind you asking or getting to know me,” he pointed out, turning shrewd eyes on Mason.

The man has a death wish. Of that, Rachel was certain.

“You know,” Mason replied in a frosty tone, “that’s the kind of thing a man does when he introduces himself to the family before he dates or marries a woman.”

“Mason,” Lena hissed.

She wasn’t even getting through to the imposter that had taken over Rachel’s usually levelheaded brother.

“Well, in my defense, the last time we met, you didn’t seem very open to getting to know me,” Cole said.

Rachel could feel her heart hammering inside her chest while her head was pounding with the headache she could feel coming on.

“That’s because Lena and Shelly told me that Rachel would never date a man like you—ever.”

“Mason!” Both Lena and Rachel shouted as they glared at the man who was usually so loving, usually so open.

Rachel wanted to hit something—Mason, in particular—as she shot a death stare in his direction.

What a complete disaster.

Thinking she would have some major explaining to do, Rachel turned to see Cole was looking at her with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. She liked to imagine that the amusement was for her and the annoyance for her brother.

Under the table, she felt a hand move to her thigh where Cole squeezed gently before he looked past her to Mason.

“Good thing I don’t ever take no for an answer then, isn’t it? And while your point is valid, technically, we didn’t even finish our first date.” Cole paused and looked back at Rachel with a smirk injected with a healthy dose of irritation.

The look almost made Rachel want to wince.

“When was that?” Cole asked Rachel conversationally before turning back to Mason. “Oh yes, Thursday night. A week after Rachel began, hmm…seeing me. Yes, our first date was definitely Thursday night, marriage license was Friday, and the wedding Saturday. You’ve got to love the efficiency of the county clerk’s office, don’t you?”

Like a missile being launched, Mason shot out of his chair. Just as he was about to open his mouth, the back door swung open, and Shelly sauntered in, dressed in a black pencil skirt and blue blouse. With a bottle of wine in one hand and Josh holding the other, she gave them all a warm smile.

“Sorry, we’re late, guys. We got held up in traffic,” she announced.

Josh dropped her hand and swatted her gently on the ass. “I don’t remember there being any traffic.”

Shelly laughed with Josh as she placed the bottle on the table beside the one they were all seated at…well, except for Mason who was still standing. She finally glanced at the other people in the room, and when her eyes moved to the man sitting beside Rachel, her mouth fell open. Not being the shy or retiring type, Shelly stepped up to the back of the empty chair with a sly smile.

“Well, well, well,” she muttered as she let her eyes move back and forth between Rachel and Cole. “Isn’t this an unexpected treat? Rachel brought a date to dinner.”

Josh, wearing his usual jeans and T-shirt, stepped up next to Shelly and looked at Cole. Cole nodded in acknowledgment to Josh before turning to look at Shelly.

Rachel knew it only took Josh a second to sense the mood in the room, and as he looked to where Mason was standing at the head of the table with a clenched jaw and a pissed-off expression, she could see his mind whirling.

“Cole,” Josh greeted cautiously as he pulled out his seat.

Before Josh could sit, Mason started to laugh like some kind of lunatic. His eyes shut, and he held his stomach as the hilarity of whatever he was thinking seemed to get the better of him.

Rachel watched as Shelly turned to Lena, who was silently shaking her head.

Then, in true Shelly style, she asked, “What the hell have you been smoking, Mason?”

Mason finally got himself under control and sat down.

Turning to Josh and Shelly, who were now both seated opposite Rachel and Cole, he finally spoke. “Let me introduce you, not to Rachel’s date, but to her husband. Josh, I believe you already know him.”

* * *

Cole kept his eyes focused on his friend and employer, Joshua. As the news seemed to finally make its way past the shock factor, Cole saw his friend look immediately to where Rachel was looking back at him and Shelly.

“Married?” Shelly shouted, slapping her hand on the table. “Shut the fu—”

“Shel,” Josh interrupted the stunning blonde while still looking at Rachel with an expression of worry and confusion.

“What?” Shelly demanded on a laugh.

Well, hell, Cole thought, at least someone is amused.

“This is priceless. I’ve been waiting for Super Domme to finally admit she liked this guy, and here she is married to him!” Leaning back on her chair, Shelly reached around Josh and poked Lena in the side. “You owe me fifty bucks.”

“Hang on. You took a bet about this? That they would get married?” Mason asked as he glared at his wife.

“No, I took a bet that they would end up dating,” Lena muttered.

Cole sat back in his chair and watched the chaos unfold. He had to admit he was extremely curious about Shelly calling Rachel Super Domme. It was a point that Mason had obviously missed, or he would have—