Page 91 of Just Like Home

He’d take care of that, one way or another. Gemma was not going to take the stage at this event, no matter what.

“Now, can I get a volunteer to help demonstrate a few moves for the group?” Charlotte’s question pulled his attention to her, and he shrunk under the weight of her gaze.

To his sheer horror, she seemed to expect him to stand and join her. And there wasno waythat was happening. He’d agreed to do whatever she said, but she’d asked a question—not issued a directive. He’d keep his seat, thank you very much.

Hildy raised her hand. “We’ll volunteer.”

Cole would thank her later. She and Steve joined Charlotte at the center of the circle. Charlotte shot Cole a raised brow that seemed to accuse, then turned her attention to the couple standing in front of her.

Charlotte had no idea what she was asking if she thought she was going to get him up in front of this group. It was bad enough he had to get up in front of anyone after weeks of practice—but now? Not a chance.

She began with a few moves that she called “basic,” though Cole was pretty sure even those would’ve been hard for him, especially in his work boots, but Steve and Hildy picked up the steps quickly.

It soon became clear they’d done this before.

Charlotte took a step back. “You were holding out on me, Mrs. Hawthorne.”

“Guilty.” Hildy laughed. “We took ballroom dancing lessons a few years ago. I guess it’s like riding a bike.”

“I guess so,” Charlotte said. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

“Some music, please, Brinley?”

The blonde nodded, then pushed play on her phone. A familiar piano intro rang out over the speakers, and after a moment, Adele’s haunting voice filled the space.

To his right, Max stood. “Babe, it’s our song,” he said.

Cole’s eyes shot to him—gangly, smarmy, still-married Max—and he froze.

Their song?

“Max, sit down,” Gemma hissed.

Charlotte beamed, as if it were the most romantic coincidence. “This is your song?”

Max spun around and faced Charlotte. Cole didn’t want him looking at her, let alone talking to her—he had no right to feel that way and he knew it. But he couldn’t help it—Max didn’t deserve Charlotte’s undivided attention.

“It was playing the night we met,” Max said.

The night they met? Gemma had met Max before she met Cole, he’d discovered when the sordid details came out. Max and Gemma, it turned out, had been carrying on for months before she even met Cole.

And while it may have stopped for a little while after the wedding, it didn’t take long for Max and Gemma to find their way back to each other—and Cole was the last person to know.

His mind raced to try and make sense of what Max was saying. Had this been Max and Gemma’s song when she chose it for the first dance the day she married Cole?

Had Max been at their wedding?

Cole couldn’t help it, he scoffed, drawing Gemma’s attention—and, to his dismay, everyone else’s. Charlotte frowned at him.

“Max, let’s not disrupt the class,” Gemma said pointedly.

Slowly, Cole turned toward her, aware that she now wore the same expression she’d worn the night Max rushed in, pleading with her to take him back.

The night Cole learned the truth after three years of marriage.

And that expression said,Caught.

It was in that moment that Cole knew the truth. She’d chosen the songforMax. At their wedding.

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