Page 153 of Nash

“Babygirl, I will say, ‘Yeehaw,’ and do a line dance down the aisle for you.”

“Promise?”

“I’ve already practiced.”

My smile tugs at my under-eye patches, too. Snuggled in a side chair, I relax in my pink satin bridesmaid pajama top and shorts, my heart glowing at how hopelessly happy Alena is.

Nadine smiles at them, too. Sipping wine, she sits in the chair opposite mine, looking as elegant as ever in gold eye patches and black silk pajamas while she tries to text discreetly.

In her covert line of work, I guess you never get a break.

Tender moments like this make me miss Nash. But it’s a small sacrifice of a few days without him while Alena gets the wedding she deserves.

Tomorrow, Alena wants me to teach her and Loch how to play golf. My clubs are polished and propped in their bag by the front door. When I know, really, we’ll just get drunk on spicy margaritas and zoom around the course in a golf cart.

Blair is supposed to return from her Caribbean three-way in two more days and join our slumber party and the wedding.

Then, ship this: she’s moving to Atlanta to be a double WAG. Who saw that coming? Me.

“Now, about your eyebrows.” Alena twists her lips.

“What about them?” Loch raises one.

“Can I just?—”

“Nope.” Gently, he grabs her fingertips about to pluck an errant hair. “A man’s gotta draw the line somewhere.”

“But it’s for our wedding,” Alena protests.

“I like them,” I chime in. “They’re all masculine and thick. Leave him some hair and dignity.”

“Thank you, her bestie.” Loch smiles at me, bowing his head slightly, and…

Why did that look familiar?

Alena tries to tickle her fiancé into compliance. It’s an amusing sight because Loch looms so large he doesn’t have to submit to anyone, but he does to her.

In a few days, he’ll stay in another villa as the groom, waiting for his blushing bride, but tonight, he lets her win. He lets her lift his T-shirt to tickle his flinching abs, their laughter booming across the open living room, with its windows to the golf course outside.

They’re cute and rolling around on the sofa. Even Nadine laughs, watching them, until…

…I clock it.

A lion on Loch’s chiseled oblique? And another? And another?

What the…? I count seven of them, roaring in distinct black ink, flexing over his muscles, his deep laughter booming at Alena’s torture and…

Oh.

My.

King.

Shock rips my breath away so quickly, I’m dizzy. It’s not the wine I’m drinking. It’s the recognition. The secret. The lie. The betrayal. It’s the pieces of my heart breaking at the weight of my logic falling into place.

“Excuse me.” I force myself to speak. “I need to call Blair.”

I lie, too, and grab my phone. Rushing outside to the deck, I close the glass door behind me and glance over my shoulder. Nadine watches me while Alena and Loch are oblivious to my departure.

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