Page 17 of Wedding Bet

“We’ve been friends for years now. You should know this about me. You up and ready to rock?”

“Depends what you mean byready to rock,” I told him.

“Early bird gets the powder,” Emmett said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “Meet me at the top of the slope in twenty minutes?”

“Can’t a guy get some breakfast first?” I let out a breath, stretching my neck.

“Come on,” Emmett protested. “We’ll be having lavish breakfasts and brunches all week. Grab an energy bar in the cafe and come hit the snow with me.”

“All right, all right, you win. But only because nothing sounds better than skiing right now.”

“Meet you there.”

As was often the case, Emmett had been totally right. When we hit the slopes, I was finally able to clear my head, get my muscles working, and feel like myself again. The sun was dappling beautifully through the pine trees, and Emmett and I got to spend a good couple of hours out there. Finally I wasn’t thinking about my failed proposal or the fact that Parker had turned around and gotten engaged within ayear.

Or that even my best friend didn’t know about it.

I rinsed off again after skiing and then headed to the lounge and made some phone calls to other investors in California.

It was nice to have the lounge act as my office for the day, with its towering, floor-to-ceiling glass windows that looked out over the snowy, tree-spotted mountains. I pulled out my laptop, ready for an hour or two of quick work. I’d been shrewd and gotten lucky a few years back with some of my investments, and ever since, I’d had enough money to retire, even though I wasn’t even close to ready yet.

I loved working with Emmett. I loved the game of marketing, even though it was wily and a lot of work. In our new firm, I got to devote most of my time now to finding small startup companies and helping their brands grow with proper guidance and connections. Right now, I was working with the CEO of a startup aiming to make solar energy more accessible to everyone in California.

My task was to somehow make solar power seemsexy. And I liked the challenge.

Now that we had enough money to work with, Emmett and I got to choose projects we truly cared about, and it meant the world to us.

A few hours of work suddenly became many hours, though. I was editing a brand deal proposal in one of the fireside leather chairs in the lounge when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Chase,” I said when I saw him behind me. I looked outside and noticed that the sunlight had gotten dimmer. “Oh, God. What time is it?”

“Time to head to the winter festival.”

“Festival? Shit, I really should check my personal email more.”

“Everyone who’s here for the wedding is coming,” Chase told me. “Go put on some warm clothes and meet us down at the front of the hotel.”

I headed over to the elevator bay and the gold-colored doors of one of them whooshed open. I got in, and as the doors were sliding closed, a hand jutted out and stopped them from the outside.

“Hold the elevator!”

In walked a very cute, very appealing human marshmallow.

Jamie stepped into the elevator in his puffy white coat, holding some sort of big folder in his hands.

“Oh! Sorry,” he said, looking up. His expression changed as he realized it was me, and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Sorry? For what?” I asked as he positioned himself in the opposite corner of the elevator and the doors finally slid shut.

One glance at his plush, ruddy lips and the memory of last night came barreling back to me like a full-speed train. With him came the scent of whatever laundry soap he used, bringing me back to what it felt like holding him in my arms.

His presence was so comforting. I still barely knew him, but the moment he was around, everything inside me relaxed a little.

“I guess I have nothing to be sorry for,” Jamie said, his blue eyes glancing up at me from under thick lashes. “So… I’m sorry for saying I’m sorry, I guess.”

I held back a laugh, gesturing at the folder he was holding. “What is that?”

“Scherenschnitte.”

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