Page 34 of Keeping My Wife
“Nothing like last minute, bro.” Cash nudged me. “Now what the hell is going on with you? Are you a mail order bride?”
Parker snickered. “Leave him alone.”
Cash draped an arm around her neck. “Fetching shade of denim you got there on your face.” He kissed just under the streak of paint.
She elbowed him. “You know I hate painting.”
Lexi passed out plates. “Okay, animals. I just pulled up the drop cloths.”
I took a plate and another piece of pepperoni this time. “Maxie’s grandmother tied her inheritance up with a crazy stipulation in the will. She has to be married to get the house.”
“So, this is altruism?” Sully arched a brow.
“No. Just how it started.”
“Maxine Delacroix and you. Who’d a thunk it?” Gus shook his head.
“Oh, I’m not shocked.” Eloise, Gus’s girlfriend, snickered. “Cam has had the hots for her since he was a freshman.”
“Is that so?” Ripley leaned a hip on the tiny counter of the galley kitchen. “Why didn’t you try your luck then?”
“Because she was a senior and his balls hadn’t dropped yet,” Cash quipped.
Ripley barked out a laugh. “Oh, so she’s an older woman. You dog.” He took a big bite of a slice of supreme.
“Yes, she’s a few years older than me.”
“Maybe she’ll show you a thing or two.” Rip winked at me.
I shook my head. “Asshole.”
“You’re doing all this for a favor?” Sully asked.
Nora hip bumped him. “Oh, he’s stupid in love.”
I shrugged. “She’s not wrong. Now that you animals are fed. How about we finish this up?”
Kai groaned. “I barely got a break.”
Lexi smacked his butt. “I’ll help you.”
Kai dragged her in for a quick kiss. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
I laughed and jumped in to help with the bookcases. Maxie’s grandmother had left her quite a few first edition novels and I didn’t want them ruined by guests up at the mansion. Between Gus and I, we knocked out the finishing touches on the corner reading nook.
He was holding the last bit of crown molding up for me to nail in when he gave me the look.
“What?”
“You sure about this?”
“The crown molding? Pretty sure you cut it right.”
Gus rolled his eyes. “No, jerk. Getting married so fast.”
“I’d have married her two weeks ago if I could have. She needed to write a prenup.”
“Prenup?”
