Page 36 of The Billionaire in Her Bed

“She played soccer?”

Mallory waved her hand dismissively. “It was a brief dalliance. She spent more time chasing butterflies than the ball.”

“Who’s Carmen?” he asked.

“Our housekeeper.”

Eli’s eyes went wide, his surprise showing again. He must lose a fortune at poker. “Your family had a housekeeper?”

Danger, Will Robinson. Danger.

This little game of twenty questions had gone far enough. Brooke had to stop it before her sister told Eli about the time she mooned the vice principal, or how she almost got busted for spray painting their neighbor’s garage door. Or worse, outed her as one of the heirs to the Worthington hotel chain. People tended to treat her differently when they found out her family had a net worth somewhere in the mid seven figures. She hadn’t told the other residents of Candy Court who she was until she’d lived there a year, and they were sworn to secrecy.

Brooke cleared her throat. “You two do realize I’m standing right here.”

“Did you hear something?” Mallory put a hand to one ear.

Eli shrugged and stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Not me.”

“Very funny.” Brooke stepped between them and turned to her sister. “I thought you came here to help, not spill all our family secrets.”

“Not all,” Mallory teased, nudging Brooke with her elbow. “Just yours.”

“And you.” Brooke spun on Eli. “You’re supposed to be working. This canopy isn’t going to finish itself.”

“I could use a hand.” Eli gestured to the pile of tulle next to the ladder. “This is really a two-person job.”

“I can help,” Mallory offered.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

“I’ll work with Eli,” Brooke jumped in, nipping her sister’s not-so-bright idea in the bud. The last thing she wanted was to give those two more time to swap stories. “You can go downstairs and keep an eye on the Feingolds. Then when Chris and David get back from their fitting, you can put the finishing touches on the menu with them.”

“I see what you’re doing.” Mallory waved a finger at her. “And I’ll go along with it. For now. But you can’t keep us apart forever.”

Brooke took her by the shoulders, turned her around, and nudged her toward the door. “Watch me.”

“See you later, Eli,” Mallory called over her shoulder. “Ask Brooke to tell you what happened to the class hamster in second grade.”

The door clicked shut after her, echoing across the roof.

“So.” Eli slid his arms around her. Hers settled on his chest, and he pulled her closer until she could feel every ridge and valley of his body. For a brief moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but then he spoke, his breath warming her cheek and skimming down her neck. “What’s this I hear about a hamster?”

…

“Sure you want to go through with this?” Eli asked two days later as he straightened David’s bow tie and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “There’s still time to change your mind. We could get an Uber to the airport and use those tickets to Santorini.”

“Don’t you dare.” Chris appeared in the doorway to Eli’s apartment, where David was getting ready to march down the aisle. “It took me two years to convince him to marry me. I’m not letting him out of it that easy. And I’m sure as hell not letting you go on our honeymoon with him.”

“What are you doing here?” David wailed, his tone of voice somewhere between a screech and a scream. He ducked behind Eli in a futile attempt to hide. “It’s bad luck for us to see each other before the ceremony.”

“We had breakfast together this morning,” Chris pointed out.

“That doesn’t count,” David insisted to Eli’s back. “It was ages ago.”

“Eight hours is not ages.”

“It is in my book.”