Page 4 of Earned Husband

Ashanti rolled her eyes. “In your day, thestock marketreferred to a market where one could purchase livestock.”

Gabrielle laughed and presented a counterargument on behalf of her entire generation. My brother leaned back in his chair and sighed, his gaze drifting to the windows. I frowned, worry winding through me.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “The hangover can’t be that bad.”

“It’s not.” He brought his eyes to mine. “Thanks for offering to watch the kids for us today, but Alex invited me to go golfing with him and some of his brothers, as well as Colin Thayer.”

Ashanti brightened instantly at the sound of his name, as if not even the aftereffects of white wine—or an active argument with her mother—could keep her from singing his praises. “Ah, Colin. I’m just so proud of how successful he’s become, regardless of what happened with his family.” Before I could ask what she meant, she smiled. “Do you remember him? I introduced you last night.”

“Sure,” I said, about to ask what had happened with his family, but Ashanti slipped an arm around Khaled’s waist and leaned into him, still looking only at me as she kept going.

“Jane said he’s become the kind of man the family depends on when everyone else is panicking. It sounds like he’s doingwell, but he’s always been the stable, responsible type, so I’m not surprised. That’s just who he is, the man with the plan. He’s very smart too.”

Khaled interjected with a few facts he’d learned about Colin, but my mind was already wandering again. I definitely remembered the man they were talking about. In fact, I’d spent the better part of the night thinking about him.

Despite what Ashanti had said, Colin hadn’t struck me as the steady or stable type when we’d first encountered one another in the kitchen. As soon as he’d laid eyes on me, he’d frozen and turned beet red. Then afterward, I could’ve sworn he kept looking back in my direction for the duration of the evening.

A tiny bit of a tingle passed through me at the memory. Smart, capable, and successful as he might be, he was also very much human. Not at all like the polished businessmen I dealt with on a daily basis.

Those were a dime a dozen, all of them practically the same person just in a different suit. I’d always thought of them more as robots than men, but not Colin. He might’ve been wearing a suit, but he’d blushed, he’d stammered, and he’dsneezed, for goodness sake.

That made him as human as they came, but he’d also stood tall. He’d laughed and joked around with Ashanti and he certainly knew how to wear that suit instead of letting it wear him. Despite how he’d acted in the kitchen, I’d gotten no sense that he was feeble, helpless, or even awkward.

I’d simply gotten the feeling that he was taken aback, by me, and I liked that. I liked people who were genuine about their emotions and reactions, and I had more than enough cool professionalism in my life. Maybe it was just my creative, artistic side coming out, but what I enjoyed in my free time was authenticity and discovering what made people tick.

Especially when those people were handsome, broad-shouldered Americans with gray eyes the color of a morning sky and hair as rich as dark chocolate. It didn’t hurt that his features were pretty either, delicate but not feminine, and sharp.

The man was gorgeous. Even when beet red.

Khaled’s phone rang, interrupting both my thoughts and Ashanti’s continuing praise of Colin. He glanced at the screen and abruptly stood up, moving toward the window as he took the call. “Alex.” He paused to listen for a beat, chuckling before he turned to glance at me. “Would you like to come golfing with us?”

“Have you had a stroke?” I asked politely, my eyebrows hiking up. “I’ve never golfed in my life, nor do I intend to start now.”

Ashanti choked on her tea, but Khaled ignored me, still listening to whatever Alex was saying on the phone. A few moments later, he spoke again. “Unfortunately, my sister won’t be able to join us, but that’s fine. I’ll see you in an hour.”

When he hung up, he came back to the counter and kissed Ashanti on the forehead. “I have to go get ready. I’ll be home by dinner. Have a good day, ladies.”

He strode out of the kitchen without so much as another glance in my direction, and as soon as he was gone, I turned to face my sister-in-law. “What is he really up to?”

She lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “I prefer to stay out of family business.”

With that said, she took another sip of tea as though that had settled the matter, but it had very much not. Ashanti and Khaled were up to something, and I had a sinking feeling that it concerned me. I also strongly suspected that neither of them intended to let a word slip until whatever it was had been absolutely set in stone.

CHAPTER 3

COLIN

Without question, I was playing the worst game of golf of my adult life. Usually, this was one of the activities I could competently perform. Zach and I played nearly every weekend, but today clearly wasn’t my day.

For the past nine holes, I’d been absolute awful and the streak wasn’t ending. I watched with my hand pressed my forehead as my ball soared through the air, landing squarely in the middle of a sand trap for at least the third time.

Khaled Saad walked with me to the edge of the bunker. Grinning, he rested both hands on his club while I climbed into the sandpit. “You know, seeing as you love the sand so much, you should visit us in Egypt sometime.”

“At this rate, he should just move there,” Alex said, his laughter echoing across the fairway.

I groaned. “You’re both very funny. Hilarious, really.”

Quietly fuming at myself and not even sure why I’d been invited to this outing in the first place, I hit the ball and seriously wondered if they’d asked me to come just so they’d have someone to pick on. I honestly didn’t understand why they’d have brought me here otherwise.