One Night with His Ex
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Katherine Garbera
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One
Hadley Everton both loved and hated living in Cole’s Hill, Texas. To be fair, the town had been growing ever since the joint NASA-SpaceNow training facility had opened on its outskirts, but those small-town minds weren’t keeping up. Today, she had dodged several well-meaning society matrons from the upscale Five Families neighborhood who were all concerned about her lack of a man. Since this was her sister’s engagement party, everyone in her mother’s circle of friends had fixed their eyes on her as the next one to finally wise up and land herself a husband.
It wasn’t as if Cole’s Hill didn’t have its share of eligible bachelors for her to pick from, as her parents’ neighbor Mrs. Zane had pointed out with her usual blend of sweet bluntness. Hadley could choose from any of them. Though in her infinite wisdom, Mrs. Zane advised her to stay away from the Velasquez brothers, especially after her recent breakup with Mauricio.
Seeing two more of her mother’s friends, Mrs. Abernathy and Mrs. Crandall, making a beeline toward her, Hadley faked a sneezing fit and ducked into the country club’s kitchen. The waitstaff were busy living up to her mother’s exacting standards, preparing the trays of food for circulation, so they didn’t care if Hadley had broken up with her “one good prospect” and seemed doomed to a life as a single woman.
She stood in the corner near the door to be out of the way of the staff, which unfortunately left her in earshot of her busybody pursuers.
“I heard she told him if he didn’t put a ring on her finger, she was out of there,” Mrs. Abernathy said.
“And he just said see you later. What is wrong with young people these days? He should have asked her then and there. He’s almost thirty and it’s not like anyone else is going to be interested in him if he couldn’t make Hadley happy,” Mrs. Crandall added.
Hadley turned to leave the kitchen via the back door but bumped into someone. She glanced up with an apology on her lips, but froze when she saw it was her sister, Helena.
Helena was the pretty sister, with a heart-shaped face, naturally thick eyebrows and blue eyes that Hadley had always envied. She stood a few inches taller than Hadley, as well. Today she wore a slim-fitting sheath that showed off her curves in a subtle way. Normally, her sister was very low key and laid back, but Hadley noticed she seemed tense.
“What are you doing in here?” Hadley asked.
“Same as you,” Helena said. Reaching up, she tucked a strand of Hadley’s hair behind her ear where it had escaped from her low chignon.
Hadley pulled the tendril back down to frame her face. Her older sister was forever acting like Hadley was still an eight-year-old and Helena was the more sophisticated ten-year-old.
“Hardly. This is your party,” Hadley said, moving away from the door and the women who were still talking about her and Mauricio.
“Girls. What are y’all doing?” their mother asked as she entered the kitchen. Candace Everton was the spitting image of Helena, just twenty-one years older. She kept the grays at bay in her natural strawberry blond hair with bi-weekly appointments at her hair salon and kept her figure by playing in a women’s tennis league at the club.
Their mother had always had it all together and there were times when Hadley wished she had just a tenth of her mom’s ease when it came to dealing with the social pressures of living in Cole’s Hill. But she never had.
Candace inspected a tray of canapés that one of the uniformed waiters was about to take out and wrinkled her nose at him. “This looks sloppy. Please get a clean tray before you serve my guests.”
The waiter turned around as their mother walked toward them. Hadley found herself standing a little taller and tucked the tendril that Helena had been messing with earlier back behind her ear.
“Just enjoying a moment of quiet,” Helena said. “I asked Hadley to help me with my zipper. It felt like the hook had come undone.”
“Let me see,” Mother said.
Helena turned around and their mother checked the hook and eye before wrapping her arm around both of her daughters’ shoulders. “Ready to get back to the party?”
No, but clearly that wasn’t the answer their mom wanted. She urged them both toward the door that led out of the kitchen.
When she got back out into the living room, Hadley came to a stop as she saw Mauricio Velasquez standing there. Of course, he looked like he’d stepped out of her hottest dreams. That was the thing no one had warned her about with breakups and broken hearts. She might be ready to move on, but her damned subconscious kept churning him up in the middle of the night and giving him a starring role in her sexiest dreams.
He had what she’d heard the old biddies in town refer to as a chiseled jaw; his neatly trimmed eyebrows framed eyes that were as black as her favorite dark chocolate. When he looked at her, she always felt like he could see straight past the layers she used to keep the world at bay to the very heart of her. But she knew that was a lie. Had he been able to do that, he wouldn’t have invited Marnie Masters, the femme fatale of Cole’s Hill, into his bed, while he and Hadley were taking a break in their relationship. She had believed they were going to get back together up until the moment she found out about Marnie.
“Hadley, what are you doing?” Mother said, putting her hand on Hadley’s shoulder.
“Sorry, Mother, I just saw Mauricio.”
“So?”
“I’m not ready to talk to him,” she said.
“This is Helena’s day, sweet child, so you will straighten Grandma’s pearls and walk over there and greet him like he’s an old friend,” Mother said.
She took a deep breath and looked over at Helena. “You’re right. Sorry, Hel.”
She’d known he’d be here. Mauricio and her sister’s fiancé were best friends and had been since high school. It wasn’t as if she could ask everyone she knew to stop socializing with him. Helena had even taken her to brunch at her favorite place to break the news that Mo would be in the wedding party. The picture of him walking out of his bathroom in a towel with the town flirt Marnie Masters right behind him had flashed through Hadley’s mind. But it didn’t matter. She had to be there for her sister.
“It’s okay,” Helena said. “I did warn you he’d be here today. Malcolm asked him to be a groomsman so you’re going to see him at all the pre-wedding events.”
“She’s got this,” Mother said. “I raised you girls to have steel in your backbones. And manners.”
“That’s right, you did,” Hadley agreed. She wished it were that easy, but when she saw Mauricio, he stirred to life so many different emotions. Anger she could understand, and sadness of course; it was hard to move on. Then there was guilt. But another feeling entirely came into play when her gaze drifted down his body, to that tailor-made suit that emphasized the width of his broad shoulders, the jacket buttoned neatly at his waist showing off the slimness of his hips, the pants displaying those long legs to perfection.
She groaned but Helena pinched her in warning. She straightened her shoulders and realized that Jackson Donovan had come in behind Mauricio. Jackson was Hadley’s date for the event, and as he waved at her, Mauricio turned to greet him.
“He better not make a scene at my baby’s party,” Mother said.
“He won’t,” Hadley said with a confidence she was far from believing as she headed off to run interference between her ex-lover and her new boyfriend.
Mauricio had taken care to arrive late at the engagement party, even though Malcolm Ferris was one of his best friends. He’d known today was going to be a challenge and he’d never been one of those men who could just smile when he was pissed off. His twin brother always said it was the reason they were so good at speculative business ventures. They weren’t afraid to fight for the underdog or walk into a bad situation and make the best of it. Though Mo had his doubts, Alec had found a way to make that work. For Mauricio it was real estate, for Alec it was technology and social media. Frankly, Mo didn’t understand his brother’s multi-million-dollar business but there was one thing he did understand... No matter how many months passed, he still couldn’t look at Hadley Everton and not feel his blood start to flow heavier in his veins.
She looked like a perfect Southern lady today. Her dress was a beautiful navy blue that hugged her slim torso, drawing his eyes to her delicate neck encircled with her heirloom strand of pearls. Damn if there wasn’t something sexy about seeing a lady all dressed up and knowing what she looked like naked.
He cursed and started to turn to leave the party. He wasn’t going to be able to keep his cool. But just then Jackson Donovan walked up next to him. The two of them had always rubbed each other the wrong way. Ever since their school days, Jackson had been a goody-two-shoes. The only thing that had changed was that back then he had been a skinny geek and now he was six foot five and muscular.
“Mo, good to see you,” Jackson said, holding out his hand.
Mo shook it, keeping his grip light, but Jackson squeezed before letting go. “I didn’t know you knew Malcolm.”
“I don’t, well, not really. I’m here with Hadley.”
Mo saw red. Sure, they were broken up and it felt final this time, but Hadley could do better than this—
“Hello, boys,” Hadley said, joining the two of them. She gave Jackson a kiss on the cheek before turning to smile at Mauricio.
Mauricio took a deep breath. “Hiya, Had. You look gorgeous as usual.”
“Thank you,” she said, with a tiny nod. “I hope you’ll excuse us, Mauricio. I promised Mother I’d bring Jackson over to meet her cousin.”
“Of course.”
She slipped her hand into the crook of Jackson’s elbow and Mo watched her walk away, unable to tear his eyes from the curves of her hips. Had her legs always been that long?
“Mo, I was surprised to see you chatting with Jackson,” his brother Diego said as he handed him a longneck Lone Star beer.
Mauricio brought the bottle to his lips and took a long pull. “Mama told me to mind my manners today. And I’m not going to give her another reason to be embarrassed after last fall.”
“Glad to hear it,” Diego said.
“Yeah?”
Diego nodded.
“Me too. I can’t keep avoiding everyone from our life together.”
“That’s a good point,” Diego said.
He hoped so. He was working his way back to good. A year ago, he’d been trying to manage his real estate business in the hill country, a reality TV show in Houston and a relationship with Hadley, who had been transferred to her company’s Manhattan offices. She worked for a large design firm and was one of their top designers. He’d been barely hanging on and he’d crashed and burned, especially after what had happened with Hadley. It forced him to take stock of his life and narrow his focus to the things—people—who were really important. His family, his good friends like Malcolm and his other polo team buddies.
“Glad to hear it. Pippa’s in London this week, so if you want to hang out, I’m free,” Diego said. His brother was in a long-distance relationship with Pippa Hamilton Hoff. His brother’s fiancée was the COO of House of Hamilton, Britain’s famous jewelers, and divided her time between London and Cole’s Hill.
“Sounds good. I’m actually working on a project with Homes for Everyone this week. If you have some free time, we could use another set of hands. We’re putting up some framing for the walls tomorrow night.” Mauricio was heavily involved in the charity, which helped low-income families who were struggling to buy their own house. Mauricio usually provided tracts of land for the different projects that Homes for Everyone were doing in their part of Texas, and occasionally even joined in on volunteer days when they actually built the homes.
“I’ll be there,” Diego said as he turned his attention to Helena and Malcolm.
The engaged couple were opening presents, and everyone was watching them, but Mauricio couldn’t keep his eyes off Hadley. She wore her thick dark curly hair pulled back in a low bun at the back of her neck. Several strands had escaped and framed her heart-shaped face. She chewed on her lower lip as she glanced down at the notepad in her hand, jotting down the details of each of the presents that her sister opened until she’d worried all of the lipstick from her mouth. Not that she needed to put on makeup to look like a knockout.
His gaze drifted down her body to the V-neck of her dress that gave a glimpse of her cleavage. This was a bad idea. He should have declined when Malcolm had asked him to be a groomsman but theirs was one of Mauricio’s oldest friendships.
He stood up and Diego arched one eyebrow in question. “I need some fresh air.”
He didn’t get far before Malcolm caught up with him. They’d met in the third grade when they’d both been dropped off by their parents on a Saturday morning for the Hill Country Junior Polo League. They’d been close ever since. Malcolm’s father died when they were in high school, and Malcolm had spent more time at the Velasquez house after his mom took on more hours at work to support the family. Now Malcolm was his partner in the real estate business and together they were determined to make sure that the growth of Cole’s Hill wasn’t too fast so as not to damage the community they both loved.
“Hey, Mo, I need you inside for a photo of all the groomsmen,” Malcolm said. “I have a surprise for y’all that I think is pretty cool.”
“I think most of us are just happy to see you in love and marrying the woman of your dreams.”
Malcolm shook his head. “I still can’t believe Helena said yes. I’m not nearly good enough for her, but I’m trying to make sure she’ll never regret her decision.”
“She’s a lucky woman,” Mauricio said, clapping his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“I saw you with Hadley and Jackson earlier.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t weird or anything,” he said.
Malcolm laughed. “One of the cons to living in Cole’s Hill is that it’s hard to avoid past girlfriends.”
“True.”
“Helena already warned me I’d have to keep you in line. No fighting,” Malcolm said. “Not with Hadley or Jackson or heck, even me.”
“I’m not doing that anymore,” he said. “That was just a bad spell.”
“Glad to hear,” Malcolm said. “Behind all their Southern charm, the Everton ladies aren’t happy with you at all.”
He didn’t blame them. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”
“Mal, come on,” Helena said. “Daddy wants to get the pictures taken so he can take off his tie.”
“Coming.”
Mauricio followed the engaged couple into a sitting room. There was a large picture window with a spectacular view of the hills behind the house, which were covered with bluebonnets in full bloom. Crissanne Moss, one of the newer residents of Cole’s Hill, was acting as photographer today. She was engaged to Ethan Caruthers, who was related to Mauricio through marriage.
“I’m going to do a shot of the ladies first, then all of you guys and then a big group photo.”
There was some grumbling especially from the men as they stood with their backs against the wall. The last time they were all together waiting like this was in high school when they’d gotten their yearbook photos taken.
He shook his head at the thought.
“I hate photos,” Malcolm said. “I always look either like a creepy toothpaste ad or like I’m getting ready to be tortured.”
“Just relax,” Mauricio said. “Maybe look at Helena. You don’t look creepy when you smile at her.”
“Glad to hear it,” Malcolm said sardonically.
“No problem, man.”
“Guys, come on over,” Crissanne said.
Mauricio walked past the bridesmaids and Hadley’s floral perfume scent filled the air. He couldn’t help taking a deep breath as he moved into the position that Crissanne directed him to. When she had everyone posed, she explained that they had to do a serious photo and a silly one. Mauricio realized that if he never had to be in another photo again, he’d be happy.
“Now let’s mix it up,” Crissanne said.
There was some jostling around Helena and Malcolm, who were in the center of the group. Crissanne kept moving the men and women to get a good balance of something that only she could see with her photographer’s eye.
Mauricio stood toward the back; being six foot five, he was pretty much always in the back of any group shot. When Crissanne repositioned two of the bridesmaids, it put Hadley right in front of him.
He stood a little taller and held himself back from her.
“Okay, guys, I need you to put your hand on the shoulder of the woman in front of you,” Crissanne said.
He put his hand on Hadley’s shoulder. As soon as he did, a tingle went through him. He noticed goose bumps on her left arm, and she shifted under his touch. Her breath become shallower and a slight flush spread down her neck. He felt a zing of awareness go through him, and he did his best to ignore it until Hadley glanced back over her shoulder at him and their eyes met.
They both might have decided to move on, that they weren’t ever getting back together, but there was an undeniable sexual energy between them now; it hadn’t been extinguished. He knew better than to think that this would lead to anything more than the most exquisite sort of torture, but he couldn’t help rubbing his finger over the small bit of flesh exposed by the thick strap of her dress. Her skin was softer than he remembered, and she shivered delicately under his touch.
Crissanne brought their attention back to her and snapped the photos. “Okay, you’re all free to go.”
Hadley bolted from under his touch and all he could do was watch her go.
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