Cuff Me(9)

“Vin.”

“Jesus,” he muttered, turning to find that Anthony had decided to join them, and both brothers were giving him a grim look. “Who died?”

Anth grabbed a handful of Vincent’s leather jacket before dragging him backward away from the kitchen.

Vin shrugged free and glared. “I swear to God, will you two clowns just—”

“Jill’s getting married.”

It was Luc that blurted it out, and Vincent very slowly turned to stare at his younger brother. Luc’s blue eyes gazed back at him, and there was no trace of his usual humor.

Vin slowly shifted his gaze to Anthony, whose look was equally somber. “I’m sorry, man.”

Vincent shook his head. “What do you mean she’s getting married? Who the f*ck is she marrying?”

“That guy she was seeing in Florida.”

“What guy?!” Vincent was practically shouting now. This didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. Jill couldn’t be getting f*cking married. She’d have told him. She’d have…

“Well maybe if you’d made the time to talk to her, you might have known she was seeing someone,” Anthony snapped.

“Hell, maybe if you’d made the time to talk to her, she wouldn’t have been seeing anyone,” Luc muttered into his champagne flute.

Vin’s eyes narrowed on his brother. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what it’s supposed to mean, you dumb, cowardly—”

Anth cleared his throat before socking Vincent in the shoulder.

It was as much warning as Vin had before a small, warm body collided against his.

Jill.

He’d been picturing this moment in his head for weeks now, and the joy, he’d expected.

The pain… not so much.

Jill was getting married.

Her arms were around his neck, and he very slowly wrapped one arm around her back before letting his face find the crook of her neck.

He told himself it was just a natural position, but there was nothing natural about the way he wanted to linger. Or the way his lips accidentally brushed her neck, or the way he wanted to kiss her there. To…

Jill was getting married.

She pulled back slightly before putting her hands on either side of his face and giving his head a little shake. “Would you believe that I’ve missed your ugly face?”

Her smile was all warmth and friendliness and familiarity, and he resisted the urge to rub his chest, which physically ached.

Tell her you’ve missed her too. Tell her that you…

Vin thrust the now completely crumpled bag at her. “Here.”

She blinked in surprise, looking completely puzzled as she hooked a finger into the opening of the white bag.

He felt the curious gaze of his family as everyone gathered around, but he ignored them. Only Jill mattered, and…

Damn it, man, a doughnut?!

She had a hard time pulling the bag apart, probably because he’d smushed the contents to death, and it was just…

Good God, it was like he was a f*cking Neanderthal.

He was about to rip the bag out of her hand and make some lame excuse about having to be somewhere… anywhere, when Jill’s startled blue eyes snapped up at his.

She looked stunned. And… happy?

Please let her be happy.

“How’d you know?” she asked, tilting her head.

He blinked. “What?”

“How’d you know that a maple bar was all I could think about when I was in Florida? Would you believe they can’t make a decent one?”

“No such thing as a decent maple bar,” he said gruffly. “They’re disgusting.”

She ignored him as she pulled the completely flattened doughnut out of the bag and took an enormous bite, smiling happily as she chewed. “Perfect.”

“It’s not going to be perfect when you ruin the dinner I spent all day preparing,” Vin’s grandma grumbled as she generously topped off her champagne glass.

“You spent all day preparing, did you? Was that before or after yoga, or your ‘afternoon delight,’” Vin’s mother said, outraged.

“Whoa, whoa,” Luc said, moving between the two women before a fight could erupt. “Two things. No fighting about cooking. Remember? That’s why we hosted this shindig at Anth’s place. Second thing, afternoon delight. Thought we agreed that Nonna’s geriatric sex life was off-limits for family dinner conversation?”

“Oh, Luca,” Nonna said with a shake of her head. “You’re telling me you and Ava never—”

Luc’s girlfriend gently reached out and tipped Nonna’s champagne glass up to her lips. “Let’s not finish that sentence, hmm?”

Vincent barely heard any of this.

He was too busy watching the way Jill happily devoured her doughnut.

She was holding the sugary mess with her left hand.

Which was adorned with a brand-new diamond that was threatening to break the heart he didn’t know he had.





CHAPTER FOUR


Jill was getting married.

Vin had repeated the thought to himself at least a dozen times in the thirty minutes since his brothers had dropped the bomb.

Jill was getting married.