Cole tried not to wince as he reminded himself the car had been built to withstand much worse.

“Mason,” a soft voice chimed in.

Cole turned to see one of the women Rachel had been with the night they had all met at Whipped. Due to the way she was frowning at Mason, he had to assume it was Lena, Mason’s wife.

“What?” Mason snapped, looking over the car roof in her direction.

As he did, his eyes came to a halt on Cole’s, and as they glared at one another, Cole found himself in a pissing contest with his wife’s brother.

“Excuse me?” Lena questioned in a tone that showed how much she did not appreciate being talked to that way.

As she marched forward, Cole had to admit that he was impressed with the confident, pissed-off demeanor she had going on. This was a woman who knew her mind, and she was certainly not afraid of anything, including her annoyed husband.

“Don’t snap at me, Langley.”

Immediately, Cole noticed Mason’s mood shift. Mason tore his eyes away from him to look where his wife was now standing beside Rachel.

All three of them stood on the opposite side of the car to Cole, and as he studied the close-knit family, he could definitely see the resemblance between the siblings. Although he had spoken to Mason that first night he’d visited Rachel in the restaurant, he hadn’t had long to get a good look at him. Now, as the other man mumbled something to his wife and scowled occasionally at Rachel, Cole could really see it. The dark hair, the blue eyes, and as they all finally turned to look at him, he saw the same frown as well.

Wow, Cole thought, someone in their family had strong genes. These two could pass as twins.

As they all stood silently in the frigid night air, Lena rolled her eyes as she came around the trunk of the car. When she finally reached him, she held out her hand. “It’s time we were formally introduced. I’m Lena, Mason’s wife and Rachel’s sister-in-law. You must be Cole.”

Cole liked her immediately. Her mass of brown curls spilled down over her shoulders, and as he took her hand in a gentle grip, he was shocked at how firm her handshake was. She was definitely confident, just as he had first suspected.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Cole.”

Cole gave her a genuine smile, and then he realized she still hadn’t let go of his hand.

“It’s not that much of a pleasure,” Mason called out from across the car. “I’m telling you, if she really liked you, she’d be yelling at you right now.”

Cole was surprised when Lena winked up at him.

Then, she turned her head to lock eyes with Mason. “Langley, you know I only enjoy arguing with you. It gets me all hot and bothered.”

As she turned back to Cole, finally releasing his hand, she told him softly, “He’ll come around. Just give him time.”

Cole thought that was probably good advice, but as he looked back to the brother-sister pair glaring at one another, he thought it was a shame he’d never been one to take good advice.

“Well, I hope so since I just married his sister.”

What is that phrase? Oh yes, there it is, Cole thought with a shit-eating grin aimed at the tall Langley currently glowering at him. If looks could kill.

22

It’s official, Rachel thought as she stared slack jawed at Cole from across the trunk of the car. This man is fucking insane.

“What did you just say?” her brother practically growled.

The sound was so foreign coming from her usually congenial brother that Rachel lost the words she was about to yell at Cole, and instead, she spun around to face Mason. That was when she heard Cole’s reply.

“I said I married your sister on Saturday.”

“Oh my god,” Lena muttered.

“Not helping, Cole,” Rachel pointed out as she faced her seething brother.

If she had been worried at all about her dealing with Mason’s wrath over the matrimony, she needn’t have bothered. All of his annoyance and anger was solely focused on Cole.

“Mase, come on, calm down,” Rachel tried to reason with him.

“I will calm down when you tell me that what he just said is bullshit.”

Um, not going to happen. What he said is all true.

“If you just listen, may—”

“Maybe, what?” Mason finally demanded, turning to pin her with a look full of anger, confusion, and something much worse—disappointment. “Maybe you’ll finally tell me why you’ve been acting so distant lately? Or why you have decided to stop talking to everyone? Or maybe you will explain to me how you ended up married to a guy you don’t even know!”

Rachel took a deep breath and balled her fists at her sides. She tried to remind herself that this was Mason, her brother. He was the one person in the world who loved her unconditionally. Well, he used to be the only one.

As she glanced across the car to where Cole was standing next to a shocked face Lena, Rachel felt herself calm. Cole was looking at her with such certainty. He believed in her and trusted her to do the right thing here.

Looking back at Mason, Rachel squared her shoulders. She was never one to back down from any argument, and so she simply replied, “I love him.”

“Excuse me? You just met him!” Mason exclaimed, pointing his finger at her.

Rachel reached out and gripped his finger. “And you haven’t even bothered to meet him!”

She watched as her brother’s blue eyes narrowed on her, and he dropped his hand.

“You never bothered to introduce us, Rachel. Or did you forget that?”

“Of course, I didn’t forget! I didn’t bother introducing you because the one night he turned up at the restaurant, you acted like an idiot. And you’re doing the same right now.”

“I’m acting like an idiot? Oh, that’s rich. I don’t know what you expect from me,” Mason told her through clenched teeth.

“I expect you to quit acting like an ass, and instead, be the supportive brother I know and love.”

Mason shook his head and pushed his hands into his jeans pockets. “Yeah? Well, when the sister I know and love shows up, maybe she’ll be able to find him.”

Rachel felt her heart physically ache as Mason turned on his heel and marched to the back door of Exquisite where he wrenched open the door and stormed inside. When it slammed shut behind him, she turned to face Cole and Lena, who were both staring at her silently. Lena’s expression was contemplative, and Cole’s—damn him—was proud.

With a quick nod and a fake smile, Rachel announced, “Well, that went well.”

* * *

Cole watched Lena as she moved around the car to where Rachel was standing. The two women whispered back and forth before they both turned to face him. Knowing he was the topic of conversation, he raised his left hand and gave a quick wave.

Well, that little reveal to Mason had not gone well, not that Cole had expected it to. The man had taken the pissed-off brother act to brand new heights. Mason was raging mad.

The cool air started to bite, and as Cole made his way toward the women, he heard Lena assuring Rachel.

“He’ll come around. He’s been so worried about you lately. And this? Well, this is a bit of a shock.”

When Cole stopped at the end of the car, Rachel looked to him and gave a small smile.

“Want to head inside?” he asked as Lena also turned to face him.

He waited for accusations of coercion, but instead, he got a huge grin.

“Come on, it’s time to meet the rest of the family, brother,” Lena announced.

Rachel let out a small laugh as she moved toward him. She slid her hands inside his jacket and around his waist, laying her cheek on his chest. “You ready?” she whispered, looking up at him from beneath dark lashes.

Cole removed his hands from his pockets and smoothed them over her hair. “As ever. You?”

“No.” She chuckled nervously.

Leaning down, he kissed her on the forehead.

Glancing up, he noticed Lena was watching them closely. Her eyes softened, and she mouthed, Thank you.

That’s an odd thing to say, Cole thought.

As Lena turned and made her way to the back door, he pulled away from Rachel and took her hand in his.

“Come on, let’s do this.”

* * *

Well, this is awkward, was all Rachel could think as she sat beside Cole at their family table in the dining room of Exquisite.

Mason was seated at the head of the table where he always sat, and Lena was off to his left. Beside her were two empty chairs—one for Shelly and one for Josh—who, of course, hadn’t arrived yet because they were running late. Great, just when I’d kill for some of Shelly’s over-the-top attitude, she’s nowhere in sight. And that left the seats to Mason’s right where she was sitting with Cole.

Mason still hadn’t said a word to her. Instead, he was staring…no, glaring at Cole.

“So, Cole, what do you do?” Lena finally asked, attempting to break the arctic ice surrounding the table.

“He’s a lawyer,” Mason answered before Cole had the opportunity to open his mouth.

Rachel tensed, knowing how much it annoyed Cole to be interrupted or cut off in a conversation, but instead of saying anything, Cole took the much higher road than her pouting brother.

“Yes, Mason’s correct, I’m a lawyer. In fact, I’m the lawyer for Joshua’s company.”