Jace leaves me alone in the washroom to freshen up but I spend most of my time waiting for my breathing and my heart rate to go down, for the blood to stop coloring my cheeks. God, that man knows his way around a woman’s pussy. I shiver again, just at the memory, and a tiny aftershock quakes through me.

I splash some cold water on my face and clean up as best as I can, using a white towel I find in the linen closet and reapplying a bit of make-up from my carry-on bag. I have a minor case of sex hair, from where the back of my head was rubbing against Jace’s chest, so I run a brush quickly through my locks and then pull my wild dark waves into a semi-neat top knot. One slash of red lipstick and a spritz of Chanel and I’m good to go.

I head back downstairs and hear voices coming from the kitchen area. A woman’s voice this time. That means Hannah and Trent must be here.

I feel a sudden wave of nervousness. I’ve been pretty confident that it would be easy enough to fool Jace’s brothers — they’re guys, after all, and for the most part, guys take things at face value. Women are better at sussing out when something’s not quite right. I don’t know what Hannah’s like, but I really don’t want to blow this for Jace.

I plaster a smile on my face and step into the kitchen. Jace grins when he sees me, and then lightly runs his finger over his bottom lip, tasting it again. That sends an instant rush of heat to my face — and other parts. I give him a mock glare as I try to smile politely.

“Celia, this is my other brother Trent, and his bride-to-be, Hannah,” Jace says. “The couple of the hour, right, Trent?”

“Absolutely,” Trent says, grinning. He has the exact same handsome yet cocky grin that both Jace and Luke share. He reaches his hand out for mine. “It’s an absolute pleasure, Celia.”

I shake his hand and then turn to offer the same greeting to Hannah, but she’s already wrapping me up in a hug.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” She says warmly. “I was drowning in testosterone here.” She glances down at my hand as we part, then gasps, grabbing my hand. “Jesus, look at that rock!”

She looks over at Jace, laughing. “Oh, honey, no wonder she said yes. What a gorgeous ring.”

I know Hannah is just trying to be nice, but I see Jace’s face start to redden a little.

“Let’s see yours,” I tell her, to change the subject. She proudly shows off an emerald-cut diamond, as big as my knuckle.

“Wow,” I breathe. “It’s beautiful.” It really is. It’s white gold, with a band of smaller diamonds forming a halo around the main rock.

“You must be so excited,” I say to her, smiling. “And probably nervous and stressed and counting down the minutes.”

“Yes,” she laughs. “All of those things. And then some. I just can’t believe it’s finally here — when we started planning, it all seemed so far away. Have you and Jace set a date yet?”

I glance at Jace. I have no idea what he’s told them, so I go with my gut.

“Not yet.”

Hannah looks surprised. “You’re planning a wedding in New York City and you haven’t set a date yet?”

“Well, actually…we were sort of thinking we might get married in Connecticut. That’s where I’m from. I’ve always wanted a small outdoor wedding, kind of like yours. Just friends, family, delicious food, maybe a bonfire later in the night…” I glance at Jace. He’s looking at me with the most perplexed expression, so I just smile and shrug.

“And lots of The Steve Miller Band,” he adds.

Hannah looks confused.

“Celia loves the Steve Miller Band. She even has a cat named Steve.”

“That is so adorable,” Hannah says, smiling at both of us.

Luke finally emerges with a tray of sandwiches.

“Drinks are on the counter,” he says. “You’re all family which means you can all help yourselves.”

We all wander into the kitchen to get drinks, then grab sandwiches and head out to the backyard. Hannah and I chat some more about the upcoming wedding, while the guys get into a good natured argument about Chicago versus New York sports teams.

Despite my expectations, none of it feels weird. In fact, it feels surprisingly comfortable, hanging out with these people who are virtual strangers to me. Hannah is a sweetheart and Trent and Luke feel like they could be the brothers I never had.

And Jace?

Well, Jace keeps his hand on my knee, ensuring there’s a constant buzz that vibrates through my body. Every once in a while he’ll give my knee a squeeze or run his hand lightly up my thigh, and all it does is remind me of his promise of what’s to come later.

I had told him I wanted to taste him … but I want to do more than taste. I still haven’t even seen his cock yet, but all I can think about is having it inside me, filling me, stretching me.

As if he can read my thoughts, Jace turns and catches my eye, giving me a wink. I think about bending over on the bed in our hotel room, letting him drive his dick into me from behind. I hope he can read that little mental image too.

“So, Jace, you never did tell us where you managed to meet this lovely fiancee of yours.” Trent’s voice cuts through my fantasy.

Jace freezes, caught off guard. “Uh….”

We hadn’t discussed any kind of backstory, which in retrospect is kind of stupid. This is twice now we’ve almost tripped up — I had no idea what his brothers did for a living, that they were the owners and founders of Loft & Barn, and now Jace is stumbling over a simple question. Not exactly great for our cover.

“We met at the bar, actually,” I interject. “It’s near my office, so I happened to go in one day after work. I got one look at this guy and started hanging out there all the time. I thought he was going to stage an intervention, but eventually he finally asked me out.”

I smile warmly over at Jace and put my hand over his. It’s an easy enough lie — after all, it’s partly true.

Trent grins. “And the rest is history, right?”

“Yeah,” I say, softly. “Something like that.”

Trent turns to Luke. “Well, you know what this means, right? You’re the last single Whittaker brother.”

Luke sits up. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Trent shakes his head, laughing. “Well, you’re going to hear it from Mom whether you like it or not. ‘When are you going to settle down, Lukey?’” he says, in a singsong voice that I assume is supposed to be an impression of their mother.

“I like to keep my options open,” Luke says with a shrug.

“You’re breaking your mother’s heart,” Jace adds, in the same high-pitched voice as Trent.

The ribbing is good-natured, and it’s nice to see Jace finally starting to relax, but soon I’m yawning up a storm. Jace catches my eye and nods softly.

“Well,” he says, getting to his feet. “Celia’s had a long day so I think we’re going to head back to the hotel. You give this girl two glasses of red and you have to prop her eyes open with toothpicks.”

Everyone laughs, but I look quizzically at Jace. Not because he’s wrong … but because he’s right. Two glasses of red and you do have to prop my eyes open with toothpicks — I’m just surprised he ever noticed that.

“We’ll see you guys tomorrow?” Jace is saying to the group, as I’m still studying him curiously.

We all say our goodbyes, fetch my bags from the house, and then we climb into the SUV Jace is borrowing from Luke for the week. Suddenly, being alone with him, I don’t feel quite so tired anymore. Now I just can’t wait to get back to the hotel room.