“That seems to run in our family—falling for a person who drives you insane. Isn’t that what Dad always said? He was a wise man,” Mason reflected.
“He married Mom, and she was a pretty amazing woman, so I think he knew what he was talking about.”
“We had the best parents in the world. You know that, right?” Mason tapped under her chin.
“I know. I think they’d be pleased with us. Don’t you?”
Mason’s smile widened, and his eyes filled with mischief, just like they had when he was a boy. “Well, me definitely. What’s not to love?”
Rachel found herself holding back tears as happiness swelled inside her. “Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I couldn’t have asked for a better brother.”
Mason opened his arms and hugged her. “Bring Cole around. I want to meet him.”
“You don’t need to worry about Cole. He loves me.”
“I’m starting to see that, but I still want to know him because I love you, too.”
Rachel leaned up as Mason lowered his head, and she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Best brother ever.”
Mason chuckled. “You didn’t think so last night.”
“That’s because you were a jerk last night.”
Letting her go, Mason walked around her and made his way down the back hall. He stopped to pet Tulip, who was sitting up on the table in the back.
“See you at eight on Friday at my place. Okay, Mrs. Madison?”
Hearing her name on her brother’s lips, Rachel’s eyes widened.
Mason snickered. “See? Even you still think it’s weird.”
Rachel poked her tongue out at him. “We’ll be there!”
With that, Mason chuckled and left, leaving the small flower shop feeling much lighter than it had earlier this morning.
25
The minute Cole set foot off the elevator, Logan stopped him.
“Well, if it isn’t my absent partner back from his impromptu trip out of the city to see his ailing mother.”
Cole rolled his eyes, not even sparing him a glance. Making his way down the hall to where Jane was seated behind her desk, Cole nodded and smiled as she held out several envelopes to him.
“These came for you this morning, Mr. Madison. All your other mail is in your inbox.”
“Thank you, Jane. Did you have a nice weekend?” he asked, ignoring the fact that Logan was still hovering behind him with an annoying-as-shit smirk on his face.
“I had a lovely weekend, sir. And you?”
Jane was barely containing the grin she was holding back. She knew exactly what he had done this weekend since he had called to have her make sure several things were in place.
“My weekend was…” Cole paused as though thinking about it. Just to further irritate Logan, he said, “Interesting and eventful.”
“Well, something must have happened besides the norm. Usually, you come back here pissier than when you left. Although, this time, you did leave after a date with that hot piece of—”
Before the words left Logan’s mouth, Cole turned on him and pinned him with an icy glare. “Stop before you say something that will not only embarrass Jane but will also come back to bite you in the ass.”
Logan raised a dark brow from behind his glasses and looked to Jane, who was now much more composed. “My apologies,” he offered.
Cole turned and made his way to his office. Pushing open the door, he walked inside and hung his coat on the rack. Unbuttoning his jacket on his way toward his desk, he didn’t bother looking behind him to where he knew Logan was standing.
“What, Logan?” Cole demanded as he placed his briefcase down on the floor.
As he sat down in his chair, he pulled the large stack of mail from his inbox and started to flick through it. He didn’t bother looking up at the man who had now stopped in front of his desk.
“Want to tell me what happened this weekend?”
Cole leaned back in his chair and finally looked at Logan. Raising his hands, he let his fingertips come together at a point in front of his face. Feeling a grin tug at the corner of his mouth, he realized he was looking forward to shocking the hell out of Logan. Sitting silently, Cole began to twist the platinum band that was on his left hand.
“Come on, Cole. What’s happened with Lydia?”
“Mom’s fine. You should come and visit her sometime,” he said, still playing with his latest accessory.
“I don’t know that she would like that so much. Your mother wasn’t my biggest fan,” Logan pointed out as he turned and walked over to the couch that was pushed up against the wall.
Sitting forward, Cole rested his arms on the table. “Well, that’s true. Can you blame her though? She found out pretty late in the game that her husband had another child.”
Logan shrugged as he undid his jacket before sitting. “Didn’t seem to bother you.”
“Yes, it did. I hated you.” Cole chuckled.
“At first, but my charm, intelligence—”
“And annoying habit of never, ever going away.”
“Wore you down,” Logan tacked on the end.
Cole frowned, remembering those first few meetings. “You made sure we roomed together at college. Although how you managed that, I will never know.”
Logan gave Cole a look that was all too familiar. It was his victory smile, arrogant and cocky. It was almost the exact replica of Cole’s.
“It was my amazing power of persuasion, which was another reason you agreed to become partners with me.”
Cole narrowed his eyes on his half-brother.
Yes, Logan is right. It had been a huge shock when the section of his father’s will regarding his college trust fund had been read on his eighteenth birthday. That had been the day that he and his mother had found out that his father, who had passed away before Cole had turned five, had fathered a second son—a son by the name of Logan Mitchell, who was a year younger than he was.
That day changed Cole’s life forever. At first, he’d been certain it was in a bad way, but as he had gotten to know Logan, he’d found he actually liked him.
Even though Logan was currently annoying the shit out of him.
“Is there a reason you are still sitting on my couch?”
“Is there a reason you are avoiding my question?” Logan fired back, placing his right ankle on his left knee.
“No reason,” Cole replied, once again twisting the ring on his finger. Sitting back in the chair, he looked Logan directly in the eye and announced, “I got married this weekend.”
He had to give the guy credit. Logan’s expression barely changed, except for the slight rise of his eyebrows over his glasses and the widening of his blue eyes.
“Excuse me? Did you just say you got married this weekend?” As Logan said that, his eyes finally dropped to the ring Cole was twisting around his finger. They locked on to it, and before Cole could say a word, Logan shot out of the couch and shouted, “You’re not fucking joking, are you?”
Cole, serious as ever, shook his head and replied casually, “No, I’m not.”
That seemed to ignite a second round of incredulity.
“Un-fucking-believable,” Logan scoffed as he crossed the office. “A ring and everything, huh? I’m assuming it’s hot cheetah pants from last week, right?”
Cole couldn’t help but laugh at that description. He knew Rachel would get a kick out of being described that way. She’s definitely not a cheetah, but she’s a tigress, for sure. “Yes, a ring and everything, and her name is Rachel.”