“I do,” Kari smiles. “I want to hear about all the things Max wants to do to me.”
Cane narrows his eyes playfully and slams his suitcase closed. “You, my beautiful sister-in-law, and I have some things to discuss.”
“Oh, do we now?”
“Yeah, we do. You about fuckin’ killed me yesterday with your lack of fucking texts. I was sweating balls up here, going outta my mind, waiting on some indication of how things were going downstairs.”
Kari tosses her head back and laughs. “Yeah, well, my nails were wet. Sue me.”
“I would,” Cane says, coming up behind me, “but I forgive you. You called me amazing in your speech last night.”
“Oh, I surely didn’t.”
“No. You did. I heard it.”
“It was the champagne talking.”
“It’s a win for me. I’ll take it.” Cane kisses the top of my head. “You ready to go?”
“Depends on where we’re going,” I huff.
“Rome. He’s taking you to Rome,” Max blurts out, wincing as Kari elbows him in the stomach again.
I whirl around, my pulse rapid-firing. “Rome? Is he joking, Cane?”
He pulls me into him, winding my hair in his hands. “No, beautiful girl, he’s not. We’re going to Rome in a couple of hours.”
I squeal, much to my own embarrassment, but I can’t help it. I bounce up and down and kiss him on the lips. “I’ve always wanted to go to Rome! Oh my God! Cane! Thank you!”
“Someone told me that one night at a restaurant. Right before they told me they didn’t see me enough. So I’m taking you there and you can see me the entire time.”
“You are amazing. Absolutely amazing.”
“It’s my job to make sure you keep thinking that,” he winks.
“Wait,” I say, pivoting on my heel, “I can’t go to Rome! I don’t have any clothes for a trip like that!”
Panic ensues. I do a quick mental recap of everything in my suitcase, of the things I packed away in the box to UPS back home with my wedding dress.
I have nothing that will work.
“I don’t have—”
Out of nowhere, Kari scoots a large orange suitcase across the floor. “You have everything you need in here.”
“What?”
“Our little shopping trip the other day? That was your honeymoon shopping expedition. You’re welcome.”
I’m shocked in the very best way. I walk across the room and hug my sister, my heart filled with more love than I’ve ever felt in my life. She pulls back and I head to Max, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him, too.
“Thank you, too, Max. I can only imagine what you’ve put up with over the last few weeks.”
“You have no idea, darlin.’”
I laugh. “I do. I really do.”
“Well, I’d do anything for you. You know that. We’re family now.”
“You know,” Cane says, his voice full of mischief, “if you two’d get married already, we really would all be one happy family.”
“One wedding at a time, Cane,” Kari says, rolling her eyes.
“What? You’ve just proven that you can plan a helluva wedding in a couple of weeks. I say let’s do it again.”
I wait for them to answer, but it never comes. Max has a small grin on his face and Kari looks at the floor. I’m not sure how to read her response.
“She won’t marry me,” Max says simply. “She only wants me to deliver the goods.”
“I don’t want you just for that.” Kari looks at him defiantly, but her eyes soften once her gaze meets his. “But you are pretty good at it.”
“Pretty good at it?”
“Really good at it,” she say, huskily.
“So get married,” I say, pushing the envelope. Something tells me this needs brought to a head and I’ll be the one to do it.
“Yeah, you two make it official and Jada and I will plan your wedding when we return.”
“You, Mr. Alexander, will do no such thing,” Kari says, her hand on her hip. “You aren’t touching any wedding I may or may not ever have.”
“See? She won’t marry me,” Max drawls.
“I didn’t hear her say that,” Cane says coyly.
Max shrugs and sighs. “Kari, will you marry me?”
She stiffens, but it’s so briefly that I’m not sure anyone else notices it. She looks at him and smiles, like she’s brushing it off. “Not today.”
MAX
I’m still sleepy, even though it’s nearly noon. I don’t normally sleep in, so the fact that I’m still laying on the sofa in the middle of the day is strange.
I watch Kari sit by the window, looking over the Strip. She has that faraway look on her face that I see a lot. She’s such a complicated person in a lot of ways. Outwardly, she’s this charismatic, beautiful woman that’s always in control. And privately, she’s quieter and a lot more sensitive than she lets on.
She wraps her arms around her knees and sighs. I wonder what she’s thinking, but I know the odds are against me finding out. She doesn’t open up much about things that matter and pushes me away when I try to get in. It’s frustrating, yet I find myself more determined to break her code with every shove.