“Yeah.”
They pulled up to Ash’s building, and Ash was relieved that Jace hadn’t had time to pry into his head. Because he would. Just like Ash would do to him if he sensed something off about Jace. But knowing he’d do the same didn’t mean he was lining up to have Jace do it to him. It made him a flaming hypocrite, but oh well.
“See you tomorrow, then?” Jace asked as Ash started out of the car.
“Yeah, wouldn’t miss it. You walking Mia down the aisle?”
Jace’s face softened. “Yeah.”
“Shouldn’t we have had a rehearsal or some shit like that?” Ash asked.
Granted, his experiences with weddings had been confined to Gabe’s first, but rehearsals were normal for weddings the scale of Gabe’s and Mia’s, surely.
Jace laughed. “Yeah, man, it was last night. You didn’t show. Not that you have to do anything but stand there with Gabe. Mia’s going to give you shit about ducking out. I covered for you and said you had shit with work and that you stayed so Gabe could make the rehearsal. That appeased her.”
“Christ,” Ash said. “I feel like an ass now. I swear I didn’t remember. I wouldn’t have remembered the wedding was tomorrow if I hadn’t seen Gabe at the office earlier.”
“You haven’t been around much lately,” Jace said, curiosity in his voice. “Everything okay with you? Work hasn’t been that bad, unless there’s something you’re not telling me. Things have been pretty damn quiet since Gabe went on a tear trying to get everything worked out before he left for his honeymoon.”
“Just been preoccupied, man. No big deal.”
Jace leaned forward before Ash could close the door. “Look, I know things have been . . . different. Ever since me and Bethany. I get that. But I don’t want things to change, Ash. You’re family.”
“Things did change,” Ash said softly. “Nothing to be done about it. I’m dealing. Don’t make it an issue that it isn’t, Jace. Be happy and make Bethany happy.”
“Are we cool?” Jace asked. “Because you’ve been off lately. And it’s not just me noticing.”
Ash cracked a smile. “Yeah, man, we’re cool. Stop acting like a goddamn nanny. Go home to your woman. I’ll see you tomorrow in my goddamn tuxedo. Only for Mia would I do this shit.”
Jace laughed. “Yeah, tell me about it. Bethany and I are so eloping.”
“Set a date yet?”
While Jace and Bethany had become engaged at Bethany’s twenty-fourth birthday party, they hadn’t set a date, at least not to Ash’s knowledge. But then, he’d been so far out of the loop lately that it was possible he just didn’t know about it.
“Not yet,” Jace said. “Was waiting until this shit with Jack blew over. I don’t want that hanging over her head when we get married. After he gets out of rehab and gets his shit sorted, I’ll plan a trip somewhere and we’ll get married on a beach.”
“Sounds great. See you tomorrow, okay?”
Ash closed the door and slapped the side to signal the driver to pull away before he turned and walked into his apartment building.
Once inside his apartment, he walked into his bedroom and his gaze fell on the painting the art dealer had pulled from the back. The one that was still wrapped and not on display.
The others he’d put against the wall in the living room, but he’d put this one in his bedroom, intending to look at it when he got home. Now curiosity was eating at him, so he carefully pulled away the wrapping and turned it over.
“Holy shit,” he breathed.
It was . . . stunning. Provocative and sexy as hell.
It was her.