Chapter 4

▪️Ace▪️

    

         “Why’re you so interested in my sex life?” Irritated, he poured himself another glass of champagne.

       “Not yours, idiot Emily's. That girl never allows herself to have a moment of fun. She doesn’t exactly talk about sex. In case you haven’t noticed, she's…uptight a little of...goody two shoes. I can’t even imagine her having sex, she’s so closed off.”

        Oh, trust me, she’s had sex. She e knows her way around a dick.

Ace shifted in his seat, his satisfied body and him wanting more is a testimony to that. “She’s not so uptight. And I wasn’t aware you shared sex stories, especially since you met the beautiful Olivia—ow.” Ace rubbed his arm. “What did you punch me for?”

        “Because. Don’t talk about Olivia and sex. It’s disrespectful.”

     “And so are you, trying to figure out Emily's sex life,” he shot back, defensive of Emily for some bizarre reason. “If you don’t want anyone thinking of you and Olivia doing the deed, don’t try and ferret out intel on Emily.”

       He glared at Liam, who grew red, then dropped his gaze. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

                        They sat quietly for a while.

      “Have you thought any more about me coming to work for you?”

          “Do you want to wait until Olivia and I come home from our honeymoon?”

                             “Of course he doesn’t.”

            At the sound of their mother’s voice, Liam's lips twitched and Ace rolled his eyes.

                          “Hi, Mom.”

       “I’m so happy to see my two boys together. And could Olivia be more beautiful?” She sighed. “I can’t wait for the grandchildren.”

        Time for Liam to roll his eyes. “Mom. Really? Already?”

       Their mother continued on as if Liam hadn’t spoken. “Eight years you’ve both waited. Now Ace, on the other hand…”

   “Mom.” He sent her a warning look that she, as usual, ignored.

       “You’re thirty and have no job and no place to live. Time to settle down and be an adult, Ace. Your father and I aren’t going to have you living in the apartment with us ad infinitum.”

         Damn. He had been away a long time. He didn’t remember his mother being so forthright. And she was correct. Everyone he knew had either settled down with families, significant others, or was firmly entrenched in a career. His main accomplishments in life so far were making the perfect mojito, keeping a personal calendar, and achieving an even tan. Time to put that master’s degree to work.

              “Trust me, I have no desire to live in my old room either. As a matter of fact, Liam and I were just talking about me coming to work for The Company.”

        “Good. When do you start?” Her gaze shifted from him to Liam, who grinned.

    “See what I’ve been dealing with while you were living the life?”

       But Ace wasn’t going to feel bad for wanting to live a little before settling down.

    “Jeez, Mom. Like you said, I’m thirty. Let me work it out.”

          “You’ve had plenty of time to think. Time to start doing.” Her stern tone softened. “We only want what’s best for you. I’m not pressuring you to get married. I know that may not be for you. We love you and want to see you happy.” She gave him a kiss. “Your father and I are so glad you’re home.”

        Like the whirlwind she’d always been, she left to join Olivia, who was talking to some ancient relative.

        “I thought Uncle Dan was ninety at my bar mitzvah,” Ace said, then smiled and nodded at the cute waiter who’d stopped by to refill his coffee cup. “Thank you.”

          Liam snickered. “That’s ’cause everyone over the age of forty looks old when you’re thirteen. He’s eighty-five and danced up a storm last night. But you wouldn’t know that because you weren’t there for most of it.”

       “Liam.” Ace glared. “Don’t make me pull out the old stories of how you used to wet the bed. My private life is just that. Private.”

                    “Asshole.”

           Much as Ace loved to tease Emily, he knew his brother’s best friend would be mortified and downright furious if she discovered Ace had revealed their night together to Liam. 

        And while normally Ace wouldn’t have given a damn, this time it was different. Emily wasn’t a rando hookup he’d never see again. He’d known Emily for so long, the thought of deliberately hurting her weighed heavily on him.

              And as it was extremely unlikely to ever happen again, he would tuck it away in his memories. The night against which all future nights would be compared.

          Before he got a hard-on sitting at his brother’s wedding breakfast, Ace needed to shift the conversation away from sex with Emily.

            “Can we get back to the important matter at hand? My coming to work for The Company.”

          In the beginning Ace had snickered about the name they’d chosen for their marketing agency, but now he could admit it was kind of catchy.

         He added, “You do remember the conversation we had a few weeks ago, right? I know your headspace was in wedding mode, but you assured me if I was serious, a job would be there for me.”

        “Yeah, I remember. I’m still floored you went and got a degree and 

everything.”

         Ace bristled. “It’s not Harvard or the London School of Economics, but I can hold my own. And coming from living abroad all these years, I have ideas—”

           “Dude. Chill.” Laughing, Liam put his hands up. “I’m not questioning your credentials.” His eyes gleamed. “I’m impressed you did it in the first place. I didn’t think you were into business or marketing.”

              Ace bit back a smartass retort. Liam had a point, and if he was going to work for his brother, he had a right to know why.

     “I wanted to come home. Paradise is beautiful, but after years of seeing all the people coming and going, it made me realize I wasn’t really accomplishing anything for myself. I don’t need the private yachts I worked on, but I do want to make money. Not gonna lie.” His one regret would be working in an environment where he’d be trading in his board shorts and sleeveless tanks for suits and ties. He already felt choked.