Prologue
Rawley
Three months earlier
“Rawley! Good to see you, man.”
My cousin Louie fist-bumps me while Darius flips burgers. Louie’s holding the hand of a chubby toddler in a pink dress, her hair tied in ribbons, and a little boy with a sticky face rides his shoulders. He grins and waves to me. I grin back.
“Louie. What’s up, bro?”
Louie looks around. “I don’t see that ex of yours, man. You break up?”
I roll my eyes and nod. That’s putting it mildly.
“And you don’t have a new girl ready to go?” He smirks. I know he’s just giving me shit, but it stings.
It’s unlike me to show up to an event alone. Hell, I don’t think I’ve done it in a decade.
I run a hand through my hair and ignore the smirk on Darius’s face. Flip. Sizzle. Whoosh. Flames lick around the grill grate, momentarily giving me something to look at.
I shrug. “I need a break. The last one… let’s just say she wasn’t my type.”
“Not your type?” Darius asks, his voice all big-brother condescension. “What’s your type, Rawley?”
I go to flip him off, then remember there are kids here, when Louie’s wife Tia comes up to him. Her hair’s in a messy mom bun, and she’s wearing a faded tee with cut-off shorts and flip flops. She looks the complete opposite of the women I’ve dated in recent months. And yet… I can’t help but look at the way her eyes light up when she sees Louie. How she stands on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek. The way their daughter has her button nose and Louie’s bright blue eyes, and a part of me grows wistful.
“Hey, Rawley.” Tia grins at me.
“Hey.”
Thankfully, Darius is back to piling hot dogs on the grill, and has forgotten he was giving me shit.
“Jesus, I forget how hot it was supposed to get today,” I say, as I pop the top of a cold one. Katie, Darius’s wife, waves to me from a nearby table. After we all came for Gran’s eightieth birthday, Louie made us promise we’d come for his son’s first birthday.
And after breaking up with my ex—my high-maintenance, self-centered, crazy ass ex—I welcomed some hometown normalcy again.
I sit next to Katie. She smiles at me warmly.
“How are the book sales?” I ask. It’s kind of a touchy subject, since my ex literally tried to sabotage Katie and Darius by fucking around with Katie’s manuscript. But I like Katie, and I feel kinda responsible for what happened.
“Amazing,” Katie says, beaming. “And don’t worry about what happened, Rawley, really. What’s in the past is in the past, and seriously, I think it only brought me new publicity. Like, my sales have gone through the roof.” She grins. “Next week, Darius is taking me to Italy for some research.”
“You’re writing a book set in Italy?”
She nods and sighs, her eyes roaming over to Darius. “Star-crossed lovers who find their way across the miles.”
I definitely don’t read romance and I don’t much care about the sappy happily-ever-afters. But there’s something about the way she looks at Darius… something that makes my heart twist.
And here, surrounded by friends and family and people I’ve known my entire life… I want that. I want this, all of it. The comfort of home, undying devotion of a woman who likes me for who I am, not the numbers in my bank account.
Katie’s phone buzzes, and she picks it up. Grinning, she sends off a text.
“Darius, we’re going home tomorrow, right?”
He nods. “Sure thing, beautiful.”
She turns to me, still smiling. “That was Miranda just now. Not sure if you know her?”
I’ve met Miranda a time or two around my brother’s hotel, Vegas, Baby. Nice girl. Gives off that boss babe vibe. I give a shrug. "I've seen her around.”
Katie flushes pink, but still holds my gaze. “Miranda’s the one who owns the escort service? You know, how I met Darius.”
Funny. I always wondered what the platinum blonde woman in the business suits was doing hanging around the hotel. I can’t help but smile myself. “Ah ha.” Much to Katie’s embarrassment, the local news exposed Katie and Darius’s hook-up, but that’s all water under the bridge. Any douche can see no matter how those two met, they’re absolutely meant for each other. And I’m not one to talk. I’ve used everything from Tinder to Match.com.
But I’m swearing off women.
“Oh? She looking to hire more people?”
Katie laughs. “Ah, no. She’s looking to restrict clients further. Ever since the news article, let’s just say Sugar Daddies has been in high demand. She’s running rigorous background checks and vetting everyone much harder than before. It’s become quite the exclusive gig.” She winks.
I grin at her. “Sugar Daddies? Seems fitting. Rich guys to meet your every need?”
She looks down at her phone and bites her lip. “Something like that.” I don’t miss the little giggle.