Chapter One
The sun shone overhead as Knox Sinclair pulled into the parking lot designated for people attending the Bridal and Wedding Expo in New Jersey. After finding a spot, he cut the engine and turned to his newly engaged stepsister, Holly, who was sitting in the passenger seat, her body vibrating with excitement. She couldn’t wait to get in there… unlike Knox, who avoided anything wedding related ever since his marriage had imploded more than a year ago.
Was he over his ex? Yes. Did he carry a grudge against his cheating former wife and disloyal stepbrother? Also, yes. Any rational man would.
“Ready?” he asked Holly.
Her brown eyes lit up, making Knox’s feelings about the Bridal and Wedding Expo irrelevant. To Holly, this was important. And he would be there for her.
“Beyond ready! I can’t wait to check out all the booths,” she said. “How awesome is this going to be?”
He held back a sarcastic reply because he loved his younger sister. “Too bad Miles isn’t here to walk you around,” he said of her future groom, a mergers and acquisitions attorney who was currently on a business trip.
Reaching over, Holly patted Knox’s cheek. “Good thing you love me and are willing to take his place. Come on. It’s going to be fun!” Holly unhooked her seat belt and opened her car door, turning to face him before letting herself out. “Besides, you know you’d do anything for me. I’m the baby of the family.”
He rolled his eyes. “Someday that reasoning is going to wear thin,” he said, chuckling. But she was right.
He’d adored Holly the day he’d first met her. Knox and his father had opened their home to a four-year-old Holly, her thirteen-year-old brother, Theo, and their mother, Knox’s father’s new wife, Addison. Holly had been adorable and exuberant, and she’d latched onto Knox immediately.
She’d been in need of an older brother, and even at fourteen years old, Knox had patience where Theo had had none. The selfish bastard still rarely bothered with his sister. Then again, it seemed as if the only person he cared about was himself.
“No, it won’t.” She grinned and hooked her arm in his.
He resisted the urge to rub the top of her head, the way he used to do when they were kids, knowing she’d be annoyed if he messed up her hair.
Their parents had separated when Holly was eighteen and in college. Knox’s dad had died shortly after the divorce was finalized, leaving everything to Knox, including the football team he owned. The New York Warriors were in Knox’s blood. And Holly was his family. Knox had taken it on himself to support his sister, whose mother had disappeared to Palm Springs with yet another wealthy man and her father had passed away. Today was her day. Knox was just happily paying for whatever choices she made.
“Let’s go.” She started toward the building, and he matched her shorter strides. When they reached the doors, he opened one for Holly and allowed her to precede him. Then, together, they walked inside, and the cool air-conditioned lobby shocked him into paying attention.
“We need to sign in and get our badges.” Holly led him over to the end of a long registration line and he settled in to wait.
She rose onto her tiptoes and looked around, trying to see above the crowd in front of them.
“Looking for something?” he asked.
She sighed and turned back to face him, a pout on her lips. “I was looking for a display of maps or brochures, but I guess we’ll get everything we need when we register. I want to check the layout of the exhibit. I already know which vendors I want to see but I have to find their locations. And I especially want to talk to Jade.”
“Jade?” His brain came to a halt at the name, and his cock jerked in excitement.
“Come on, Knox, you know. Theo’s ex,” Holly said.
Yeah, he knew. Jade Dare. The woman who’d experienced the same betrayal he had. And the woman he’d been seriously, dangerously attracted to—even though he’d been committed to making the most of a shitty marriage with a wife he could never make happy.
He recalled the night Theo had walked into the restaurant where Knox and Holly had been having dinner, with a familiar I’m up to something smirk on his face and a beautiful young blonde on his arm. Knox hadn’t recognized her until their introduction. Prior to that moment, the last time he’d seen Jade, she’d been a teenager. Knox had attended business school with her brother and his good friend, Asher Dare, and they’d all been at Asher and Knox’s business school graduation.
The female with her arm hooked through Theo’s had grown into a gorgeous woman. She possessed a statuesque body, long, wavy hair he wanted to wrap around his hands, unique navy eyes that ran in her family, and plush glossed lips he’d been dying to kiss. Finding out she was Asher’s younger sister had been a shock.
Seeing her with Theo had been a gut punch that had made him unexpectedly determined to look out for her. Few women escaped Theo unscathed. Since Knox had been married at the time, he’d kept his opinions—and his desire—to himself. However, he had warned Asher to keep an eye on the new man in his sister’s life. Still, even Knox had never dreamed how low his stepbrother would go.
“Knox?” Holly waved a hand in front of his face. “Where did you go?”
“Sorry. Yes, I remember Jade.”
“Of course you do.” Holly tucked a strand of her shoulder-length brown hair behind her ear. “You had a thing for her,” his sister said, as if his feelings had been obvious.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I was married when we met,” he said, stepping forward to follow the people in front of him.
Holly did the same, then turned to him again and tilted her head. “Right. You were married to that horrible woman. But you weren’t dead. Of course you noticed how beautiful Jade is. It’s just that, unlike our asshole sibling, you didn’t act on that attraction because you were committed to someone else—whether she deserved it or not.” She put her hand on his arm and leaned against him, offering comfort.