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A woman named Alex arrived as well. I was told she was Cameron’s assistant, but also a good friend of the family. It started to seem like the Ravens were sort of like the McAdamses in their relationships with their hired staff.
The one no-show was Ben. I looked over at Beth, who was smiling at Ash, and who was clearly not letting Ben’s absence ruin her wedding plans. I felt bad for her and wanted to throttle Ben. Why couldn’t he pull his head out of the bottle long enough to support his sister?
I suspected his anger at Ash for having fallen in love with his sister, and then the humiliation at Ash’s family having to bail them out of financial disaster, made it worse for Ben. But still, I thought he was a selfish jerk to let that get in the way of his sister’s happiness.
I looked around for Kade, who was busy moving around the restaurant, apparently making sure everything was running smoothly. I wondered if he felt out of sorts too, now that all his brothers had families. Or maybe he just took his work as the owner of the restaurant seriously, and wanted to make sure everything went smoothly for Beth.
“He’s a looker, isn’t he?” Alex said, taking a seat next to me at the table.
“Who?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t drooling over Kade.
“Kade Raven,” she said with a knowing smile.
I shrugged. “He’s all right.”
She laughed. “Honey, don’t be embarrassed. Plenty of women have fallen for Kade’s charm.”
“Have you?” I asked.
She laughed. “No. But that’s because there’s a no-touch policy at Raven Industries. But I won’t deny that when I first started there, I looked at him. A lot. Of course, Kade ruins his sexy image when he opens his mouth.”
“Really?” I looked over at him again. “He was really nice to Beth tonight when her brother didn’t show up.”
Alex’s face darkened. “They should toss that drunk bum on the street,” she sighed. “You’re right, Kade is a step up from Ben. Still, he’s a spoiled brat. He’s the one that likes to push people’s buttons and watch them go off. Like he’s eight years old or something.”
“He’s the youngest, right?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“I guess that’s how it is for babies of the family.”
She laughed. “He’s a baby, all right.”
I felt the need to defend him, but since she knew him better than I did, I couldn’t. I preferred to hold onto the image that he was the sexy man who offered to stand in for Ben.
Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “I’ll introduce you, if you like.”
I shook my head. “We met at the rehearsal. Besides, I’m not his type.”
Alex let out a throaty laugh. “Honey, you’ve got boobs, you’re his type.” Her expression turned more serious. “You just can’t expect more than a few good rolls in the sack with him.” She looked over at Kade who was talking with the bartender. “I hope someday Cupid shoots his arrow right in Kade’s ass. I pray to God I’m around when he does. I’m dying to see Kade be bested by love.”
3
Kade — Thursday
Everything was running smoothly. Drinks were served. Hors d’oeuvres set out. And shortly, dinner would be leaving the kitchen to be consumed by Ash and Beth’s guests. My work wasn’t done, but the important part was. I could now relax and enjoy the party.
To be honest, though, I’d have rather continued my roll as restaurateur than brother and best man of the groom. Not that I didn’t love Ash or my other brothers. The truth was, we were all getting along better, and I suspected my dad’s dumbass new rules had something to do with that.
With that said, I felt even more like an outsider from them than I had growing up. Being the youngest of the family meant I’d often been ignored and dismissed. Even as an adult, my father and brothers often didn’t take me seriously. They’d say I wasn’t serious, that I was flippant and too sarcastic. I probably was, but I wasn’t going to let them get away with ignoring and dissing me. I’d get their attention one way or another. Often it was doing something that annoyed the crap out of them. I could only imagine what therapist Grace would say about that.
Now, I felt even more distant from my brothers. They were married. Ash had a child, and Chase was about to be a father. I didn’t doubt that it wouldn’t be too long before Hunter and Grace had a kid of their own. I was going to have to settle for being the fun uncle to them all. That is, when I was around them. Their lives were so different from mine that we wouldn’t see each other much. I worked more hours despite Chase’s work-life balance initiative at the office. Hell, I’d taken to hanging out with my dad since the rest of my brothers were busy with their own families.
