“Asshat.” That would be his wife’s contribution. Tonight she wore a snug red shirt with hip-hugging jeans. He couldn’t help staring at her cute ass every time she walked around. Hell, he wanted to ask her to go get him something, anything just so he could admire the lovely lines of her body.
“Call him hot as hell.”
“Evangeline Mae, a lady does not talk about the hotness of another woman’s husband,” Leah reprimanded.
“But a lady can say bullshit?” Heath asked Carter out of the corner of his mouth.
Their father, Lawton, cleared his throat and peered over the paper he’d been reading.
“Sorry,” Heath mumbled, impressing the hell out of Christian.
Vladimir could stand to learn how not to bitch and moan at his own sons. It was one of the things Christian liked and admired about Zoe’s quiet father. Lawton had invited him over earlier that day to have a come to Jesus meeting with him. Whatever that meant.
As it had turned out, all Lawton had wanted to know if Christian was serious about making his marriage work. Then his father-in-law had told him in no uncertain terms that the next time Christian got a wild hair up his ass to leave his daughter, he’d track him down and skin him alive.
“Call him late for dinner.”
“We’d never call you that, Logan. You always arrive before dinner and then no one else gets any,” Melanie teased, her hand resting on the top of her bulging belly.
“How about call an ambulance?”
“Luke, really.” Leah chastised from across the room. “I raised you boys better than that.”
“Sorry,” Luke said, sounding the exact opposite of the word. He tossed a glare Christian’s way. “How about EMT?”
“SmithAnn calls him Prince Ian,” Carter said with a smirk. “She’s convinced he can bring that annoying unicorn to her birthday party.”
Everyone including Zoe laughed.
“It was fantastic working with Uni. And SmithAnn was a lovely hostess at our tea while her guests were loads more fun and welcoming. More importantly, they didn’t hoard the biscuits.” He’d make fun of himself before the brothers could. That should shut them up.
Melanie rewarded him with a smile, then whispered in Zoe’s ear. His wife turned a rosy pink and shook her head. What he wouldn’t give to find out what that had been all about.
“Jolly good,” Heath said in the worst impersonation of an English accent Christian had heard that night.
“That’s a right proper gent,” Logan chimed in, making Heath sound like a native speaker. Christian cringed. Okay, make Heath’s the second worst.
“Look, any man willing to suffer through endless showings of that damn unicorn and play tea party with my daughter has my respect,” Carter said, shocking Christian.
“Those dishes aren’t going to clean themselves,” Leah called out from her seat on the sofa. “Would you look at that? Who knew a woman with all that money could manage to look so cheap? Bless her heart.”
The gossip channel his mother-in-law was watching had been muted and every so often he’d get a glimpse of his picture with some woman who was not his wife. Christian wanted to hurl something at the damn screen, but he couldn’t change his past or the fact that everyone was privy to it. Including Zoe.
She glanced behind her just as an old video of him and Jaylen walking the red carpet was put on repeat. His entire body tensed as she turned back around in her chair, slender shoulders drooping. A small frown appeared on her face.
“How can you stand to watch that trash, Momma?” Luke growled.
Everyone turned to look and of course it showed him snogging Jaylen before giving the camera the finger. Then shouting what he knew to be profanity-laced sentences or at least what would have passed as a sentence. He’d most likely been drunk at the time, possibly high.
An uncomfortable silence descended.
Zoe looked down, pretending to examine the top of the wooden table. Her fingers flexed, the wedding ring that should be sparkling there conspicuously absent. As was his. She’d never given him one. Judging by her body language, he wouldn’t be getting one anytime soon.
Heath cleared his throat. “Who wants dessert?”
“I’ll go check on SmithAnn,” Carter said.
Logan shot to his feet. “I’ll get the plates.”
“Leah, did you hear what Chrissy Jean said about Kelly Rae at Daisy’s bakery the other day?” Melanie asked, moving to the living room. “I swear, those two looked like dogs fighting over scraps. “
Leah held up the remote and clicked off the television, then motioned for Melanie to sit down in the closest chair. “Over Nelson Landry?”
Everyone but Evangeline got up from the table to crowd around the large island in the middle of the kitchen. She shrugged a shoulder when Christian sent her a questioning look.
“It’s my job to clean up. That’s the curse of being the youngest. You’ve always got to do the crap jobs.”
Wasn’t that the truth? His crap job would be mindlessly spewing Romanov Industries’ mission statement all over the world.
He helped her gather up the cards and sort through them, creating two decks again. “How’s school going?”
“Just fine.” Evangeline gave him a brilliant smile, one very like his wife’s. “Are any of your friends coming here?”
He inwardly sighed at the sight of her sweet face. Now he had a little sister to think of. His friends could stay the hell away from Holland Springs and the women who lived here. “Not any time soon.”
Her smile fell, but only slightly. “I already know one of them.”
“And who would that be?” He closed the top of the box of cards.
“Luke wants to kill you,” Evangeline warned, ignoring his question. “He thinks you’re only here to boost your image, because something bad has happened or is about to happen.”
That much was obvious. It didn’t take a genius to notice Luke’s fury-filled glare. And those damn pictures of him were still lurking in cyberspace. Still waiting for confirmation on the identity, but he was sure the bloggers and the reporters without standards would be publishing them soon. Ramifications be damned. Christian’s second shot at happiness be damned as well.
He knew he needed to tell Zoe soon, but he was afraid she would think he was using her. “I’m here because I love your sister and want to stay married to her,” he assured his sister-in-law.