that led out of the kitchen.
When she got back out into the living room, Hadley came to a stop as she saw Mauricio Velasquez standing there. Of course, he looked like he’d stepped out of her hottest dreams. That was the thing no one had warned her about with breakups and broken hearts. She might be ready to move on, but her damned subconscious kept churning him up in the middle of the night and giving him a starring role in her sexiest dreams.
He had what she’d heard the old biddies in town refer to as a chiseled jaw; his neatly trimmed eyebrows framed eyes that were as black as her favorite dark chocolate. When he looked at her, she always felt like he could see straight past the layers she used to keep the world at bay to the very heart of her. But she knew that was a lie. Had he been able to do that, he wouldn’t have invited Marnie Masters, the femme fatale of Cole’s Hill, into his bed, while he and Hadley were taking a break in their relationship. She had believed they were going to get back together up until the moment she found out about Marnie.
“Hadley, what are you doing?” Mother said, putting her hand on Hadley’s shoulder.
“Sorry, Mother, I just saw Mauricio.”
“So?”
“I’m not ready to talk to him,” she said.
“This is Helena’s day, sweet child, so you will straighten Grandma’s pearls and walk over there and greet him like he’s an old friend,” Mother said.
She took a deep breath and looked over at Helena. “You’re right. Sorry, Hel.”
She’d known he’d be here. Mauricio and her sister’s fiancé were best friends and had been since high school. It wasn’t as if she could ask everyone she knew to stop socializing with him. Helena had even taken her to brunch at her favorite place to break the news that Mo would be in the wedding party. The picture of him walking out of his bathroom in a towel with the town flirt Marnie Masters right behind him had flashed through Hadley’s mind. But it didn’t matter. She had to be there for her sister.
“It’s okay,” Helena said. “I did warn you he’d be here today. Malcolm asked him to be a groomsman so you’re going to see him at all the pre-wedding events.”
“She’s got this,” Mother said. “I raised you girls to have steel in your backbones. And manners.”
“That’s right, you did,” Hadley agreed. She wished it were that easy, but when she saw Mauricio, he stirred to life so many different emotions. Anger she could understand, and sadness of course; it was hard to move on. Then there was guilt. But another feeling entirely came into play when her gaze drifted down his body, to that tailor-made suit that emphasized the width of his broad shoulders, the jacket buttoned neatly at his waist showing off the slimness of his hips, the pants displaying those long legs to perfection.
She groaned but Helena pinched her in warning. She straightened her shoulders and realized that Jackson Donovan had come in behind Mauricio. Jackson was Hadley’s date for the event, and as he waved at her, Mauricio turned to greet him.
“He better not make a scene at my baby’s party,” Mother said.
“He won’t,” Hadley said with a confidence she was far from believing as she headed off to run interference between her ex-lover and her new boyfriend.
Mauricio had taken care to arrive late at the engagement party, even though Malcolm Ferris was one of his best friends. He’d known today was going to be a challenge and he’d never been one of those men who could just smile when he was pissed off. His twin brother always said it was the reason they were so good at speculative business ventures. They weren’t afraid to fight for the underdog or walk into a bad situation and make the best of it. Though Mo had his doubts, Alec had found a way to make that work. For Mauricio it was real estate, for Alec it was technology and social media. Frankly, Mo didn’t understand his brother’s multi-million-dollar business but there was one thing he did understand... No matter how many months passed, he still couldn’t look at Hadley Everton and not feel his blood start to flow heavier in his veins.
She looked like a perfect Southern lady today. Her dress was a beautiful navy blue that hugged her slim torso, drawing his eyes to her delicate neck encircled with her heirloom strand of pearls. Damn if there wasn’t something sexy about seeing a lady all dressed up and knowing what she looked like naked.
He cursed and started to turn to leave the party. He wasn’t going to be able to keep his cool. But just then Jackson Donovan walked up next to him. The two of them had always rubbed each other the wrong way. Ever since their school days, Jackson had been a goody-two-shoes. The only thing that had changed was that back then he had been a skinny geek and now he was six foot five and muscular.
“Mo, good to see you,” Jackson said, holding out his hand.
Mo shook it, keeping his grip light, but Jackson squeezed before letting go. “I didn’t know you knew Malcolm.”
“I don’t, well, not really. I’m here with Hadley.”
Mo saw red. Sure, they were broken up and it felt final this time, but Hadley could do better than this—
“Hello, boys,” Hadley said, joining the two of them. She gave Jackson a kiss on the cheek before turning to smile at Mauricio.
Mauricio took a deep breath. “Hiya, Had. You look gorgeous as usual.”
“Thank you,” she said, with a tiny nod. “I hope you’ll excuse us, Mauricio. I promised Mother I’d bring Jackson over to meet her cousin.”
“Of course.”
She slipped her hand into the crook of Jackson’s elbow and Mo watched her walk away, unable to tear his eyes from the curves of her hips. Had her legs always been that long?
“Mo, I was surprised to see you chatting with Jackson,” his brother Diego said as he handed him a longneck Lone Star beer.
Mauricio brought the bottle to his lips and took a long pull. “Mama told me to mind my manners today. And I’m not going to give her another reason to be embarrassed after last fall.”
“Glad to hear it,” Diego said.
“Yeah?”
Diego nodded.
“Me too. I can’t keep avoiding everyone from our life together.”
“That’s a good point,” Diego said.
He hoped so. He was working his way back to good. A year ago, he’d been trying to manage his real estate business in the hill country, a reality TV show in Houston and a relationship with Hadley, who had been transferred to her company’s Manhattan offices. She worked for a large design firm and was one of their top designers. He’d been barely hanging on and he’d crashed and burned, especially after what had happened with Hadley. It forced him to take stock of his life and narrow his focus to the things—people—who were really important. His family, his good friends like Malcolm and his other polo team buddies.
“Glad to hear it. Pippa’s in London this week, so if you want to hang out, I’m free,” Diego said. His brother was in a long-distance relationship with Pippa Hamilton Hoff. His
