The Billionaire's Island Bride by Donna Alward

Author:Donna Alward
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-03-05T17:52:01+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

THE RAIN SLASHED and the windows rattled, but Cole’s kitchen was the port in the storm for the four occupants of the island. Brooklyn looked around and felt a warmth that had eluded her for a long, long time. These people felt like her friends. The class difference didn’t seem to matter, even though Brooklyn was always aware of the opulence around her.

Cole had spared no expense in updating the house, and she’d caught a glimpse of his sweater tag before dinner. She was pretty sure that it cost as much as most of her wardrobe put together. The towel he’d given her earlier had been of the finest, plushiest cotton. Cole Abbott was a man used to the best.

But he was also a lot more fun than she’d imagined.

The four of them had eaten a delicious meal of carbonara and salad that Raelynn had prepared, eating in the kitchen rather than the formal dining room. Once the mess was cleaned up, Cole had opened up another bottle of wine and suggested they play cards. Brooklyn wondered if he’d done that because of what she’d said earlier, and making her want to feel at home. Either way, the result was that they were now sitting around the kitchen table. Rae, as she asked Brooklyn to call her, and Brooklyn had glasses of Shiraz at their elbows, while the men had switched to scotch.

The game they all agreed on was hearts, and so far Dan was trouncing everyone. He never seemed to end up with the queen of spades, and as the evening progressed, the storm howled and shook the house, and Raelynn topped up their glasses once more, Brooklyn couldn’t remember a time when she’d had so much fun.

Cole’s eyes were the color of cornflowers as they twinkled at her over his cards, and she grinned back. The smile playing on his lips was mesmerizing, and she found herself staring at his mouth for too long as she remembered kissing him on the beach.

“Your turn,” Raelynn said, and Brooklyn dragged her gaze away and back to the cards in her hand.

This was the one hand where she couldn’t pass three cards to anyone. She was stuck with what she had, and she was getting tired of always ending up with a mitt full of hearts counting against her. She also had the two of clubs, so she started the hand and placed each card carefully. One after the other she ended up with hearts, and the other three were teasing her about how badly she was playing. But in the end, she played the queen of spades and reveled in the shock on their faces when they all realized she’d taken every single heart and the queen, too.

Which meant she had no penalty and they all had to count the points against themselves.

“Oh, that was sneaky!” Dan exclaimed, pointing his finger at her. “Damn you, Brookie!”

She burst out laughing. “Brookie? No one has called me that since I was nine!”

Raelynn joined in, and Cole raised an eyebrow.

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