Keiran ignored Eric and Scott as they also wondered aloud how this date would play out and whether Tyler would bore her to tears. Most likely. His gaze wandered the spacious back yard, seeking Cherisse out. He spotted her with Ava, their parents, and Remi. As if she felt his stare, she looked over. He could see her forehead creasing from here.

He smiled, and she looked away, but not before she casually tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear with her middle finger.

Keiran laughed at the move. The months leading up to this wedding were going to be quite interesting.

Chapter 3

MARCH

Cherisse

THE CAMERA FLASH STARTLED her. She’d been staring at the dessert station way too long, obsessing over the setup. She glared over at Remi, who was still circling, taking photos from various angles.

“Just getting some shots of all this before the hordes descend and devour everything.”

“Good plan.” Next to her, Cherisse’s PA, Reba, had her phone out doing the same. “We’ll get some more good ones for Instagram and Twitter when we have some people around.”

Right. It was why she’d hired Reba as her assistant. Reba stayed on top of stuff like that. Cherisse had forgotten all about photos, too busy fussing with the various stands that held the desserts for the post-awards cocktail party. Remi was there in her work capacity as a photographer for Island Bites.

With Reba and Remi dealing with the photos, Cherisse made one more circuit of the room. The formal portion of the People’s Choice Soca Awards ceremony would be letting out soon enough, and hungry guests would be flooding this room in no time.

Last year, she’d attended the awards show as a nominee’s date. Her then-boyfriend, Sean Daley aka Swagga D, had been nominated in a bunch of categories. Even though he’d imploded their relationship by being a lying ass cheater, she could still admit—grudgingly—that he was talented. He’d been nominated again this year, so Cherisse prepped herself for a run-in.

Reba had offered to stick around to dismantle everything, so Cherisse could spare herself from seeing Sean with possibly one of the women he’d cheated with, but no way would she pass up free eats, wine, and networking opportunities because her ex was a piece of shit.

Reba came over. “You good?”

“Yeah, everything looks great.” Knowing Reba like she did, she wasn’t referring to that, but Cherisse was tired of the concern. She could handle seeing her ex in public for the first time in almost a year without wanting to choke him out, right?

No matter what, you keep your cool. Don’t let them see you sweat.

One of the many bits of advice her mother had given her over the years and something she struggled with. Why did she always have to be the one to keep her cool? Although ignoring that advice last year hadn’t done her any favors. That video of her cussing Sean out backstage at the Pastry Wars studio hadn’t been her best moment.