“You may be right,” he admitted.

Maxine hooked her arm in his. “I need to hear this conversation.”

Keiran let himself be dragged over. Curiosity got the better of him, and Cherisse’s narrowed eyes as she spotted them coming over were sure to make for an entertaining time.

“Hey, girl. Long time, no see,” Maxine said cheerfully.

Keiran noticed Cherisse’s fingers tighten around her wine glass, but she returned Maxine’s smile. “Hi, yes, it’s been, what, about eight...nine years?”

“Yeah, about that. Good to be back home.” Maxine had returned to the island late last year with his niece, Leah. “Sorry to interrupt your talk.” Maxine looked the furthest thing from sorry, lips curved up in her trademark grin. “But I had to tell you, Cherisse, those cakes. Damn, girl, so good.”

Cherisse shot Keiran a triumphant smile. “Thanks.”

“I tried to get this one to taste, but he refused.”

Oh, now Maxine was just stoking the fire.

Cherisse shrugged. “Well, he’s obviously the inferior twin, and his loss, really.”

“They are quite good,” Tyler spoke up. “Hmm, I’ll need to research the dessert offerings wherever we go on our date. I’ll need to find something that matches up to a woman of your skill.”

“Date?” Cherisse looked absolutely horrified at the idea but quickly covered up her less-than-stellar expression with a tentative smile.

Keiran suppressed a chuckle. Tyler and Cherisse, on a date? Now there was something he couldn’t wrap his mind around but would pay good money to witness. Cherisse gave off that I’m better than you air; she was social, outgoing. He’d seen enough of her social media feeds and the pics from entertainment sites to know she frequented band launches, fetes, and other party-type events. Those sites treated her like some kind of local celeb. He supposed when you dated a popular soca star, it was to be expected; you ended up mingling with those in the local music scene and got to keep that semi-celeb status even if the relationship had imploded. And man, had it blown up in a big public way.

Tyler was known for turning up his nose at the local party scene, so the two of them going out together just wasn’t something Keiran could picture. What would they even talk about?

“Your mother said you were on board?”

“No,” Cherisse said, mouth set in a tight line. She tossed back the rest of her wine, earning a raised brow from Tyler and a cough that was clearly an aborted laugh from Maxine. “I mean, this is the first time we’ve spoken. It’s a little premature to assume a date’s a done deal, isn’t it?”

Keiran hadn’t expected to have this much fun at the engagement party, but he was enjoying himself immensely. “I think you should save yourself and take the out she’s giving you, Tyler.”

“And I think no one cares what the f—” Cherisse’s words died away as Remi sauntered over and placed a hand on her friend’s arm.