The redness in my cheeks intensifies, making it feel as if my cheeks really are on fire. I can hear Ashton chuckle from beside me, and his amusement only adds to my mortification. Shit. I hadn’t realized anyone would have been able to hear. Just kill me now.

It doesn’t help my humiliation when I happen to glance into the direction of Ashton’s dad; I see the trademark Bailey smirk etched along his face hidden behind his newspaper, and I desperately want the floor to swallow me whole.

“I hope you guys are hungry, I have enough here to feed an army. Go, sit.” I inwardly thank Alana for her quick diversion as Ashton and I take a seat at the table. I look over to Jo and Mia, who both look a little worse for wear this morning. “Drink a little too much last night?” Ashton asks with a grin as he pours us both a glass of orange juice. Jo is the first to groan out a wordless response, and Mia is barely able to lift her head up from the table.

Jo’s eyes fall from Ashton to me, and they wrinkle on a frown in an instant. “How do you look as fresh as a daisy right now? Seriously you suck.”

I snort out a laugh. I’m hardly as fresh as a daisy. I showered thirty minutes ago and I already feel like I need another one with the beads of sweat that are beginning to form. The summer heat in the south is unbearable. It makes me thankful for the moderately cooler weather in Seattle.

“Ugh … I’m. Never. Drinking. Again,” comes the murmured groan from Mia as she finally looks up from the table with dark circles prominent under her eyes. Her complexion is pale with a hint of green that makes me think she’s moments away from throwing up.

Tyler places two glasses of some green slimy concoction in front of both Jo and Mia before he drops a kiss on the top of Mia’s head. “Drink these. It’s the perfect hangover cure.”

Jo’s the first one to push it away, the frown still marring her face. “Um, no thanks. I want some real food.” Mia stares at it as if something dead is floating on the top, her appearance deepening with an unruly shade of green. “Oh God, I’m going to be sick.” The chair suddenly scrapes back as Mia rushes to stand, her hands clutching hold of her mouth before she rushes towards the nearest bathroom, the sound of her gagging following close behind.

“Dude,” Ashton begins, eyeing up the green milkshake with the same disgust as Mia did just moments ago. “That looks disgusting.”

“It’s not that bad. It looks worse than it tastes.”

“Tell that to your soon-to-be wife who’s currently hurling her guts up.” The moment the words leave Ashton’s mouth we hear the sound of retching coming from the upstairs bathroom. I watch Jo’s face turn ghostly pale at the very sound, and in a flash she’s up on her feet rushing in the same direction, slapping her hands over her mouth. It turns my stomach slightly, but thankfully the incredible aroma of food manages to override my need to join in with Mia and Jo.

After a moment, Tyler looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “What the hell were you guys drinking last night?”

I take a sip of the refreshing orange juice before answering. “The usual; champagne, cocktails, shots, and then it turned into a college party when the stripper bought everyone a round of jello shots, and the rest is history. But I stopped drinking pretty early on though.”

I cower in my seat when two sets of green eyes burn into me. What did I say? I glance at Alana and I see she’s trying to stifle a laugh as she concentrates on pouring the pancake mix into a pan.

“There … there was a stripper?” Ashton asks in a strained voice. My eyes slowly slide over to Tyler where I can almost see the jealousy rising from him like a steam train. Then I chance a glance at Ashton’s dad, who’s wearing an amused smile on his face.

“Um …” I struggle to form a single word, suddenly feeling flustered after my accidental slip-up. I’m sure I told Ashton by text last night … but I was pretty drunk, so the text message probably made absolutely no sense. I’m a professional editor, yet the moment my veins are swimming with alcohol, my ability to grasp the use of grammar is shockingly bad. That’s why I have to stay one hundred percent sober when working through a manuscript.

“Can either one of you boys get your nephew from outside? Breakfast is almost ready,” Alana speaks up from out of nowhere.

And again saved by the bell. I love that woman.

Tyler looks at his mom with a tense smile, knowing just how convenient her distraction is.

“Sure thing, Mom,” he says after a moment of silence. He stands from his seat and walks out of the kitchen in search of Junior. Once alone—excluding Alana and Samuel—Ashton pulls my seat closer to him and he wraps a protective arm around my shoulders, engulfing me with his heat.

“So, a stripper, huh? Was this stripper hot?”

Now look who’s jealous.

I smile while putting him under my scrutiny, finding his response amusing. The stripper was hot, ridiculously so, but he had nothing on Ashton.

“Are you jealous?”

I expect him to deny it but he surprises me when he says, “Hell yeah, I’m jealous. I don’t want some guy with an eight pack and a twelve inch cock turning my fiancée on.” My eyes grow in size at his words. Did he really just say that in front of his mom and dad? Oh my God.

“No, it was more like ten inch …” Alana pipes up causing my already widened eyes to quadruple in size.

“Jesus, Mom …” Ashton breathes with an aspirated sigh, chuckling under his breath.

“Just stating the facts, sweetheart. And I wouldn’t worry too much, baby boy. It was Mia who got the lap dance, not Ava.” That information seems to soften the tensed wrinkles around his eyes. I force my focus on Ashton and rest my hands on either side of his face, my fingers scratching against the scruff of his stubble.

“Yes he was hot, but he wasn’t you,” I say in a low voice and a smile replaces his frown. My smile follows suit and not wanting the next words being heard by his mom and dad, I press my mouth to his ear and whisper, “In fact you were all I could think about. Especially how incredible you would look in a fireman’s outfit. I couldn’t wait to get home to you.”

When I pull away my heart constricts and my breath quickens when I come face to face with his smoldering smile, his tranquil green eyes sparkling with lust.

“Is that so?” he questions, his voice laced with intrigue.

“Uh-huh,” I say teasingly.

He closes the distance between us and he presses his mouth to my ear. “If we were alone right now, you’d be spread along this table faster than you could say—”

“Uncle Ashton!”

Ashton stifles his chuckle as he says, “Yep, not what I was going for.”

His nephew runs over to him and jumps on his lap while I’m left trying to take a steady breath, desperate for my heart rate to slow down. Tyler returns to the kitchen seconds later and I have to hold back my laughter when I still see the look of jealousy flaring in his eyes. It seems he’s not the only Bailey who has an alpha-male jealous streak.

Placing the last clean plate in the cupboard, I turn just as Riley walks into the kitchen, dressed in a pair of cut-off denim shorts and the shortest crop top that doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Jo was wrong. I don’t look as fresh as a daisy, Riley does. Seriously, she looks completely flawless, as if she’s been on a weekend spa retreat. She doesn’t look the slightest bit hungover, and she threw drinks back like the best of them.

“Morning ya’ll!”

Even though she greets everyone, I don’t miss how her eyes only zone in on Ashton, who is currently wiping down the countertops. After Alana cooked up an amazing breakfast, Ashton and I offered to clean up so she could begin the wedding preparations. I watch Ashton closely as he greets Riley with a friendly smile and a brief, “Morning,” before returning to the cleaning at hand. I breathe out a sigh of relief, happy that his eyes didn’t stray any further than her face. I wouldn’t have blamed him—I mean, she is almost spilling out of her barely-there shirt—but I would have been pissed if he had checked her out while I’m standing only feet away from him.