Simone ran her hands over the slim satin line of her dress, lingering only a moment on her jittery stomach.

Well, she thought, at least she 'd have some of what Zach had.

Curtis lifted a glass of champagne from the tray as he walked out into the garden. He drank it down fast, the bubbles shot straight into his head. As another waiter passed, he set it down and lifted another. He wasn 't on call at the hospital for another two days, he 'd surely be fine with a few more glasses, especially now that Simone Pierpont had joined the party.

She 'd made her way out of the house he noticed. She stood wrapped in his brother-in-law 's arms as his own sister looked on lovingly. What an idiot he 'd been thinking that it was wise to have whisked her away that night. They 'd taken their first tumble right there behind the house.

He drank down that glass of champagne. In all his life that hadn 't been his style. What in the hell had he been thinking?

There lay the problem. He hadn 't been thinking. Not with his head anyway. He hadn 't even realized his brother had been dumped the next morning by his new wife and sent off to find his ex-wife. No he 'd fled the country on that damned lovely yacht with a near perfect woman only to come home and find his brother cuddled on his mother 's couch with the woman he 'd once been married to. Talk about a shock to the system.

He knew there was trouble headed his way when he saw all three of them shift their heads and look at him. Quickly, he finished the glass of champagne and blew out a breath as he tried to focus on Zach walking to him. Things were becoming a bit fuzzy.

"Regan wants me to go in and check on Tyler. Why don 't you walk with me. "

It wasn 't an invitation, Curtis realized, but a request. He followed Zach up the stairs to the small room where his nephew slept. Zach poked his head in and came back with a smile.

"She 's a bit paranoid with all these people here, but he 's fine. "

"Good, " Curtis said quickly and turned for his retreat.

"Why don 't we go down to the study and have a drink. " Zach walked down the stairs and Curtis reluctantly followed. He wasn 't sure another drink was a good idea and when Zach shut the door he wasn 't sure being in the same room with the man was either.

Zach moved to the liquor cabinet and pulled open the doors. "I got a new bottle of whiskey last week from Ireland. A business associate sent it to me. What do you say? "

Curtis swallowed the words he really was thinking and gave his brother-in-law a nod.

Zach poured them each two fingers full and handed Curtis a sniffer.

"To Carlos and Madeline. "

"To them, " Curtis said as he threw back his drink and then blew out a fiery breath. Certainly, it was going to take the next two days off work to sober up.

"Good stuff. " Zach looked in his glass. "Want another? "

"No. " That came out quickly enough he thought. He needed to sit, but Zach was walking around the room as if he needed to talk. Curtis tried to hold on to the ground with his feet firmly planted, but the room was beginning to tilt.

Zach sat on the edge of his desk. "I was surprised to see Simone here tonight, weren 't you? "

Curtis shrugged. "Your house. Your friend. "

"She sure is. My dearest friend in the world. " Zach nodded and then turned his eyes up to him. "She seems a little nervous to be here. She 's never been nervous. "

He shrugged again, but when his shoulders fell he decided he needed to make it to the couch before the room completely spun on him. "Maybe she 's uneasy being here for another of Carlos 's weddings. " The thought made him laugh. Two weddings in two months was that a record or something?

Zach moved to the seat across from the couch where he 'd landed and sat down. "It seems to us she 's a little uneasy being around you. "

In his current state, Curtis took that as an insult. Fine, if his sister and his brother-in-law thought more of some rich French girl than they did of him. Him, who saved lives every single day. Him, who on occasion, had been known to save his own sister 's life, but that wasn 't something anyone talked about anymore. Hell, he should be put on a back burner just because of the sexy, leggy, raven haired, blue eyed goddess who seemed to always show up unannounced. He completely understood why her uneasiness was a problem.

No, no he didn 't.

He tried to focus his eyes. How many glasses of champagne had he had before the whisky? Oh wait - with more thought, he, Carlos, and Zach had already had a few shots before the wedding. No wonder he couldn 't focus.

Zach sat back in his seat. "So what went on between the two of you? Simone has never said, and Regan and I have only speculated. "

Speculated? Who was Zach kidding? They 'd disappeared together for two weeks. Even the hospital was speculating if he 'd return.

Never in Curtis Keller 's entire life had he blown off responsibility as he had with Simone, but damn it had felt good. It felt good until he woke up on the yacht and she was gone.

The pattern in the carpet was making him dizzy. He looked up and tried desperately to focus on the bow tie of Zach 's tuxedo. "I know she 's very special to you, but you don 't want details. "

Zach smiled with a slow nod. "You 're right, I don 't need details. She is very special and, " he looked around the room as if to make sure no one was there. "If you don 't mind not telling her I said this, she 's a bit of a manizer. " That seemed to strike Zach as funny and he laughed. "You know, like a womanizer, only a manizer. "

"I got it. " Bu1t it wasn 't funny to him. "What about it? "

"Well we were afraid she dug her claws into you. "

That would be an understatement as Curtis remembered it. "Don 't worry about me. I 'm fine. "

"Good. She 's going to be staying here for a bit and we don 't want it to be awkward for you. "

Curtis ran his tongue over his teeth and then did it again. His tongue was numb. "I 'll be fine. I 'll be working lots of shifts at the hospital so I won 't be hanging around here too much. " At least not anymore.

"You 're okay with her? "

"Sure. " Why wouldn 't he be? No reason to get worked up just because a woman used you for a quick romp. Really, he was more of a man than that.

"Well I 'd better get out to the guests. Feel free to hang here and rest your head. "