Though he would deny it if asked, Kipling Benedict felt oddly out of place at his younger brother’s vow renewal. He chalked it up to both of his younger brothers now be- ing in committed relationships, but that didn’t make him feel any better. In fact, as he stood by Knox and listened as he pledged to love, honor, and cherish his wife, Bea, Kipling actually felt worse.
Worse because he was envious of what his brothers had. Though he could pound his fists into something, it wouldn’t change anything. He’d accepted a long time ago that his station in life was to be alone. Having fallen in love hard and fast in college, paired with only being seen for his net worth, left him not wanting to try again. Being alone was so much easier.
However, at times such as this, he became acutely aware of the differences between acceptance and contentment. Because while he may have accepted that he would be alone, he was not content.
“You may kiss your bride,” the minister said, dragging him back to the small historic chapel Bea had selected for the renewal.
Kipling clapped as his brother took his wife in his arms

and dipped her low, snagging a kiss while he did so. They both looked so blissfully in love, he couldn’t help but smile at the joy and peace seen in the couple. If anyone deserved a happily ever after, they did. They had originally married in secret, but more than that, they’d both narrowly escaped with their lives after a security guard hired to protect Bea turned out to be the thug who had beat her up and left her for dead months earlier.
Kipling had asked Knox a few days ago if he was ready to give up his bachelor status forever since he was going public with his wedding this time. They’d been outside. Tilly sat at a nearby table in the garden and both Keaton and Bea sat with her. From what Kipling was able to pick up on, they were looking at a map and trying to determine the best location for a public vegetable garden. Bea looked up and winked at Knox.
His brother had only replied, “The wedding won’t come soon enough for me.”
Kipling felt the truth in his words that day, but now he saw it as the happy couple stood up, and laughed, only hav- ing eyes for the other.
Kipling felt his mouth curl up into a smile as the couple walked down the aisle, nodding to the small gathering of friends and family in attendance. Kipling’s hands froze when he saw who waited by the chapel doors.
Alyssa Adams. Officer Alyssa Adams.
The corner of his mouth lifted. He hadn’t expected her to be here today. It was ridiculous how happy he was to see her. Especially since she made no secret of the fact that she didn’t like him, his money, or anything about him. The way Kipling saw it, she presented him with a challenge and he never backed down from a challenge. But it was more than that. It was the way she never backed down from him

and how when she sparred verbally with him, it made him feel alive in a way he rarely felt.
He kept his eyes on her as he made his way down the aisle behind his brother. Though he had seen her wear a dress once before at the party announcing Keaton and Tilly’s engagement and the new division of Benedict Indus- tries, today she wore a more formal one. It hit above her knee, showing off her long legs and toned calves. He’d al- ways considered himself a leg man. Yes, breasts were great and he had no problem appreciating a woman’s backside, but legs . . .
There was just something about a woman’s legs. Espe- cially when they looked like Alyssa’s. Long and lean and strong. It was so easy to imagine them wrapped around his waist while he angled his hips to—
“Stop it.” His youngest brother, Keaton, punched his arm. “Seriously, man. What happened to your poker face?” They had made it out of the chapel and were waiting for the remaining guests to leave the church so they could
all walk to the reception area.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kipling told Keaton. In truth, he shouldn’t be the least bit interested in the police officer. It seemed as if each time he saw her, she only gave him disturbing news about his family. Or worse yet, arrested him. He didn’t understand how he could pos- sibly find her attractive, but he did. Not only that, but he wanted her. Badly.
“You don’t know what I’m talking about.” His youngest brother snorted. “Yeah, right.”
Kipling shot him a look that would have stopped an- other man in his tracks, but that apparently didn’t work on younger brothers. No, the look didn’t have any sort of im- pact on Keaton, who kept right on talking.
“You know,” Keaton said, nodding toward Alyssa who

was currently chatting with Janie Roberts, her old partner, who would soon become Bea’s sister-in-law. “If you wanted, you could, I don’t know, ask her out or something.”
He thought about playing dumb, pretending he wasn’t sure who Keaton was talking about, but he’d never been one to play the fool and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now.
“It’s not as simple as that,” Kipling told his younger brother. It was a pat answer, but the truth. Looking at Al- yssa while she spoke to her friend, he wished things were different. Damn, but he could watch her for hours. Today, there was very little to be seen of the straight-laced in- vestigator she was around him and he found the contrast mesmerizing. She talked with Janie using her entire body. She was so animated and her smile so genuine, he couldn’t look away. Not only that, but he’d always seen her with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and today it was free to dance around her shoulders in soft waves. The sunlight made the normal brown a plethora of colors: blond, red, and even hints of black.
Keaton narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “Why isn’t it that simple?”
“I’m not going to stand here and explain myself to you,” Kipling said. “You’re going to have to take my word for it.”
“If this is about that girl in college . . .” Keaton started, but stopped when Kipling raised his hand.
“Don’t go there,” Kipling warned his younger brother. “Not now. Not ever.”
He would live his life and never complain if no one ever brought up the girl he dated in college. The one he fell hard for. The one he planned to marry. The one who made a fool out of him.
His stomach twisted and he wondered if he’d ever think of her without wanting to throw up. He reminded himself

that at least he’d gotten out of the situation and hadn’t been stupid enough to elope. She’d actually suggested they do exactly that before they went to his house for Christmas break.
Even then, it appeared as if Keaton was going to argue with him. Fortunately, Tilly, his fiancée, came up to them and looped her arm through Keaton’s.
“Come on, you guys,” Tilly said. “The photographer wants to do some family shots.”
“Why do I have to get my picture taken?” Kipling mum- bled while straightening his tie. “It’s not my wedding.”
But he followed Keaton and Tilly to the front of the chapel anyway, unable to keep himself from looking over his shoulder at Alyssa one last time.

CREDIT: BROKEN PROMISE by Tara Thomas. Copyright © 2018 by the author and reprinted by permission of St Martin’s Press.