by R. J. Groves
He moved to close the distance, inch by agonising inch, and had gotten close enough to taste her breath mingling with his. He heard a noise, but he didn’t register what it was until she jerked back, startled, and spun on her heel, breaking contact with him.
Door. Her door opened. His eyes shot up towards it.
‘Hope I’m not interrupting anything.’
A man’s voice. A man had just come out of her front door. A man he’d never seen, nor heard anything about, since he’d heard nothing about any man in her life. He studied the intruder. A little shorter than him, but taller than Andie. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, good enough looks. He looked fit, broad-shouldered, symmetrical, and like he might pack a punch.
He could take him, he was sure of it.
Nothing would come between him and feeling Andie’s lips against his again. His hands balled into fists by his side. Who the hell was this guy? And why was he in Andie’s house?
The man stretched his arms out in an invitation, his lips curving into a smile he wouldn’t mind punching from his face. He looked only at Andie.
‘Miss me?’
Miss him? The hell? He heard a shriek and felt his gaze follow Andie as she practically launched herself at the guy.
‘Joey!’ She flung herself into his arms. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and spun her around. Spun her.
Joey.
He felt the weight settle in his chest. Joseph—the name that had been next to hers in the vineyard’s books. Her ex, Joseph. The blasted guy that had hurt her months before their wedding. And she was throwing herself back into his arms as though nothing had happened.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and fought the urge to close the distance and push him against the wall with a hand around his throat. He needed to suss out the situation first. He needed the businessman in him to prevail. Not this … animal … that she seemed to turn him into. And this … this … feeling. The possessiveness that he hadn’t known before. Not since—
He blinked through the red. He couldn’t go there. Not now. Not when the woman he was about to kiss was still in another man’s arms. He needed his thoughts to be clear. He needed to distance himself. Separate his thoughts from his feelings. If that’s what this was. Jealousy didn’t suit him. It was something that never worked in his favour, and he avoided it at all costs. He swallowed again, focusing on Andie as the man lowered her to the ground. At all costs. Or, at least, he tried to.
***
Joey! Her Joey was home!
And she couldn’t explain it, but her heart felt full. The one man she’d always held dear and close to her heart was here. And yet, it wasn’t just him. Oh, she’d been so close to kissing Taylor that she’d practically already been melting in his arms. Maybe she’d been looking too far into it, but she’d noticed the moments throughout the day. The afternoon.
The subtle bumps had seemed more deliberate by the afternoon. His hand resting on the small of her back to guide her to another car that he’d seemed excited about … Him leaning close enough for her to breathe in the masculine and unique scent that was him … The way his close proximity had sent her hairs standing on end, a delicious shiver down her spine, and her stomach flipping.
And he’d almost kissed her.
They’d been so close. And who knew where it would have ended, had they not been interrupted. She felt herself being lowered to the ground and she pulled back to study the face of a man she loved and hadn’t seen in so long. Joey was home. Her dear Joey. Yes, her heart was full. And there were two men to blame.
‘When did you get back?’ she said, the excitement welling inside her.
‘Landed this morning,’ he said, releasing her with another squeeze. ‘Came straight here to see you.’
She slapped his chest. And he’d been working out since she last saw him. ‘You didn’t tell me.’
He laughed, a sound that she’d missed terribly. Especially with all that she’d been through. ‘I wanted to surprise you,’ he said, leaning closer and speaking at a level only she could hear. ‘Clearly, I should have called.’
He pulled her to the side and draped an arm over her shoulder, focusing on the man she’d been about to kiss. She held her breath. Joey had always been a good judge of character. If only she’d listened to him last time.
‘I don’t believe we’ve met.’ His tone changed to what must be his commanding voice.
‘This is Taylor Ballin,’ she said nervously. ‘My—’ Her what, exactly? They’d kissed once. Been on a business-related dinner and a few coincidental outings together. ‘Friend.’ She couldn’t help but notice his jaw clench at the word. Was she mistaken to refer to him as her friend? An acquaintance, perhaps? A client?
Joey stretched a hand towards him, but Taylor made no move to reciprocate. He was barely a couple of metres away, but he didn’t budge. In fact, he looked tense. His eyes dropped to Joey’s outstretched hand, then lifted again. Joey dropped his hand to his side.
‘A friend?’ Joey said, his eyebrow lifted in his usual mischievous way.
‘Apparently so,’ Taylor ground out.
Her brow furrowed. What was his deal? Couldn’t he see that her Joey was home and she was happy? And after they’d had such a nice day. Relatively … It had certainly been nice a few moments ago.
‘Well,’ Joey said, squeezing her shoulder. ‘A friend of Andie’s is a friend of mine.’ Taylor’s eyes narrowed. Oh, she wanted to slap that look off his face. He should be celebrating with them. Joey was home.
‘I’m not your friend,’ she heard him mutter.
She glanced up at Joey, knowing he would have heard it, too. She noticed a twitch in his jaw, but he acted like he hadn’t heard. Oh, Joey … Always being the better man. At least she could ask him later what he thought of Taylor Ballin. And she would listen to him, instead of ignoring his input like she had before.
‘Well, I don’t know what you two had planned,’ Joey started, his voice still chipper. ‘But I’ve got some beers lined up in the fridge waiting to be consumed.’ He stretched his hand towards Taylor in an invitation. ‘And I’d like to get to know the guy who’s been keeping Andie company.’
She elbowed Joey in the ribs, but he barely flinched. Wow, he had changed since she last saw him. That, or he was so focused on interrogating Taylor that he was no longer ticklish. She focused on the man she’d been about to kiss and noticed his eyes had darkened.
‘I was just leaving,’ he said gruffly.
No. No. Oh, why was he acting like he’d shut down? He was being so … so … oh, damn it all if she knew what he was being. ‘You can’t go,’ she said, surprising herself.
His cold dark look shot towards her and she felt a shiver run down her spine. And not in the delicious way it had earlier. ‘Why not?’ It sounded as though all emotion had left his voice, though it surely couldn’t have. Could it? Why would he be acting this way with Joey? Everyone loved Joey.
‘Because my Joey is home,’ she said stubbornly. ‘You have to celebrate with us.’
‘Yes, do come in and celebrate with us,’ Joey said, his tone still light, though she noticed the underlying firmness.
The desperation was building inside her. If only she could talk to him, convince him to come inside. Tell him to make a good impression … But that would defeat the purpose of seeing what Joey thought of him. No, she needed Joey to see him—the real him—and tell her his thoughts. And for that, she couldn’t tell the arrogant bastard to behave himself.
‘Please, Taylor?’ she said, wishing she could make him stay with just a look. If it were that easy. ‘I need you to tell Joey about that car we looked at.’
Joey turned her gaze towards her, puzzled. ‘You looked at a car?’ She nodded. ‘What happened to your old one?’
‘It fell apart,’ Taylor said gruffly. ‘Because it had never been serviced and was a poor choice to begin with.’
‘My car was perfectly fine,’ she shot back.
‘You know,’ Joey said, re
leasing his arm from around her and waving a finger towards Taylor. ‘That’s exactly what I kept telling her, but would she listen? No. Which is why you, my friend, need to come in for a drink and perhaps we can talk some sense into her.’
Something seemed to shift in Taylor’s manner, but she couldn’t quite place what it was. Then, finally, he nodded and stepped towards them.
‘Perfect,’ Joey said, turning Andie and shoving her through the door. ‘Now, go get our beers, woman.’
She didn’t have time to see whether or not they were following her. She just knew that she had to get those drinks and get back to those two men before they killed each other with looks and words. Or worse. She skipped the last few steps to the fridge. Joey was home. And she had the two men she loved under the same roof.
She paused with her hand inches from the first beer. Love?
No.
Absolutely not.
She liked Taylor Ballin. And she wanted him more than she’d wanted anyone before. But she couldn’t love him.
Not until she knew what Joey thought of him.
She shook the thought from her head, but felt it settle in her stomach. Could she love Taylor Ballin? Maybe …
One day, perhaps.
Not today. Not yet. It was too soon. It was lust, that’s all it was. And it couldn’t be right. He was exactly the kind of guy that she shouldn’t fall for.
And exactly the kind of guy that she would.
Chapter 18
By the time she’d left the kitchen with three beers, Joey and Taylor had made it into the lounge. She could have sliced through the tension with a kitchen knife, which she’d briefly considered bringing in. But she’d thought better of it. If these two ended up brawling, she did not want any sharp objects anywhere near them.
They were both sitting, at least. Even if they were directly opposite each other. In fact, Joey must have moved his armchair to better face Taylor. She gave each of them a beer and settled onto the couch next to Taylor, positioning herself so she could keep an eye on both of them. Joey took a long slow sip of his beer, but Taylor only held his in his hands. He didn’t look happy.
In fact, he looked even more tense than before, if that was at all possible. Joey lowered his beer and shifted in his seat.
‘Now that Andie’s here, we can talk,’ he said, resting the beer on the coffee table between them. He clasped his hands together, his elbows resting on his knees. ‘How long have you two been seeing each other?’
She nearly choked on her beer, and sat up straight, putting her bottle on the coffee table too. Oh, boy. She’d expected Joey to suss him out, but she hadn’t thought he was going to interrogate him. No wonder Taylor was so tense. She waited for him to answer, but he simply lifted his beer slowly to his lips and took a sip. She held her breath.
‘We’re not seeing each other,’ she said, unable to bear the tension any longer.
‘That’s not what I saw,’ Joey said, his expression grave.
‘Andie’s right,’ Taylor said, his tone crisp and businesslike. ‘We’re not seeing each other.’ She couldn’t help but notice the hint of something else in his tone. Nor could she ignore the disappointment as she realised she’d hoped he might say something different.
Joey pursed his lips as though he still didn’t believe them. ‘Okay. Then how long have you known each other?’
‘That’s debatable,’ Taylor said, taking another sip of his beer.
She fought the urge to slap him. Oh, she wanted him to make a good impression, despite trying to keep herself from hoping. And as far as she could tell, he was totally blowing it. ‘We met a bit over a month ago,’ she said.
‘And you were helping her look for a car today because her old one died. And you were there when that happened, were you?’ Joey said, an eyebrow lifting.
She felt the frustration build up. Joey was starting to act almost as bad as Taylor. Oh, she could slap them both.
‘Unfortunately.’
‘Unfortunate that you were with Andie at all, or just when the car broke down?’
Another sip. She felt her grip tighten on her thighs. Two children. That’s what they were. And here she was thinking they’d act like grown men.
‘Unfortunate that she even had it,’ Taylor said, finally. ‘I was almost scared to be in that car.’
She scowled at him. What was his problem with her old car? There had been nothing wrong with it. Well, aside from the little things that didn’t work or were falling apart. Still, it got her where she needed to go, and she hadn’t had any real trouble with it before now. She shot her gaze back to Joey in time to see a twitch at the corner of his lips. He leaned back in his chair.
‘Finally, something we can agree on.’
Her frown deepened. Joey never liked her car either? Well, that was the first she was hearing of it. She glanced back at Taylor. He’d shifted a little, eyeing off Joey, a slightly confused look in his eyes.
‘That car wasn’t safe,’ Taylor said gruffly. ‘You shouldn’t have let her get it.’
Let her get it? Who was he to think he could tell Joey that he shouldn’t let her get anything? It was her choice, damn it. Her life. She could do what she damn well pleased. She huffed, leaning back in the chair, her arms across her chest. She glanced at Joey briefly before dropping her gaze to the coffee table. His eyes were shining. The bastard was enjoying this.
‘I agree,’ Joey said. ‘But she doesn’t consult me about these things. She should, but she doesn’t. Believe me, mate, I’d get her a new one if she’d let me.’
She huffed again. Boys. Did they even realise she was still there? And there was still that weird vibe going on between them. She rose to her feet, grabbed her beer, and stomped off. If they wanted to belt each other up, she wasn’t going to hang around to watch. Especially if they thought either of them got to decide things for her.
***
Tay watched Andie stomp off towards the kitchen and wondered why she hadn’t stayed. Sure, she probably wasn’t far off feeling the same way he was feeling about this Joey being back. Then again, she’d welcomed him with open arms and had even been excited to see him. He sipped his beer, focusing back on Joey. He seemed a nice enough guy. And although he had that urge to knock him out for hurting Andie—how, he may never know—there was just something about him that didn’t seem to fit the bill.
He didn’t seem like an abusive kind of guy, for starters, even though he had the whole tough-guy act going on. Tay knew it was just because he’d caught his ex in the arms of another man. Still … The guy seemed down to earth and reasonable enough. He wondered if it was Andie who’d done something to jeopardise the relationship. His thoughts drifted back to the time he’d been spending with her.
The way she’d purposefully tried to sabotage their first date. Her high-spiritedness. Her stubbornness. She could be a handful, for sure. And perhaps not everyone could handle that. He narrowed his eyes at Joey. He wanted to hate this guy. But somehow, he couldn’t. In fact, he had a better chance of seeing them both as friends rather than hating him. He frowned.
‘I’m not your mate,’ he forced out.
Joey nodded slowly, then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees once again. He spread his hands out. ‘You don’t trust me.’
‘No, I do not.’
He nodded again. ‘I respect that. She probably hasn’t told you much about me, has she?’
He felt his teeth clench. Hate him. Oh, he wanted to. But there was something in the way he spoke that made it difficult. It intrigued him. This guy didn’t seem jealous, when he probably had every reason to be. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was so much more to Andie than what he knew. Much more. Perhaps it was better this way.
‘No. Nothing at all.’
He smiled—smiled—and dropped his gaze to his hands. ‘Just like Andie,’ he muttered. ‘Look, I hate interrogating people. But you understand why I have to ask, right?’
Tay frowned. He didn’t quite get what J
oey was saying, but he thought he must mean the obvious—Joey was wondering who this guy was that Andie was hanging out with. Simple. Obvious. ‘We’re just friends.’ The weight in his stomach felt heavier. ‘Barely even friends,’ he added, almost as though trying to make himself feel better. Why didn’t that sound right? Andie couldn’t be his friend. No, not when he wanted more of her than what a friendship offered. But now … now all of that was out of the question.
‘Bull.’
‘What?’
Joey reached for his beer and took a sip. ‘I’m calling bull on that.’ He fixed a stern eye on Tay, and he braced himself.
If there was going to be a fight, he didn’t want to be caught off guard. It had been a while since he’d fought, but he was sure he could pull out his old tricks if needed. Tay put his beer down on the coffee table.
‘You can think what you want,’ he said flatly. ‘But nothing’s happened between us.’ Not really.
‘Bull.’
Tay’s hands balled, and his jaw clenched. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to hate this guy after all. ‘I said—’
‘How long have you been in love with my sister?’
Tay blinked.
His sister?
His mind ran rampant. Andie had a brother? God, no wonder she’d been so excited to see him. But she’d never mentioned a brother … He swallowed. He couldn’t blame her for not telling him. He’d never spoken about his family. But what was there to say? It was just him and Libby, and she’d already met Libby. His thoughts drifted back to the women he’d been with in recent years. None of them had known he even had a sister, but that was to keep her safe. To stop things from getting messy.
Maybe Andie was the same.
Maybe they were a lot more alike than he’d realised.
‘Well?’ Joey prompted.
He shook his head slowly, focusing back on the present. ‘Andie’s your sister?’
