by Tamsin Baker
“Don’t be silly. You’re doing me a favor really. It’ll stop Jack worrying about the house.”
They approached the lounge in the now quiet house, and as they stepped through the door way Kane and Jack got to their feet, beers in hand.
“Sam…” Kane approached her, and Sam put her hand out in front of her body to stop him from progressing forward. She needed some time to think before they went any further, and the last thing she needed was this gorgeous man and his knee melting kisses making her blur the line of morality even further.
“Kane, stop please. I have a throbbing headache and really need to get to bed early.”
Kane stopped abruptly and glanced outside at the evening sunshine. “It’s still pretty early.”
He gave her a lopsided smile, and she couldn’t help her mirrored response, her lips tugging up and causing her to look away. His desire to be with her was lovely. She’d never thought a man this gorgeous and obviously intelligent would pursue her like he was. Despite her best intentions, she was very flattered.
“I know, but I’ll have a bath, relax a bit, and go to bed early. Can we continue our conversation tomorrow?”
Kane nodded with jerky motions, his mouth thinning and his brow furrowing with deep worry lines. Her fingers itched to reach out and touch him, reassure him and wipe that frown away. But she couldn’t, not yet, and the fact that she desired to do such a thing made her question her own sanity. She barely knew the man.
“Of course, Sam. Whatever you want. We’re not going anywhere. Should Reid and I come by tomorrow, or do you want to meet us somewhere?”
She appreciated his offer, more than she could voice. He was letting her have the time she needed, reassuring her he still wanted her, and then giving her the choice of where to meet so that she was comfortable. Wow, she hadn’t thought that considerate guys really existed outside the movies and books.
“Here, if you want. We can have a chat, then go out for lunch or something?”
She almost called the words back, unable to believe she’d just invited them to an empty house she was staying in. That was until he gave her a huge smile, full of sunshine and happiness. She’d say almost anything to have Kane look at her like that again.
“That’d be great, Sam. See you tomorrow.”
He moved forward, pushing aside her out stretched hand and pressed his lips to hers, the sensual heat of his kiss melting through her and making her knees tremble with the weight of her sagging body.
When he pulled back he stared at her for a moment, his brown eyes communicating volumes to her. He wanted to stay, but he’d go. For her.
She wanted to fall into those eyes and never leave.
He stepped back, and she had to press her lips together hard to stop the words that would make him come back to her. She was drawn to Kane in the strongest way, and it took all her strength not to give up her need for the night alone, and invite him to stay.
“Thanks.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Ash, hoping her cousin would understand. Ash stared at her for a moment then moved forward, touching Jack gently on the shoulder.
“Thanks so much for coming, Kane. You wanna walk him out, Jack? And I’ll find some painkillers for Sam.”
The men disappeared, and Sam let her arms fall, a huge sigh leaving her body in a release of tension.
“Argh, what am I doing?” She shook out her hands and bounced on her toes.
Ash laughed, handing her a glass of water and a couple of white pills.
“Take these, make your phone call, and go to bed. Your life is about to change forever.”
Sam groaned and snatched at the pills, downing the painkillers and swallowing the water.
You better not mean that literally, Ash. I’m not sure I’m ready for that.
She grabbed her cousin, pulling Ash into her arms and hugging her tight. “Have an amazing time.”
Ash squeezed her back, her slightly taller body and ample curves making the cuddle a little obscene, and Sam laughed as she pulled back. “I love you. I’ll talk to you soon, yeah?”
Ash laughed and nodded. “Absolutely, and you know Laura’s just around the corner if you need her.”
Sam smiled once more and turned, walking through the lounge, down the hall and into her bedroom. “Oh fuck.”
She still needed to get all of her belongings out of the back seat. She groaned and turned back, trudging out to her car and pulled out her toiletries and clothes, then settling herself into her new room with small movements.
Her brain was vaguely numb, and the inane tasks soothed her.
Finally she was all ready, her bath run and topped with white foamy bubbles. Her breath hitched in her throat as she reached for her cell phone. It was time to make this right.
Even if she didn't choose to be with Reid and Kane, she still had to break up with Bill.
If she had really been in love with him, then she would never have kissed Kane, nor would she be considering this new relationship at all with Kane and his huge twin, Reid. A shiver rippled up her spine, and she gasped as goosebumps rose on the skin of her forearms. Reid was dangerous, to her heart and to her sanity. That man had an intensity about him that was addictive, not to mention his physical beauty.
She shook her head, marveling at the things that she was actually considering today that she would never have even put into the basket of possibilities yesterday. She flicked open her phone and made the call that would close one door and maybe open another.
Her belly flipped inside her like she was on a rollercoaster, jerking and rolling. This was the part she dreaded when she started relationships. The messy end.
Sam’s fingers trembled as she picked up the phone and opened the screen. She was doing the right thing, she really was. She just had to convince Bill of that.
Her pointer finger hovered over his name in her dial list as her belly dropped even further with a lurch. Her boyfriend of just over a year had a temper, and she wasn’t sure she could handle hearing it after the huge weekend she’d had already.
“Damn it, just do it.”
She pressed his name before she could chicken out and put the phone to her ear, sliding to the edge of the chair she sat upon and jiggling her legs.
“Hey, stranger, where’ve you been?” Bill’s slightly accusing tone came through clear as a bell despite the jovial laugh he added on the end of the line.
“Hey, Bill. Just been busy with the wedding and catching up with my cousins. How’s your weekend going?”
He grunted. “Not bad. Went out last night with the boys and just doing some paperwork catch up now.”
That was one of the things she wouldn’t miss about Bill. His need to drink with the boys on a weekly basis, if not twice a week. Fine when you’re twenty-one, but when you’re pushing thirty-five, it would be nice if it wasn’t such a necessity.
“I have to talk to you about something, Bill. Do you have a minute now?”
Her knees moved faster as she shuffled around on her seat, her belly twisting into knots.
“Yeah, ‘course I do. What’s up? Sounds serious.”
Sam took a deep breath and shot to her feet, needing to move while she talked.
“It is serious, unfortunately. I’ve done a lot of thinking lately, and with Ash getting married this weekend, it has really put everything into perspective for me with what I want out of life.”
She paced the room twice while waiting for Bill to say something. There was only silence at the end of the line.
“Bill?”
“I’m listening, but you sound like you need to say more.”
There was a hard tone in his voice now, and Sam’s belly did another flip. She hated hurting anyone, especially someone she cared about, and she didn’t know what Bill was going to say next. He could get nasty when he wanted to.
“I’m so sorry, Bill, but I think we need to break up. It’s been a great year, but I really don’t think that we suit each other enoug
h to continue on with the relationship.”
Silence again, and this time she waited. She breathed out slowly. She’d said what needed to be said. Now it was his turn.
“Have you found someone else?”
Oh crap. How was she meant to answer that? Honesty was the best policy in theory, but now that she being tested, her throat tightened up at the thought of admitting what she’d done. The last thing she wanted was for Bill to know what was going on for her at the moment.
“Technically no, not one guy…” Yeah, that was kinda the truth. “It’s more the fact that I feel like I’m open for meeting new people and finding love. I shouldn’t feel that way if I really was in love with you. So, I’m so sorry to do this to you over the phone, but I’m going to stay with Laura for a week and do some more soul searching and see how I go.”
“Well, if you just need some time to sort yourself out, then do that. We can talk about us when you get back.”
No, she didn’t want that. She needed time with Kane and Reid without worrying about cheating on someone she didn’t really want.
“No, I think it’s best that we end it now, Bill. You and I both know that we don’t really suit each other.”
“That’s not true. I took you to meet my parents last month. I don’t do that with women that I’m not serious about.”
Sam clenched her teeth and tried not to puff out her nose. His parents were the most unwelcoming, cold creatures she’d ever met, and the last thing she wanted was to have them as in-laws. “I was very flattered you took me to meet your parents, Bill, but I don’t see any future for us.”
“But I love you! I told you that.”
Muttered words during mediocre sex were not what she considered a declaration of love. “Please, Bill, stop.” Have some dignity, for goodness’ sakes. “We can talk about it when I get home if you want, but I needed you to know as soon as possible what I had decided.”
“What? That I’m not good enough for you? What’s the rush, Sam? Panting to jump into bed with some guy and don’t want the guilt of knowing I’m here, waiting for you?”
That barb hit so close to home that it splintered right around her heart, and pain shot through her chest. “I’m so sorry, Bill. I never meant to hurt you, but I have to be honest.”
Tears stung her eyes, and she gulped down the lump that rose in her throat.
“Honest? You’re lying about something, Sam, I know you. Have you been fucking around on me the whole time? Or just now?”
Her? She’d barely looked at another guy when they’d been going out.
“I have to go, Bill.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she wiped them away.
“You owe me a real explanation, Sam. We’ve been together for over a year, and now you’re telling me that it was all just a waste of time?”
“No, of course it wasn’t. We had a great time together, but…”
“Yeah, so great you want to end it. What the fuck’s really going on, Sam?”
A sob rose, and she sniffed as her nose began to run. She took a breath and said the last sentence she could manage. “I have to go, Bill. Goodbye.”
She hung up amidst noises of anger from him. She didn’t want to listen anymore.
Her knees shook, and she fell back into a large armchair, crying out as the pain thumped her in the chest. She’d known Bill wasn’t perfect, nowhere near it. He wasn’t even “perfect for her”, as she’d always hoped she’d find in some other imperfect person. But it still stung that he’d been so mean to her when she’d done nothing wrong … or had she? She gulped and reached for a tissue, wiping away the tears on her cheeks and blowing her nose.
She had done something wrong, and she had to live with that.
She believed in karma, so she hoped these two men, this Perfect Pair, were her karma. For being a good person in the past, and they weren’t just another tool for punishing her for not being quite good enough.
Chapter Eight
Reid paced the sidewalk, his feet making a screeching sound every time he made an abrupt turn on the concrete. He swiveled again, and the noise made him flinch, the hairs on his spine sticking up in protest.
“Would you just relax, please?” Kane asked him as he stepped out of the motel, his psychologist voice in full flight.
Reid clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together in an audible way.
“I. Don't. Want. This.”
He couldn't begin to articulate how he was feeling. Hot depths of anger and frustration with excitement and fear thrown in. He didn’t want to feel like this, and hadn’t felt anything like it in so long his head was spinning with the sensations. It was a sickening combination that made his heart pound and his jaw clench tight together.
“You are going to give Sam a chance, Reid. We talked about this last night.”
Reid glared at his brother as Kane made his way around the car and climbed in the driver’s side as though he owned the world. How could his brother feel so confident?
“True, but that doesn’t mean I like it.” They had talked about it, but that didn't mean Reid liked what his brother was making him do, nor did he agree with his twin’s assessment of the situation. He didn’t want to talk to Sam, nor did he want to get to know her.
“I still can’t believe you called me on a promise I made you a decade ago.”
Kane chuckled. “You owe me a life, Reid. I’m your brother, and I think that should be enough, but since you are being so bloody stubborn, I’m calling in my favor. Do this for me. I need it. Help me.”
Reid glanced away, uncomfortable with his brother’s begging. A long time ago Kane had saved his life, literally. He’d had a bad car accident driving home from football one night and sliced open his femoral artery. Despite his strong healing shifter genes, he’d been bleeding out before his own eyes.
Kane had sensed his pain, found him, and gotten him to the hospital in the nick of time. He owed his brother, big time. But that didn’t mean he was going to just take on a new wife for his brother’s sake. There was no bloody way.
But he’d speak to her, give Kane the chance to find out for sure.
“All right. I’ll behave. Although I don’t know why you need me. You could talk to her alone.”
Yeah right. As if a Perfect Pair would be any good on their own.
Reid heaved a huge sigh. If Kane was right and they’d been wrong in thinking Amanda was their true mate, it would be like finding out there wasn’t a God. It would turn his whole world on its head. His whole life, all his beliefs, they were based on what the elders had told him. He’d given his heart to Amanda, and he wasn't sure there was enough left in him to love another.
Kane beeped the car’s horn, and Reid let loose a growl, the sound ripping through his stale vocal cords like a knife through week old bread.
Shit! What was that?
He could growl again, could he? No way. He hadn’t made a shifter noise since Amanda died. What was happening to him?
Fucking hell, I’m going to die any time now, aren’t I? How am I growling again?
His heart was pounding, and his shoulders were bunched. His body was readying itself for a fight—but with whom? He let out a long breath and let his shoulders sag. Enough had been said last night and Reid’s hand still ached as a reminder of the uppercut he'd given his brother yesterday.
The bastard had been right. Amanda hadn’t been perfect, but God, he’d loved her.
“Get in the car.”
Kane’s tone made him want to sit on the pavement like a five year old child. Just to spite him. But he owed his brother this favor, so instead he contented himself with glaring at his twin one more time and then stomped over to the car. He opened the passenger door and slid in, adding lots of huffing and puffing for good measure.
Kane gave Reid a sideways roll of the eyes and started the car.
“Kane…”
His brother pulled the car out onto the road and ignored him, not that Reid had any idea what else he wa
s going to say. He’d exhausted every argument possible last night with his brother. They’d fought for hours over the possibilities, and despite Kane having to use his biggest card on Reid to make him agree, one point sat like a stone in his gut. The electricity of her touch had been undeniable, the attraction he felt for her beautiful face, unlike anything he’d ever known.
How was any of this possible?
They drove for a while in silence, then pulled up outside Ash’s house.
Reid frowned, confused. Why were they here? “She’s staying in Jack and Scott’s house?”
“Yeah, they invited her to house-sit while she’s here and they’re on their honeymoon.”
Reid stared up at the beautiful house his cousins had built for their bride. The family crest was carved into the ornate door.
“She’s never going to be able to handle us, Kane, you know that right? Not everything. The scars, the shifter blood, and the ménage.” It was too much for any human. Not for Amanda, she’d been amazing, seeing all the benefits to having two husbands from the minute they’d offered it to her.
He frowned at the memory. He’d never thought about it before. How quickly she’d jumped at two salaries, two lovers.
He shook his head and clamped down on his teeth. He was being stupid now, picking fault where there was none.
Don’t let Kane get into your head.
Kane turned off the car, seemingly undisturbed by the situation. That attitude was getting on his nerves. Why wasn’t his brother more worried about what was going to happen to them?
“Reid, she’s Laura and Ashleigh’s cousin. If that isn’t saying something about the bloodlines in that family suiting us, I don’t know what does.” Reid opened his mouth to deny any link, but Kane held up his hand and continued. “I’m not sure if I believe anything anymore, brother, except the impossible truth that you and I are alive and well. So let’s get in there.”
Kane opened the door and got out, slamming it shut once again and leaving Reid alone.
