“That was over ten years ago!” Ethan felt like he was about to lose his temper.
“Was it? Are you really done being those people? You can’t change for her. You can behave for a while, but in the end, the only people who can set you straight are yourselves.”
“Okay,” Jackson said, “philosophy session is over. We’re not idiots. We had our share of fun and messing things up, but she is too important to us to get caught up in what we used to be and holding grudges. You’re not the only ones who’ll lose her if or when she leaves.”
“That’s supposed to make us feel sorry for you?” Jason seemed to curl into himself. Instead of making it seem as if he was backing off, it made him seem bigger, more intense and focused. “She’s our flesh and blood.”
“And she’s the one for us!” Ethan shot back.
“We care about her,” Jackson said. “We always have. I’m sick and damn tired of this Chisholm-Stone bullshit.”
Jason sighed long and hard. “This isn’t about the feud. It’s about you proving you’re good enough for our sister.”
Ethan ground his teeth so hard his gums hurt. “You won’t let us.”
“Yeah, because you screwed up big time.”
Ethan nodded. “We want to make it right again. We had no idea back then about what that car meant to her. To all of you. We never would have touched it had we known. Now that we know, we want to fix it.”
“Give us that chance,” Jackson said.
Jason crossed his bazooka arms over his chest and glared at them. Okay, fine. He was a badass, and Ethan and Jackson had every right to fear he would kick their asses in less than two seconds apiece. “What exactly did you have in mind to convince her to stay?”
Ethan met Jason’s gaze with his own. “We were going to redo a classic Mustang for her to make up for the one we ruined ten years ago.”
“That’s the special plan? A car.” Seth scoffed.
“Hey. It all goes back to the car,” Jackson shot back.
They all shared a moment of male agreement on the subject. Then Jason opened his mouth again. “What makes you think it’s going to make her stay? It’s just a car, after all.”
“It’s more than that, and you know it. If we hadn’t been so damn reckless when we were younger, maybe all of us would have gotten along. Hell, we might not even be having this, um—”
“Girl talk,” Jackson supplied.
“—discussion,” Ethan finished, glaring at his brother. “We might be sitting at Cedar Ridge throwing back a few beers for all we know. We messed up, though, and here we are, back at square one.”
Jason appraised them with his blank stare, and Ethan felt a little itchy. He hated being scrutinized like that, but he would embrace the experience if it brought him one step closer to claiming Lily forever.
Ethan returned Jason’s unblinking stare for a few moments longer, and then Jason turned to Seth. “Devin Callahan is still doing his thing at the garage, right?”
Seth grunted. “Yeah. Last I checked.”
Jason and Seth looked at the two of them, and Ethan felt as if he could breathe a little easier.
“We won’t get in your way, then. Last I heard, Devin had a few old beauties just waiting to be dolled up.”
Jackson rubbed his palms together. “Just what I was waiting to hear.”
Chapter Six
After almost three weeks of sneaking around and made-up excuses of a very vague nature, the day had finally come. Today, Jackson and Ethan would unveil Lily’s surprise—a fully-restored Mustang much like the one they had destroyed almost a decade ago.
Jackson honestly did not know how they had gotten it all done. When they had driven up to Devin’s shop, he looked at them as if they were asking for his firstborn. He had scratched his unshaven jaw and stared at the ’65 Mustang Jackson and Ethan had selected. “I’ll have to call in a few favors, but I can do it. She’ll be beautiful.”
Jackson had agreed with the statement, but for more reasons than one. While Devin Callahan had his fair share of the ladies, especially the ones he shared with his brother, Cole, the sheriff, the one complaint their women always uttered was that Devin had more love for his cars than he did for them.
As he had looked at the other man, Jackson had to admit that was the truth. Devin was a good enough mechanic to be on one of those TV shows dedicated to restoring old cars to at least mint condition or better. It took a lot of research, a lot of know-how, and ultimately, a lot of passion. After Devin had given them a tour of the garage he owned, Jackson had to admit that what Devin did to those cars was an art form. And that wasn’t just his male side talking.
Now, looking at the work Devin and his crew, along with Jackson and Ethan pitching in, had done, Jackson let out a low whistle. “Man, Ethan. I might be having second thoughts. I want to keep her for myself.”
Ethan ran his hand over the hood. “She is pretty.”
“So we can keep her?”
Ethan shook his head in dismay. “I knew it. I knew it. I had this sneaking suspicion you would want to commandeer the car.”
“Commandeer? Moi? I would never do such a thing.”
“Right.” Ethan scoffed. “You’re just saying that because you’re not quite sure what it means.”
“Insults to my intelligence don’t count anymore. You used them all up when we were kids.”
“Either way, you can’t have the car. It’s Lily’s.”
“If we were giving it to anyone but her, I think I’d have to pout.” Jackson stepped back and admired the Mustang even more. “Lily’s going to love her.”
Ethan grinned. “Yeah. She will.” He went quiet for a moment as he walked around the perimeter of the car. Contemplative quiet.
“What?”
“Nothing, Jackson.” Ethan stopped when he neared him. “It’s just that I was thinking how much Lily fits the car.”
Jackson thought about her long, toned legs and the way her shorts hugged her ass. Mmm, her ass. One of his favorite places in the world to be. But lately he started realizing that his favorite place to be was having Lily tucked into his side after sex when she was damp with her sweat and the scent of their lovemaking stuck to her skin. He loved pressing his nose against the back of her neck and inhaling her deep and slow. It was almost as if he were taking her inside himself. In those moments, everything was right. There was world peace, the birds chirped outside the windows, and gum drops grew on the front lawn. It was like a Prius commercial in his mind.
And then she would snuggle into his arms as if she did not want to leave, and his heart would clench to the point of pain. He exerted enough control not to rub the spot, but the sensation grew more intense with the passing days. He really needed to see a doctor about it. He was approaching the heart-attack age, right? That meant he needed to give up drinking, whoring, and fast food. Now that he and Ethan had Lily, the first two were a no-brainer. He still needed a little wiggle room on the last one.
“Uh, Jackson?” His twin waved a hand in front of Jackson’s face. “You there?”
“Yes. Stop waving that thing around like it’s a weapon. I was just thinking about Lily. You’re right about the car thing. She’s classic. And she’s tough. And there’s something eternal in her lines and curves—something that makes me look twice every time.”
“Are we talking about Lily or the car?” Ethan asked, but his eyes held a deep understanding that unnerved Jackson a little.
When he and Ethan were younger, Jackson had called it “the Ethan look.” He honestly did not know how his twin knew practically everything about everyone, but he did. Ethan had powers of observation Jackson lacked, and there were times, when he was straightforward with himself, that Jackson felt cheated. Ethan and Lily had this connection, this invisible, sparkly rope that tied them together. Ethan was intelligent, solid, and strong—exactly what Lily needed to ground herself. She was creative, and creative people needed some solidity in their lives.
What did he, Jackson the asshole twin, hav
e to offer? A smart-ass attitude and some mad bedroom skills? Sure, that kept women enamored for a while, but Lily was not like the other women. She was much, much more, and he wondered if he was enough.
“I’m talking about Lily,” Jackson responded.
Ethan regarded him long and hard, and Jackson swallowed. “She’s going to love it. How could she not?”
“I dunno. Should we get her some flowers? She is a woman, after all. They like that sort of thing.”
“Nah. She’s going to love it. I know it.”
Jackson shrugged. “If you say so.” He tried to play off the serious tone in his voice. “Let’s go show it to her. I get dibs on driving it.”
“You know, sometimes, I have no idea what goes on in your mind.”
“I’m pretty sure you do. You always do.”
“Not lately. Something’s been bothering you for a while now, and it has nothing to do with the letter or New York.”
Ethan was so on target it pissed Jackson off. “If I need a shrink, I’ll pay for one.”
“Save it. I know something is bothering you, and I want to know what it is before we go over to see Lily. I’m not going to have you ruin our surprise with one of your moods.”
“I do not have moods. Men do not have moods.”
Ethan eyed him and lifted his brows. “Now you’re avoiding the subject. Classic Jackson maneuver.”
“So I have maneuvers? When did this happen?”
“You’ve always been like that—being a smart-ass to cover up when you’re upset about something.”
“I’m not upset. I was just thinking about something that wasn’t palatable.”
“You must really be upset,” Ethan said. “You just used the word palatable.”
Jackson scratched the back of his head. “I was thinking about Lily and the car and what it all means.” At Ethan’s silent urging, he continued, “What happens after this? When she is so wowed by this gesture that she—hopefully—decides to stay? How does this work?”
“Just like it does for Mom and Dads.”
“Mom has a special relationship with all of them…” Jackson kicked at the ground and thought for a moment. “Lily, I get. Her and you, I get. Me? What do I have to give her?”
Jackson felt Ethan’s shock as if it were his own.
“Where did you get that idea?”
“The two of you have this connection. You knew for years that she was it, and you never lost sight of her after all that time. You never gave up, no matter what happened—her brothers, the letter, all of it. All I got is a temper and a really low recovery time after sex,” he grumbled.
Ethan looked at him then burst out laughing. “Jackson, you really need to get your head on straight.” His blue eyes danced with so much humor that Jackson found himself cracking a smile. “If you haven’t noticed, she asks for you just as much as she does me. She’s just less vocal about it because you’re such a stubborn ass.”
That stung. “Yeah, thanks for the support.” He started to turn on his heel when Ethan spoke up.
“I didn’t mean it that way, man. Come on.”
Jackson faced his brother. “And you’re calling me the ass.”
“Stubborn ass,” Ethan corrected, “and you didn’t let me finish. She hates to admit it, but she follows our lead when it comes to opening up. She thinks she’s in control of it all, but she’s still holding back a little. I don’t know why, but she is. Then she sees you hesitating over showing her how you feel, and she hesitates, too. Watching the two of you can be exhausting.”
“So first I’m an ass then I’m a sideshow at the circus.”
“Pretty much.” Ethan snatched the keys to the Mustang out of Jackson’s hand. “Just let yourself feel what you feel for her without shying away from it,” Ethan said over his shoulder as he rounded the hood of the car and opened the driver’s side door. “Then she will, too.” Jackson started after his brother, but all he really saw was Lily. “She’s waiting, Jackson.”
He walked to the passenger’s side door and swung it open. “Then let’s not keep her waiting.”
* * * *
Lily stood in her workroom comparing color swatches. She held them out in front of her and tilted her head from side to side as if holding her head at a certain angle would gift her with the knowledge she sought. It was useless. Those two had promised to pick her up and take her to LiebFest, which was one of her favorite things, but they were running late.
In fact, they had been acting strangely for the past few days. They would try to keep her distracted, but she was not stupid. She knew their tricks. The one they employed the most was the one-on-one strategy, which included one of them trying to butter her up—or distract her—while the other one snuck off to answer a phone call. They would also pull stunts like they did today and show up late.
What in the hell is going on?
Of course, her first thought was that they were having an affair with one of their ex-bimbos. Then she thought better of it. Jackson and Ethan would have disappeared permanently if her brothers found out about any behavior of that sort, and Jason had an uncanny way of sniffing out information. So that hypothesis went out the window. Which left her the only answer—they were trying to distance themselves from her before she left.
She picked up a silk teal color sample and held it in front of her face as if it held all the answers to her predicament. She understood why they would want to slow things down between them, but it still hurt, especially when she thought they had been living in an absolute state of bliss. Her brothers had better not have been right when they said Jackson and Ethan were not the permanent-relationship types of men.
“Stuck on colors again?” Ethan asked, shocking her out of her thoughts.
She spun around. “Jesus, you scared me. I didn’t even hear you come in.”
Her heart did that hummingbird wings thing in her chest when they walked into the room. Spaces seemed so occupied when Jackson and Ethan were near. They took up any extra room with how aware she was of them, with how vital they were to her. She could pick out almost every nuance of their behavior now. How Jackson tended to stand with an overly comfortable posture to make it seem as if he did not care about what was going on. How Ethan made it a habit to make sure his stance never closed Jackson out of the room or conversation.
Looking at them now, she had to force herself to concentrate on forming words. She loved the shirt Jackson wore today—a red-white-and-blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It showed off his muscular forearms and the sprinkling of blond hair there. She flicked her gaze over to Ethan and loved the way he filled out his dove-gray T-shirt. It was just the right shade to bring out the flecks of gold in his tan skin.
It was such a treat to look at them, especially like this, toward the end of the day, when their blond facial hair grew back just the perfect amount so that she envisioned the way it would feel against the insides of her thighs.
Jackson straightened. “Is that a blush I see?”
“What? No.” Lily blinked, trying to think of something more intelligible to say.
“Yep. It’s definitely a blush. Look at that, Ethan,” Jackson said as he moved toward her. “Such a pretty pink.”
“It’s almost as pretty as the pink she flushes when we’re finished with her.” Ethan walked alongside Jackson, and together they formed a six-foot wall of solid male flesh and broad shoulders. “What were you thinking about that was so interesting?” he asked before he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck.
“Mmm,” she responded. She set the swatches aside then turned in Ethan’s loose grip and rose up on her toes. “Hey, a girl’s got the right to her privacy.” She pressed her lips against his and savored the way his lips fit so perfectly to hers. When she pulled away, his smile was lazy and all-knowing, and his eyes danced. He looked happy, almost excited.
“Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better.”
“You sweet talker,” Jackson said.
/> Lily snickered and turned to face him. “Says you.”
“Since I wrote the book on it, I figured I can call him out when it gets too sappy.” Jackson gave her a cocky half-smile, and her stomach tightened right behind her belly button.
“Don’t you start getting cockier on me now, Jackson Stone. You might not want to see the ways I’ve already thought up to punish you.” She reached down and undid her little tool belt and laid it on the work table.
Jackson’s jade gaze followed her every movement then snapped back to her face. “Oh, babe, you already are. I love the way that tool belt looks riding your ass.” As if to prove his point, he cupped her within his big-palmed grip. “All I can think about when you strut around with it on is how you would look with it strapped to your waist while you’re naked. Mmm-mmm-mmm, I’ve had a few fantasies about that.”
She shook her head. “And all this time I thought you got to work early because you wanted to help out.”
Jackson leaned down and kissed her, quick and hot. “So naïve.”
Even after all the kisses they had shared, he still made her blood run hot. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jackson looked from her to Ethan, and something passed between the two of them she still had yet to learn to interpret. When his gaze settled on her once more, Jackson looked uncharacteristically unsure of himself. “You ready to go?” Jackson cleared his throat. “To LiebFest, I mean.”
She backed away from Jackson enough so that she could not feel his body heat and surveyed them. Peculiar. Very peculiar, indeed. If she did not know any better, she would suspect that they were a little…nervous. A little sweaty around the hairlines and shifty in the feet.
“What did you two do now?”
They looked at each other, at her, then each other again, wearing twin expressions of amusement and confusion.
“What do you mean?” Ethan asked.
She gestured at them. “The two of you are acting strangely.”
“Define strangely,” Jackson said.
“Oh, you know what I mean. Sneaking around, trying to distract me…Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
Mitchell, Ava and Holiday, Sydney - Corralling the Stones, Part 2: The Taming [Liebling, Texas 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 8
