by Hadley Quinn
“Oh, nice to see you too,” Teague scoffed as he forfeited his son.
Kellie only smiled but kissed on baby Camden’s face as she held him to her chest. “Hi, my sweet little cousin,” she cooed. “I’ve missed you.”
“He missed you, too,” Teague told her. “In fact, he missed you so much he told me he wanted you to change his diaper.”
Kenton and Gage laughed, but Kellie shrugged and said, “No problem.”
She made her way into the house for the baby’s room, but hugged Camryn and Melanie on her way by the kitchen. They were arranging food for the barbecue, but Camryn held out her arms and said, “Oh if he needs changed, I’ll take him.”
“Hell no,” Kellie chuckled. “You carry on, I got it handled.”
“Okay,” she smiled.
“Hey, we need to talk,” Jay said as he came through the back door.
“Talk about what?” Kellie asked when she realized he was looking right at her and he sure as hell didn’t look very happy.
“Oh shit,” she heard Melanie murmur under her breath.
“Hey, you better not burn my steaks,” Camryn narrowed her eyes at him, pointing outside. “Go back and man the grill.” Obviously she was trying to redirect Jay, and Kellie was fully aware that something was up.
“Teague has it covered now,” he answered without even looking at her. He was still staring at his sister.
Kellie turned for the hall but her brother followed her into the baby’s room. Camden—whose full name was Camden James McCallan and often called C.J. for short—was only six weeks old. He had Teague’s dark hair and his mama’s pretty lips and chin. He was one of the cutest babies you would ever see.
“I’m kinda busy,” she said. She did not like the look on Jay’s face, and knowing her brother, he didn’t give a fuck.
“Tough shit,” he answered. “You can change a diaper and answer a few questions at the same time.”
“No I can’t. I guess you have to take away my girl card for my inability to multi-task.”
“So I happened to drive by your apartment yesterday when I was headed to meet Teague at the studios,” he stated, moving the subject along.
She’d just removed C.J.’s diaper but paused for a few seconds. “So?”
“So you’re either driving Brandon’s truck these days, or he’s been fucking my sister. Which is it?”
Leave it to Jay to get straight to the point. “It’s really none of your business.”
“Uh, yeah, it is my business, Kell. It’s my right as your brother. Now answer the damn question.”
“We’re just friends,” she glared at him. “And you have no right to get in my business all the time just because you feel like it. You know he’s a good guy, so why do you even care?”
“So you are sleeping with him,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “So he’s been going behind my back to screw my sister and doesn’t have the balls to tell me to my face?”
“Jay,” Kellie growled. “We are friends. That’s all. Leave him the hell alone.”
Camryn came into the room just as Kellie realized that the baby had been squawking on the changing table. The poor guy was still lying there naked and neglected.
“God, I’m so sorry,” Kellie sighed, pressing her palm to her forehead. She was beginning to get a headache.
“It’s okay,” Camryn smiled as she quickly wiped him clean and put a diaper on him. “I got it, go talk.”
“No, I’d rather not,” Kellie growled as she brushed past her brother and out the door.
“How long has this been going on?” Jay asked, practically on her heels.
Kellie turned abruptly and smacked Jay in the chest with her hand. “None of your damn business! We’re just friends!”
“Right,” he scoffed. “I’ll believe that when I grow a second dick.”
“Oh my God,” Kellie rolled her eyes. “You can believe whatever you want, but we’re just friends because I’m already seeing someone else.”
His eyes bore into hers, and that oh-shit-what-have-I-done feeling spread through her body almost immediately.
“Who?” he demanded in a low voice.
She didn’t know what would have been worse: admitting that she was casually sleeping with Brandon or was in an actual relationship with someone else. Either way she couldn’t win with Jay, but she hated lying to him.
“No one you know.” She turned and walked away.
“Then tell me his name,” he said as he followed her again.
This was never going to end, and going by past experience, Kellie needed to lessen the potential damage for Brandon’s sake. “Tate,” she answered without thinking.
“Tate who?” Jay asked. “If you’re seeing a guy named Tate, I wanna meet him.”
Kellie stopped dead in her tracks after they rounded the corner for the kitchen. Not only was Melanie still in there, now holding baby Cade, but so were Sarah and Tyse, and Kellie didn’t miss the surprise on Sarah’s face. Tate was the first name that came to mind, but he was also the brother of Sarah’s best friend. Of course she was here right at that very moment to hear that she was magically in a relationship with him despite his knowledge.
And hopefully Sarah caught her silent plea to keep quiet.
“What’s his last name?” Jay demanded again.
“Holy shit, would you shut up!?” Kellie yelled at him. “It’s seriously none of your damn business!”
“I only want to know who you’re with!” he shouted back. “God, Kellie, why can’t you understand that? I want you safe!”
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She understood why Jay was so protective of her, but she couldn’t handle the fighting every time it came to something like this. If it wasn’t her grandfather’s interference, trying to push her together with someone of status, it was her brother’s protectiveness when she dated an “unknown.”
“I’ll let you know if I need rescuing,” she answered bitterly. “And maybe if you weren’t such an asshole, I wouldn’t mind introducing you to my friends now and then.”
“I’m an asshole? Because I care?”
“It’s fine that you care, but try to do it with more tact.”
“Tact?” he scoffed loudly.
Then he laughed, but Kellie could tell he was pissed. This family barbecue wasn’t going to be a pleasant one if she and Jay were at each other’s throats the entire time.
“What the hell is going on?” Teague broke the silence. Everyone turned at once to see him standing in the open sliding glass door with a plate of steaks.
“Nothing,” Kellie sighed.
She automatically reached for the bowl of potato salad and carried it out to the deck, and after the girls brought the rest of the food out, thankfully the evening’s mood changed.
Family, friends, and food… You couldn’t get much better than that—even when you wanted to strangle one of them.
Chapter Three
“Oh lord, please tell me you’re done,” another whimpered plea came. She was on her stomach with her face pressed into her arms, and her body was still clenched tightly from distress.
“Hang in there,” Tate answered coolly.
He’d wanted to be quicker than that to get her the hell out, but refused to compromise his talent. He listened to her ragged breathing for another couple of minutes before he finished up.
“Done,” he announced, sliding his stool away from the table.
She let out a shaky breath of air. “I never knew ninety minutes could be so long. How do people get so many tattoos?”
He helped her off the table as she kept her front covered with a towel and guided her to the full-length mirror. He handed her a smaller mirror to hold so she could check out her new ink on the back of her shoulder.
“It becomes an addiction for some,” he answered as she peered into the mirror to look at her back.
“Oh my gosh, that looks… That’s even better than I imagined it,” she smiled.
He would
have asked how the hell she actually imagined it since he did it exactly how he’d drawn it up for her, but he knew most people were just surprised by how a tattoo looks on their own skin.
“You feeling okay?” he asked as he cleaned up his workspace.
“Well, it hurts,” she laughed. “But I can manage.”
Tate was about to go through the list of care and maintenance, dos and don’ts, but Lila came into the room and the look on her face was…confusing.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
She blinked a couple of times before shaking her head. “Um, nothing. Maybe. There’s just someone here to see you. Someone…important,” she emphasized, jerking her head toward the door repeatedly.
He had no one “important” in his life that would visit him at work without letting him know—Rayne always texted him before she’d drop by—so Tate didn’t know who the hell she was talking about. And Lila certainly wouldn’t be acting so bizarre if his sister had stopped by since the two were good friends.
“I’ll finish up here,” Lila said, and she literally shoved him toward the door.
“What the—?”
“Just…go.”
He left the room, shaking his head, but made his way to the lobby. The only person in there was a guy he didn’t know, leaning against the wall near the door. Tate’s first impression was that he didn’t look too happy, and then his second thought was what the hell trouble did he get himself into to have some chick’s boyfriend come after him. He never put himself in those situations anymore, so he wasn’t sure why it even crossed his mind, but maybe he had a disgruntled client somehow?
“You’re Tate?” the dude asked, glancing him over.
For some reason he looked familiar, and Tate had to scramble to figure out why. But he just nodded his head and answered, “Yeah, I’m Tate. And you are…?”
The guy came across the room and stood in front of him. They were about the same height and build and he looked badass as fuck, so if there was going to be some kind of altercation here, Tate could only assume it was going to be a good one.
“I’m Jay, Kellie’s brother,” he answered.
Jay. Kellie. He had to take a few seconds to make the connection after he finally recognized who this guy was. He’d never caught what Kellie’s last name was—Rayne hadn’t mentioned one—but it didn’t even occur to him that she was a McCallan. Thinking back, maybe he had seen her face in the news, but not for quite a long time.
“Uh, okay. Nice to meet you,” Tate finally said, trying to allow the information to catch up to him. “Can I help you with something?”
Jay shook his head. “Nah, just thought I could help you out with something, man.”
Tate studied him for a second, sensing some kind of threat barely hiding underneath his tone.
“Well, okay, and what’s that?” he asked as he folded his arms across his chest. He’d go along with it for now.
“Just wanted to introduce myself, if you know what I mean. She’s the only sister I have and she means the world to me. Got it?”
Tate assessed the situation for a moment. He was so confused, but if Jay McCallan was coming here to threaten him, he was also completely fascinated. He never saw this coming but was totally game.
“That’s cool,” he replied. “So you approve her tattoo artists for her? Take her to the dentist? Screen potential hairstylists? Interview the gynecologist? Make her dates fill out a résumé?”
A sarcastic smile spread on Jay’s face. “Ah, a funny guy,” he nodded. “You haven’t slipped through the approval process, trust me.”
“Approval process? And what am I being approved for? She hasn’t even come back in here, so I don’t know why you’re on my ass. I’ve seen her once, and that was over a month ago. I figured she found someone else to do her ink.”
The smile disappeared from Jay’s face. “What do you mean? You mean you two…?” He shook his head and scoffed as he stared across the room, but then he smiled again like he’d realized something crucial. He rubbed a hand over his face and said, “Okay, message received.”
“Hey, I’m not sending any sort of message, I’m just—”
“No, not you, my sister,” Jay cut in. He sighed and turned for the exit. “Sorry to waste your time.”
Tate felt the weight of indecision as he watched him reach for the door. Maybe this was a spoon-fed opportunity that he didn’t know he needed. Kellie’s face and sassy attitude had never left his thoughts. He’d pretty much concluded that it had been the last he’d seen of her, and that hadn’t settled right. Now her brother was in his tattoo parlor?
“Hey, is that your ‘Cuda?” he asked, glancing out the window. It was a gorgeous car—’71 Barracuda with a custom paint job and the engine cut through the hood.
“Yeah, it is,” Jay nodded. “Just finished her up yesterday.”
“You selling or keeping?”
“Mmm, most likely selling,” he barely smiled. “My fiancée would probably prefer I didn’t bring home another one.”
“Ha, nice. I’ve got a project I’ve been at for a couple of years now. I just don’t have time like I wish I did.”
“You thinking about selling it, then? Whatcha got?”
Tate paused for a couple of seconds, but only so his pride could have a moment of silence. “Sixty-seven Shelby Fastback.”
The car guru obviously approved.
“Sweeeeet,” Jay lightly laughed. “I gotta see it sometime. Is it in good shape or does it need a lot of work?”
“It’s a gorgeous car, I just need to clean it up a bit and repaint it. I only live a couple miles away if you wanna see it sometime.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Now?” Tate chuckled. He glanced at the clock just as his last client came out of the back room with Lila. Both of them were staring at Jay, obviously aware of who he was, and before either of them could make a scene over it, he headed for the door and said, “Lila, I’m taking my lunch break.”
Jay followed him out but was laughing as they headed for his car. “Thanks for the intervention, but it’s not a big deal. I coulda handled it.”
“You don’t know my last client I had. She might have mauled you.”
“Yeah, she looked a little…intense there. Your receptionist might have pissed her panties a little when I first came in.”
“That’s funny, she’s usually so chill. She came into the back room like she’d witnessed something either horrific or monumental. I thought something was wrong.”
Jay laughed again. “Hmm, well she didn’t say a single word to me. When I asked for you, she just fucking walked away.” He opened the driver’s door and motioned to the other side of the car. “Hop in, I’ll drive.”
Tate slid into the passenger seat and had to pause. The outside of the car was beautiful—royal blue with every inch of chrome polished to perfection—but the unique interior made the package complete.
“This is gorgeous,” Tate lightly laughed, shaking his head. “You do most of this yourself, don’t you. That’s about all I know about you.”
“That’s all you know about me?” Jay smirked.
“Well that and you’re a McCallan rebel that borders a lot on the side of total asshole, right?” he somewhat joked.
“Ha, my reputation precedes me,” he grinned. “But I’m just misunderstood.” He shrugged, like he was totally innocent and couldn’t believe people would feel that way about him.
“Aren’t we all,” Tate smiled with amusement. And that was the fucking truth. Who he’d been growing up, no one would think twice about passing by in silence. And no one that actually knew him would start any kind of pissing contest with him, either.
Nobody wanted the trouble that could come from it.
They spent the five-minute ride talking about Jay’s car, and when they pulled up to Tate’s house and he rolled up the garage door, Jay was silent for a good three minutes as he circled the Shelby with it’s hood propped open.
&nb
sp; “Where’d you get this beauty?” he finally asked. For the first time since stepping foot in the garage, he looked at Tate for an answer.
“It was my dad’s. He died a couple years ago and left it to me. We were gonna finish it up together but he got too sick. Died of lung cancer. I’ve done a little bit on it myself, but just don’t have the time to do what I want to do.”
“Yeah, I see you’ve put some work in. Damn, that’s a beautiful 428 inside. It’s been taken care of.”
“My dad was the original owner,” Tate informed him. “He didn’t run it into the ground or anything, but it could still use a bit of TLC.”
“Yeah, no, I can tell it’s in awesome condition. Hey, I don’t know if you’re in the position to sell it or anything…but would you consider it?”
“You want to buy this car? You mean to flip it?”
Jay paused as he looked over the car again. “I think I’d keep it for a bit, maybe, but to be honest…yeah I’d most likely flip it to make a profit. It’s what I do,” he shrugged, looking at Tate again.
“Yeah, I know. I was just curious.”
“You wanna keep it, don’t you,” Jay stated. “I don’t blame you, man. Seriously, I don’t. Interior is beautiful, Cobra Jet engine, body is almost perfect… Yeah, I’d keep it too.”
“I don’t think it’s something I’m ready to give up right now.”
“You gonna keep working on it, though?”
Tate barely shrugged a shoulder. “I really don’t have time these days. And I don’t really have the means, either.” He motioned around the garage. “I mean I have the space for it, but just not the extra money and other setup to do what I want.”
“I feel ya. I was in that position only a year ago. So…let me help you with it.”
Tate raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything at first. Finally he replied, “I don’t really have the money to do anything right now, man. I really wish I did, but I’m not in a good situation these days. I have other things that are more important to take care of. Sorry.”
