by K. F. Breene
“Your friend?” Jace asked in confusion, not sure why her body language suddenly screamed uncomfortable.
“Well…uh…kinda….” Her eyes darted around the room, not wanting to look at him.
He’d seen that look a million times. He’d learned what it meant—lies and deceit from a woman keeping something from him. Something big that would tear him apart.
He dropped the suitcases slowly, unable to help the shot of adrenaline that coursed through his body. “Explain this. How do you know this Marcus?”
She faced him with uncertainty. Her body shied away from his bearing and his proximity, probably reacting to his anger and mistrust. Fear crept into her expression, which wrung his heart for a brief moment—until he realized what harm she could do. If this girl was cheating on his brother, Jace would end her connection with this family immediately. He would not allow what had happened to him to happen to Peter.
“He’s a friend of mine. Ours. I told you, I met him through Sean. My brother.” Her limbs started to shake as her face closed down.
“What is he to you? Ex-boyfriend? Do you see much of him?”
Confusion warred her features. “Ex-boyfriend? Of mine?”
He waited expectantly.
A smile replaced the confusion. “Oh. You think I’m cheating. Ha! No, not with Marcus.”
“Not with Marcus? With someone else then?” He couldn’t help the ragged discomfort in his voice just thinking about it. Remembering the pain.
As if reading him easily, her expression turned sorrowful. “I’ve been there. You know—cheated on. I’d never do that to someone. I’d break up with him first. I remember how I felt—like nothing. Like mud on a shoe. I don’t cheat. Never have.”
Jace stopped the insane urge to crush his fist into something. Ripped out the need to sob like a coward. Instead, he flexed his muscles and stared her down, hating that sympathetic expression. Hating how vulnerable she made him feel with her understanding.
Cassie’s hand reached forward. He flinched back before he could help himself. Instead of backing off, though, she gently touched his arm. Her eyes delved into him, rooting him to the spot, splitting him wide open. In a soft, feminine voice, she cooed, “I am going to rip you apart in ping pong, just so you know. Literally. I am going to make you my bitch.”
His release of breath carried a, “What?”
Her body leaned toward him as her hand firmly pressed his arm, expressing genuine sympathy. The sentiment reached through his body and clutched his heart.
“Seriously,” she said in a firm tone. “I will slap you like a bitch and make you sob uncontrollably. I’m that good.”
A chuckle fought the heaviness in his chest. A smile fought the crippling vulnerability.
“And then I’m going to smack you with the paddle, just because I can.” She nodded seriously and took her hand away. “Are you terrified?”
“Huh?”
She studied him. “Yes. You are. Just admit it. Scared shitless.”
A big smile lit up her face as she turned, her laughter floating around the room. Like popping a bubble, suddenly the somber tone of the previous moment evaporated. Just disintegrated into thin air. Cassie danced to her luggage as Jace retreated into the hall to get his bearings.
The woman had just made him do a complete 180. She’d manipulated him away from troubled waters into…what? What was this? This light, buoyant feeling? What was he supposed to do with it? Smile and sling a joke—because that’s what he felt like doing.
As he took a step away, shaking his head, the memory of her understanding eyes—her genuine sorrow for his pain—made him pause. The lean of her body, and the weight of her hand… She’d handled the situation—handled him on the brink—easily. Expertly.
How had she known how? No one else ever had.
He turned back to her, needing the answer to that question. Jace didn’t like people steering him around without his say-so. He watched her for a minute, formulating what to say.
She was staring at the queen size bed with a resigned expression. As she began putting things in order, she glanced up and said, “I went first earlier because my brother Sean is a gentleman down to his bones. Plus, he’s basically my guardian. He gets really irritated if he tells me to go ahead of him and I don’t. One time we stood outside a restaurant for a half hour, staring at each other because I wouldn’t go first. We missed our reservation having a stubborn-off.”
“Is he older?” Jace asked to keep the topic on her while he figured this out.
“Yeah, a couple years.”
“He’s your guardian but only a couple years older? How is that?”
Cassie glanced at the closet, and then at Peter’s suitcases. Instead of unloading clothes, she set her suitcase up at the side of the room. “He didn’t feel like he had any alternative. My parents sucked, so he grew up faster than he should’ve in order to take care of me. He took me on the bus to soccer practice a million times. He learned to forge my parents’ signatures, picked locks, and basically stole the combination to the safe so he could pay for field trips and soccer for me. He made my life great all while fighting the shit of my parents and harvesting his demons. When he speaks, I listen.”
“Except when you don’t.”
She laughed, a light and carefree sound. She tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “Exactly. He’s pretty easy going, though. Lets me be crazy until I push too hard, then shuts it down. It used to be just the two of us against the world—we have a system.”
“Used to be?”
A wave of vulnerability stole her features for a brief moment, as he leaned in, resting against the door. It dissolved away a moment later. “He found my future sister-in-law.”
“And you don’t love her?”
She glanced up in surprise as she threw a pile of shoes into the corner. “Not at all! I worked my butt off to get them together. My brother has a lot of…issues. He kept jerking her around—lost her a couple times. No, she is my sister. I wouldn’t get rid of her for the world.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Well, I do love tricycles, but being the third wheel gets old. It’d be nice to round it out for a quad.” She cleared her throat and threw him a smile. “Hopefully it works out with Peter. You know. So we can round it all out.”
She threw a book onto the bed and stood. “Anyway.” She walked toward him with her graceful saunter, the sway of her hips trapping his eyes. He ripped his gaze toward the hall. He needed to deliver her back to Peter. His parents had probably given Peter the third degree about Cassie by now. They’d expect her back. Plus, Jace wasn’t doing a great job of staying disinterested. He needed to remove himself from the situation.
But first… “How’d you know what to say…a moment ago?” he asked softly.
She waved a graceful hand through the air. “Like I said, my brother has a lot of demons. He doesn’t like vulnerability, either. Gets really bitchy about it. Figured you’d get just as bitchy. I’ve learned how to deal. And by the way, Marcus is gay. So… definitely not cheating with him. Although, he’s pretty hot. But, as he often says when I feel his chest—which I do, because, seriously, it’s nice—I have an innie, and he likes an outie.”
Jace had to just blink for a moment. That comment struck him as particularly hilarious for some reason. That someone would actually say it out loud.
“Okay, then what happens when you get vulnerable? You ask someone to thwap you upside the head?” Jace continued.
“Nah, I’m a chick. I need a firm hug and to be told how beautiful I am even though my face looks like a tear-streaked punching bag.”
“How boring.”
“Oh, I have plenty of exciting issues.”
He followed her down the stairs and picked up the crate of beer and the bottle of wine. She grabbed the flowers and chocolate, and then glanced up the stairs.
Her gaze settled on his. “Are you a narc?”
“What?” he asked, glancing aroun
d. “Why? What’d you do?”
She shifted her weight. He ripped his gaze away from the shapely hip that jutted out. “If I hide this chocolate in selfishness, will you tell?”
“Why do you need to hide it? Don’t like to share?”
She stared.
“No,” he assured her dutifully. “I won’t tell. We can always just get you more chocolate, though.”
“Yes…we could. Or you could just keep your big mouth shut.”
He smiled; he couldn’t help it. “No. I won’t tell. Go hide it like a rat.”
She blinked up at his face, wonder stealing her expression for a brief moment. “You have a dimple. And I will!”
She set down the flowers and took the stairs two at a time, lithe and agile. Very athletic, he could tell. She had a confidence and awareness of her body that was extremely rare in women. He wondered if she was as good as she said—and if so, how she compared to him.
He stopped that thought before it could go anywhere else. Peter had gotten damn lucky. And more power to him. Jace was happy for him. Everyone worried Peter would spend a long time alone, what with his effeminate tastes and overly crafted appearance. Jace had been happy when Peter let him know he was moving to L.A. There were a lot of metro-sexual men there. It was a good place to find a girl that wasn’t looking for rugged.
And he had. He had found a girl.
Jace would be the only single one left. He wasn’t looking forward to the comments from his mother.
“Okay. Ready.” Cassie scooped up the flowers. “Ping pong?”
Jace jerked his head forward, silently telling her to go first. She followed his direction immediately and without comment.
“Dinner first. Time to go sit around the dining room table and drink wine.”
“Sounds like my kind of party.” Cassie crossed the living room to the kitchen entrance. As she neared, a boom of laugher sounded, having her hesitate. She bit her lip and pulled the flowers closer to her chest.
“I’ll go first,” Jace said easily, stepping up
She peeled to the side, gaze still peering through the doorway. “I’m just not used to all this. A big family.”
“Are you shy?”
She shook her head slowly, her large eyed gaze coming up to meet his. “Not usually. Just…family, you know? It’s weird. And…I’m the…oddball here. I don’t really belong.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Trust me, it’s not you who’s the oddball. Come on.”
She reached out and curled her small fingers around his forearm, apparently needing a supportive touch as she braved the onslaught of activity. A tingle worked up through his body. He gritted his teeth as a growing erection strained his pants. “Peter won’t be thrilled with contact.”
Jace grimaced as soon as the words were out. Nice way to handle that, cave man!
They both knew Peter wouldn’t care. He wasn’t the jealous type. If anything, he would’ve thanked Jace for helping Cassie adjust.
Jace had just made an ass of himself for the second time in the space of fifteen minutes. Things were not going well.
As if reading his thoughts, or more aptly, coming to the exact same conclusions, Cassie’s eyebrows furled. “Okay, sure. If you think it seems weird…”
She let her hand drop away as they walked through, gaze hitting the small table in the corner of the kitchen where his dad sat with Rachel, Nick, and Peter. Jenn danced around the room slowly, feeding baby Emma a bottle. His mother and Demetri worked in the kitchen, Demetri having inherited her love of cooking.
“Oh, is that for us?” Becky came over with a smile and relieved Cassie of the bottle of wine. “Look at this—same taste as Jason! What a coincidence.”
Cassie held out the flowers. “Just a thank you for having us.”
Becky tsk’ed with a delighted smile. She gave Jenn a knowing look. “She’s thoughtful, too.”
“Do you need this, Mom?” Jason asked, raising the crate of beer.
“Finally! Someone with good taste in beer,” Nick exclaimed from the table. “Jace always brings that heavy crap.”
“Hey, that ale is good stuff,” Rachel defended. “It just gets me drunk way too fast.”
“And that’s why we love it,” Demetri hollered from the stove.
“Bring over more chairs, Jason,” his father said, motioning into the other room.
“I can help,” Cassie said quickly, edging away from the loud laughter.
“No, Cassie, no.” Roger stood and beckoned her over. “Take my seat. Jason and I will get one.”
Cassie smiled gratefully, even though it didn’t look as if she felt it, and crossed the art deco styled kitchen to take Roger’s seat. She reached out her hand to place on Peter’s shoulder, again looking for comfort. Peter spared her a glance before glancing back to the wine in front of him.
“Jason, did you get her settled?” his dad asked as they exited the kitchen into the dining room. “She seems a little skittish. Peter said she doesn’t talk to her family often. Pity.”
“She’s close with her brother, I think.”
Roger took a chair from the main dining room table and waited for Jace to do the same. “She’s a beautiful girl. Impeccable appearance.”
“Yeah, it was a good choice for Peter, moving to L.A.”
“And we see that there are still good girls out there. You’re the eldest. Maybe you should visit Peter in L.A. and meet with some of her friends. I’m sure she has some of her caliber. And, as I understand it, she’s a better fit for you age-wise—her friends probably would be, too.”
Jace gritted his teeth. “I don’t have a ticking clock, dad.”
“We all have a time period to get our life on track…” Roger crossed the kitchen and settled his chair down. Nick passed him his glass of wine.
“Beer or wine, Jason?” his mom asked from the fridge.
He felt Cassie’s curious gaze settle on him. “Beer. Please.”
Her lips tweaked into a smile, no doubt internally calling him a redneck.
“So, Cassie, what do you do?” Nick asked, draping his arm over Roger’s chair. “Pete says you’re great at your job, but he doesn’t know exactly what you write.”
“Nicholas!” Becky shouted from the kitchen.
“Oh, did I just put him on blast?” Nick gave Peter a toothy grin.
“Here you go, dear.” Becky passed through a glass of the freshly opened bottle of wine for Cassie.
“You need to let it breathe. Demetri, get the aerator.” Rachel pointed exaggeratedly at the island in the middle of the kitchen.
“She knows how to drink wine, darling,” Demetri called absently.
“Mama, mama!” Michael, the four-year-old, sprinted into the room with chocolate smeared all over his face. “Mama, John is eating it all!”
“What is that?” Rachel screeched, half standing. “What do you have?”
Michael, realizing he’d just outed himself while trying to tell on his older brother, froze. And then turned tail and ran from the room.
“Did you give him chocolate?” Rachel demanded of Demetri.
“I’ve been in here the whole time, honey,” Demetri said in a sing-song voice. “I do not have an evil twin. Although, I wish I did.”
Cassie froze, wide eyes finding Jace immediately. He met them and found himself out of his chair immediately. “I might’ve left some in my room. I’ll go look.”
Jace just had time to notice Peter’s gaze shift to his girlfriend before he was out of the kitchen and climbing the stairs, two at a time as Cassie had done earlier. Apparently, she didn’t live with nosey kids. This would teach her.
Her room was thankfully bare. And clean. He continued down the hall to his own room. Also bare and clean. He found Michael, John, and Lesley, Nick’s three-year-old, hunkered down in the corner of Demetri’s room with Cassie’s opened box of chocolates and a huge mess. All three kids looked up with full mouths, chocolate smeared on faces, fingers, and clothes.
“Gre
at.”
Chapter 4
“He’s fine, he’s fine!” Becky said after Jace had left, waving away Rachel’s concern as she bustled in and out of the dining room setting plates. “Jason is great with kids. Take a load off; he can handle it. Plus, maybe it’ll push him to make some of his own.”
“Was that your chocolate?” Peter muttered to Cassie quietly.
“Yep. I didn’t want to bring it down here in case it all got eaten tonight,” she murmured.
“Where’d you put it?”
“On the queen sized bed.” She sent him an agitated glance. She didn’t know what was worse—Jace taking the fall for her, or having to sleep in the same bed with Peter for a week. Sexually and touching-wise, it’d be fine. She knew this. But she hated people in her bed. She didn’t sleep well, ended up tossing and turning, and then pissed the other person off when she kept them up.
“They’re kids. You have to hide that stuff.” Peter took a sip of his wine.
Rachel asked about helping set the table. Jenn and Becky waved her to stay seated. Roger took over dancing the baby around the kitchen as Jenn helped with the table.
Nick leaned toward them. “So big brother is covering, huh?” A wicked grin lit up his face. In an exaggerated whisper, he said, “I have better ears than you think I do.”
“Shut up, Nick,” Peter said with a smirk.
Nick’s smile burned brighter. To Cassie he said, “Jace used to always take the blame for something Pete did. He got in trouble by himself, he got in trouble ‘cause Demetri and I set him up, and he got in trouble for Peter. The guy was always in trouble.”
“And you didn’t feel bad?” Cassie asked.
“Nope.” Nick leaned away with a smug smile. “Payback for that big fucker beating us up all the time.”
“Nicolas! Language!” Rachel leaned across the table and gave Nick a slap on the arm.
He laughed and touched his phone, lifted it, and said, “Smile, this is going on the Internet.”
“Demetri, beat your brother senseless,” Rachel called, ducking behind the table with her hands in front of her face. “I look terrible, Nick! You are going to get it!”
