by K. F. Breene
Since most of the others were being polite, she turned to Jace. His gaze left the tasting attendant and found her. “What was up with the car ride? And why are you suddenly thawing out again?”
Wariness crept over Jace’s expression. “I thought I’d let Peter speak to his girlfriend. But when he left you…” Jace turned back to his wine, drained it, and held it up for the next pour.
The employee pursed his lips. Obviously he thought this group wasn’t respecting the wine as they ought. Too snobby, this guy. No fun.
“How you treated me in the limo was kind of a dick thing to do.” Cassie hated the wobble in her voice. She hated the trickle of insecurity that had her armpits sweating and her face going red.
She flicked her hair and turned to her tasting of wine with an air of importance—that’d throw any observers off the trail.
“What do you want me to do?” Jace asked in a low tone she could barely hear. “I’m the brother of your boyfriend. Why is it my obligation to entertain you?”
“Oh, just shut up.” She didn’t plan on letting him win an argument through logic.
She drank her wine and looked to the others. “Where are we? Which wine are we on?”
They finished that tasting, purchased a few bottles, and then took a quick saunter around the beautiful gardens. As expected of a tourist attraction, not one blade of grass was out of place. The roses were pruned to perfection, the pathways delicately packed dirt, and the bushes round and green. The trees leading up the golden hill behind them, wild and untouched by rows of grapes as of yet, provided a beautiful contrast. Even if her magazine didn’t use any of the picture she snapped—and they probably wouldn’t—she wanted this memory. She wanted to look back on this place—it was that beautiful.
When they got to the front of the house, the others wandered toward the limo to stow their purchases, leaving Cassie to get a few pictures of the super cool house.
“I’d love to get married here,” she muttered to herself, glancing off to the right side of the grounds where a cultivated path led to a beautiful little gazebo surrounded by roses.
“I did, too.”
Startled, Cassie realized Jace was again waiting nearby, hands in the pockets, watching her do her thing.
“Jesus, Jace. I love your company and all, but it’s not like I’m going to lose the giant black car amongst all this grass. It stands out a little. And between the one driveway, my detective skills, and my current sobriety, I doubt I’ll get lost.”
“Are you done?”
“Don’t rush me. I want a picture of that gazebo. If I can find someone to marry me, I’ll be dragging him up here.”
“I meant…are you done with your rant?”
Cassie let her eyebrows form a flat line above her eyes. “Don’t try to get cute.”
“How could I? I’m too busy being macho.”
Cassie snapped off a couple pictures of that gazebo before turning toward the limo. “You are revolving personalities today.”
Jace lost the hint of smile. He glanced away from her to the gazebo. What he said earlier came back to her.
“What do you mean, you did, too? You did what? Want to get married here? Does she not want to?”
Jace gave Cassie a stare so hard her spine started to tingle in a warning. Danger licked her senses, his large body poised just ten feet away, like he would rush her.
Strangely, the warmth spreading over her wasn’t fear. It was excitement. Lust and desire took over, wanting his power to rush her. To take her. To overcome her in his need and push into her body with reckless abandon.
“Oh holy moly,” Cassie muttered, wiping the back of her hand across her moist forehead. She probably scrubbed off her makeup with that move.
She turned away, but that gaze was still there, cutting into her. She could feel it, ripping her open and consuming what it found. Trapping her and reeling her in. Claiming her with steel hands.
The metaphors were endless on this one.
“Gotta get back.” She dropped her phone into her satchel with great care, her hands shaking so bad to touch him she was afraid she’d drop it.
“No.” The word held anger, but also earthshattering pain, rough and bleeding. “She didn’t want to get married here. Dead set against my wishes. And then, when I found her fucking my best friend, she said she would, just to keep me from leaving. She thought the wedding location would be enough—that that would cover up all the shit she’d done to me. That she still does to me, when I think of her.”
Dawning happened slowly, eroding what she thought she knew into a new reality. She turned to him on wooden legs, her chest on fire, her eyes wide. “You’re not with her anymore?” she breathed.
His smoldering gaze locked onto hers. The world dropped away—all she could focus on were those beautiful brown eyes with the golden burst in the middle wrapped in lush, deep brown lashes. Her groin tingled in expectation; her heart lurched in adrenaline-coated fear.
The fact that this could be doable, that he could be available, had all sorts of random insecurities and anxious second-guessing jockeying for attention in her brain. She went from completely and utterly infatuated to a crazy head case chick, in the space of five seconds.
You just found the answer to why you are still single, Cassie. Mystery solved.
“No. At some point, you have to try and retain a little pride,” he answered.
A million comments sprinted through her head. A million little ticks of his head and angles of his body. His hesitation. His open regard for her. His battles.
One of the roadblocks had been stripped away, and she was terrified of what lay on the other side. Terrified of realizing that these feelings she’d been having around him were actually real. That they were as deep as she suspected, rooted way down in a place hard to eradicate. That she would shove her baggage on him, and her insecurities, and chase him away, like she’d done to everyone else.
All this, and she didn’t even know for sure he even liked her. That’s how crazy-town the prospect of real love made her.
“Time to get back,” he growled.
“Yup. Excellent point. Great idea.” She waited for him to walk away so she could get her crap in order. She needed to calm down a minute—let the universe realign.
Because, really, there was still that roadblock with Peter. With the worry that his coming out would strip away his family. And these people were so great, and so fun—she’d hate to lose them if she was Peter. In fact, she’d be his pretend girlfriend for life, just so she could participate in their family time.
So, really, she was still safe. She still had a pretty immovable buffer. And now she could touch Jace more, since she wouldn’t be hurting anyone—Peter certainly didn’t care, and there was no longer a woman in the picture. She just had to make sure it was friendly, and not, say, cupping his bulge.
Giggling to herself at that last thought, she came out of her head space and noticed that Jace still stood where he had been a second ago, staring at her.
“You and the staring. What, do you expect me to break into song or something?” she asked, starting toward the car. “And why are you loitering around me all the time? You don’t have to wait for me.”
“If someone didn’t monitor you, you’d stand in one spot, chewing on your lip and daydreaming all day. I’m herding you.” Wariness had crept into his eyes—probably for her own revolving personalities that easily scared the most steadfast of men—but the aching hurt in his growl from earlier had lightened. He must’ve tucked it away, like she had her own crazy.
Two psychos hanging out together. What could go wrong?
Chapter 12
They headed to a town called Healdsburg for the next winery, and would be staying in that area for the rest of their trip. Since it was a couple towns away, and those towns were pretty spread out, it took about a half hour to reach their destination. Within that time, Rachel and Jenn forced champagne on Cassie by yelling that she needed to let her hair down. Appar
ently she was not consuming alcohol fast enough.
Cassie had argued that she’d get drunk too fast if she kept their pace.
They agreed, and kept forcing. So, basically, it was the beginning of the end.
Jace sat at the very front of the limo, and it had been interesting watching him maneuver his huge shoulders and body down the aisle to get there. Demetri and Nick found this hilarious, even though they didn’t have it much easier. They were nearly as tall, and while their shoulders, chest, and back weren’t as built, their middles were much larger.
Someone made the comment that limos were for high-school kids, and that next time, they needed to get a bus.
“Okie dokie, Mill Creek,” Jenn said as they gathered next to the limo.
Jace emerged from the limo like a bear from a den. If he roared, it would’ve been perfect.
“We ready?” Jenn glanced up in time for four brothers to crowd around her, squeeze her, and yell, “Photo bomb!”
“Jesus!” She slapped and pushed her way out of the horde. Her fingers curled around the hem of her shirt and she jerked it down. “Really, you guys?”
Laughing, Cassie followed Peter toward the small winery, marveling at a turning mill wheel in a pond just off to the right. “That’s cool.”
Peter nodded as he surveyed the wheel. “Yeah, they did a great job with the rustic feel. My parents are wine club members here. It’s a family owned winery that constantly gets medals. A lot of the larger wineries over-crush their grapes, giving that weird squeezing feeling at the base of your mouth—isn’t that how you described it?”
“Oh, that’s from over-crushing? How do you over-crush?”
Peter opened the door and moved as if he would go in—she and he never hung on ceremony. Unfortunately, Jace was right behind them, and he always hung on ceremony. Cassie glimpsed a large hand reaching over her shoulder and grabbing Peter by his collar. Jace’s tattooed arm yanked Peter back from the door.
“Holy crap, Jace—” Cassie turned around, wide-eyed.
Peter, face white and bashful, stood next to a stern faced Jace. Jace explained in two curt words: “Ladies first.”
Cassie raised her hands to her hips in indignation. “He is a grown man, you lummox. How he engages with me is not your business.”
The three of them fell silent for a moment as two other patrons moved past into the one-room winery. Once again alone on the porch, Cassie finished with, “Butt out.”
Jace stared her down but said nothing.
“Leave it, Cass,” Peter said in a small voice. “This is a family issue. I should’ve known big brother Jason was on duty. He demands people do things his way, or he beats them up. It used to take all of us ganging up on him to go around this type of stuff. Apparently some things haven’t changed.”
Hot pangs of stubbornness fired within Cassie. She slowly crossed her arms over her chest and stared right back at Jace. “He goes first, or I go nowhere. This is none of your business.”
“Ah come on, really you guys?” Peter hung his head. “Cassie, just go in, please? Don’t do the stubborn thing.”
Cassie couldn’t help her chin lifting incrementally.
Jace stared.
Cassie stared back.
A small smile curved Jace’s full lips. A shadow appeared for his dimple.
Peter heaved a huge sigh…and fell forward when Jace suddenly released his collar. A tiny nod from Jace meant Peter could do as he wished.
Peter, disbelieving, stared at Cassie with wonder in his eyes. She jerked her head toward the door. “Go.”
“Well now you’re in the lead. So you go. That’s how we always—“
The rush of anger must’ve shown in her gaze, because Peter shut up and took two quick steps toward the door. Cassie heard the door shut behind him, but still she stared in defiance at the pushy S.O.B. in front of her.
“That made me look stupid, because you made him look stupid. Please don’t do that,” she said in a firm voice.
Jace studied her for a beat too long before acceding with a slight bow. “As you command.”
“Yeah.” Cassie tilted her head downward, playing the part. “You’re damn right. And you’re forgiven.”
A smile peeked through Jace’s countenance. His eyes twinkled. “I didn’t apologize.”
“I’ll just pretend like you did. As you were.” She let her hand kind of float in the air like a queen might before turning toward the door. But she didn’t reach for the handle. She waited.
On cue, Jace stepped forward in that powerful but graceful way he had, a natural athlete, and swung open the door, waiting for her to go through. Then laughed when she raised her head like royalty, and did just that.
Don’t bully a McAdams—we push back.
The giggle ruined her tough façade.
Cassie handed over her credit card as Peter leaned against the counter next to her. He shook his head at her purchase, “We have three more wineries, sweetie. You know this, right?”
They’d had an outrageously fun tasting. The people at Mill Creek were so friendly and down-to-earth—not at all snobby, but just as knowledgeable. The woman and man helping them, one of which was the owner, laughed and joked, and answered any questions, or told a bit about the wine, when asked. Likewise, Cassie and the whole crew laughed and had a great time, each marveling over the wine, and even including two other random people who happened to be in the tasting room with them.
“You know as well as I do that Krista, Kate, and Jasmine are going to rock into this wine. And then Sean will want some for their wine cellar…don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”
Peter smiled and leaned his head to her shoulder for a moment. “This is fun. It’s the most fun I’ve had at a reunion.”
Cassie surveyed him through a fog of buzz. “You’re definitely a lot more relaxed. And yourself.”
Peter glanced behind them, and Cassie followed his gaze. Through the windows, it appeared the three brothers were outside on the porch photo bombing the wives and daring each other to bend over to splash the water. Cassie could hear the laughter from inside.
“Jenn and Rachel are being really inclusive. I almost wonder…if they know. Do you think they know?” Peter asked with an apprehensive voice.
Cassie shrugged as the woman behind the counter rang her up. “They’re probably just responding to your personality. You’re infectious when you have fun. Like your brothers.”
Peter nodded solemnly as his gaze tracked the merriment outside. “Jace has opened up, too. Way up. Sometimes, like now, he’s almost back to the guy I remember as a kid. He’s still really subdued most the time, though.”
Cassie whipped her head around so hard she got dizzy. “Subdued? He photo bombed the owner’s dog ten minutes ago!”
Peter started laughing. “I said most times he’s still subdued.”
Cassie couldn’t help her grin. “Well, I’m glad you all are having fun.”
“And how about you? Fun?”
Cassie signed her name and reached for the box.
“Are you serious?” Peter shoved her out of the way and took the box. “Jace would throw me into the water if I made you carry this.”
“I’m having fun. Lots of it! But I’m definitely kind of…” She paused, not really knowing how to put the strange emotions into words. She felt like an outcast, kind of. It was such a tight-knit family, and they got along so well. With Peter being welcomed into the fold, but not pulling her along behind—which obviously wasn’t his fault since they weren’t together for realsies—she felt…kind of forgotten. Kind of on the outside. It jived perfectly with how she was feeling in life—just kind of…drifting. Separate.
Peter hesitated near the door, his cut arms showing through his shirt. He stared down at her with warm eyes, waiting for her to finish. He was so sensitive and caring, such a wonderful guy. He deserved this foothold into, hopefully, a more complete life.
She traced his muscles, just because they were there and she co
uld, before patting him and throwing him a smile. “I’m having fun!”
Still Peter stared, something he must’ve gotten from big brother Jace. He was about to push when the door swung open.
“What’s up twig arms? You need help?” Demetri put his phone into Peter’s face. “Bink.”
“Bink?” Peter asked, walking forward. The phone bumped off his nose. “Would you back up, Demetri? Cassie will flip out if I break all her wine.”
Demetri swung the phone on a straight arm into Cassie’s face. “Care to comment on the probability of Squirt dropping your wine?”
“Jace, this man is not letting me out,” Cassie called, throwing the camera a malicious grin.
“Bink.” Demetri tapped the phone with his thumb before dropping it to his side. “Well played.”
“What’s up?” Jace’s girth filled the opening of the door, jostling Demetri.
“I was just helping these fine ladies to the car,” Demetri said, shooing Jace out of the way. “Excuse me, sir, important alcoholic progression coming through.”
Nick stuck his head in through the opening beside Jace. A phone came up between the crack of Jace’s hip and the door. “Cheese!”
“Someone’s trying to get in, you guys!” Rachel called.
Jace and Nick backed out of the doorway, and then stepped way back as two elderly people came up the stairs. Demetri grabbed the box of wine from Peter, and then swiveled, passing it to Jace. Jace stepped forward to take it without thought or comment, simply because it was handed to him.
Demetri gave Cassie a triumphant smile. “And that’s how it’s done.”
“Get out of the way, Demetri,” Jace demanded.
“It’s only going to get messier from here on out,” Peter said quietly as they waited for the elderly people to come through before making their way to the limo.
Cassie had figured the same thing. She was on the brink as it was, balancing precariously between sober and drunk, happy and hazy. One more car ride, with the bottle of wine that was sure to be opened and forced on everyone, happy and hazy would turn into crazy and skewed.
