Love and Chaos: A Growing Pains Novel

by K. F. Breene

  Cassie rolled her eyes. Jace had made out like the shiny Dodge with an extended cab, big tires, and all sorts of lights and fixtures was some sort of beater. If this was the crappy ride, she hated to wonder what the nice one was like. She said as much.

  “Very expensive. Mercedes convertible. Wasn’t his taste, though. He bought it for her.”

  “Is he rolling in money, or something?”

  “Mostly, yeah. He makes the most out of any of the brothers, but is always labeled the screw up by my dad. Well, until me, I guess.”

  Jace hopped out of his truck and walked to the back, probably getting set to unhook the trailer. “You’re not a screw up,” Cassie said. “You’re sexually confused. You’ll see the light one day.”

  “It’s amazing that this is helping.” Peter looked behind him through the car to check on Jace’s progress. He looked back at his house. “What are we waiting for?”

  “I want to watch Marcus as he meets your brother. It’ll be priceless.” Cassie smirked, a strange sort of apprehension worming its way into her middle. She was happy to be home, but now she had to introduce Jace to all her friends. Which was exciting, and great, but it was do or die. Her friends judged harshly, and if they thought they were protecting her, they’d try to run him off.

  “Are you trying to make me jealous, doll?”

  Cassie laughed harder, needing jokes to loosen the tightness in the situation. “It will be equally priceless watching Jace’s reaction. He won’t know whether to preen or walk away. Bet you.”

  Peter smirked as Jace got back into the truck and pulled forward again, the truck now detached from the trailer and Harley. He’d packed up yesterday in zero time, wanting to provide a unified front with his brother and leave at the same time. He also didn’t want to send Cassie off alone, but he hadn’t admitted it. She knew the score, though. He was trying to stay tough, but she knew where they ranked as a couple. Woman in charge!

  “Are you going to tell him about your millions?” Peter asked.

  The record screeched off the track. Cassie punched Peter in the arm before she had the conscious thought.

  “Ow!” Peter rubbed his arm. “What was that for?”

  “Don’t you mention that to him!” She put her finger in his face. “I’m serious, Peter. Please don’t.”

  “Why not? It’s a trust fund. It’s not like it’s drug money or anything.”

  “I’ve gotten proposals directly after guys found out about that. I just…don’t want things getting weird.”

  The roar of huge truck shut off beside them. Peter was still rubbing his arm. “When do you get it?”

  “Next year when I turn thirty.”

  “Cass, he has his own money—ow! Would you stop!”

  “Shut up, he might hear!”

  Peter got out of the car with a scowl. As he walked away, he yelled at Jace, “Your lovely lady is paranoid, do you know that?” He stalked off toward the house.

  Jace came around his truck, eyes delving into Cassie’s as she exited her car. He wrapped his arms around her middle. “What was that about?”

  “He’s dumb. Ready to meet your new roommate?”

  Wariness passed over Jace’s face as he glanced after Peter. “What am I walking into?”

  “There are no words. After this, did you want to help me unpack after you put your stuff away, and then have sex with me? And then meet my friends K-Jaz? They’re out tonight and want to meet you. Or is this too sudden?”

  Jace gave that beautiful smile that turned him from hot into freaking gorgeous. “Yes to all of those things.”

  “You say yes now, but after you meet all the people close to me, you’ll probably run away screaming.”

  Jace turned them toward the condo with his arm around her shoulders. “You forget what we just came from. I think we’ll be fine.”

  They mounted the steps, his heavy arm feeling so natural across her shoulders—almost like they’d walked like that for years. Cassie paused at the door and rang the bell, leaning her body against Jace’s solidity. “You can stay with me as often as you want, too, you know. If you need a break from the circus inside.”

  “Thanks, I—“

  Jace was cut off by the door swinging open. Marcus stepped out with a flourish, a delighted smile taking over his face. “Well, oh my goodness, my pants are on fire. Look at you!” Marcus lounged in the doorway. “A stud to steal the sister of the young stud. How fitting!”

  Jace’s face turned toward Marcus slowly, shock barely hidden under his stoic expression.

  “Cassie, darling, I see why you didn’t just bring him in. I love the showmanship. And isn’t he handsome, oh my god. Very masculine.” Marcus glanced down Jace’s body, making Jace go rigid with discomfort. “He might need a stroll through a clothing aisle, but this is promising. Hm.”

  Marcus gave Cassie a wink and turned into the condo. “C’mon kids, let’s have a glass of wine to celebrate Peter finally coming out. And I get to meet his family. Happy days.”

  Jace let the default mask drip away, accusatory and incredulous at the same time. “What have you gotten me into?”

  Cassie laughed and pushed him into the house. “He won’t touch, don’t worry. You get used to him. Also, you better get used to him now, because Kate is going to be way more blunt about it.”

  “About what, my appearance?”

  “Yup.”

  After Cassie got grilled about Jace, and Jace put all his stuff away and got a tour of the house, they found themselves at Cassie’s house. She parked in the clean and mostly sparse two-car garage. As the door closed behind them, she took a deep breath and turned to him in the quiet of the car. “Here’s my home.”

  His delicious smell curled around her senses, making her mouth salivate. He leaned across the car to glance her lips softly. “I can’t wait to see it.”

  With tingles from the kiss and butterflies at inviting him in, she climbed from the car and popped the trunk, getting out of the way as Jace reached for her suitcase.

  “I’ll follow you,” he said in his deep voice.

  She let him heft her bag as she led the way into her modest house, giving a quick sweep with her gaze to make sure nothing embarrassing had been left out. “It’s a rental. I moved down to L.A. to be closer to my brother and Krista. I’ll probably buy something next year.”

  Jace stepped in behind her, giving the place a glance. “It’s clean.”

  “It’s straightened,” she laughed, pushing farther into the house. “I wouldn’t recommend eating off the floor or anything.”

  “Five second rule.”

  His smell wrapped around her again, firing up her groin. “God you smell good.” Cassie inhaled deeply, savoring his smell, an elixir probably illegal in seven states.

  “Marcus had a wide selection to choose from. He said you liked this cologne the best.”

  Cassie glanced back at him with an enhanced scowl as she made her way into the kitchen. “How would he know which cologne I like?”

  “He said you gave him a once-over every time you smelled it. He thinks it’s great fun to figure out the things you notice and those you don’t. Apparently. He wants to take me shopping tomorrow.”

  Cassie grabbed a bottle of water and a beer out of the fridge. She walked back to Jace, looking over everything his gaze could touch from the hallway where she’d left him.

  Her house was mostly an open floor plan, with the living room in clear view of the dining room, and only the kitchen tucked back in the corner of the house. The two bedrooms were down the hallway at the back of the house.

  She handed over the beer, grabbed her smaller bag with books and what not, and led the way to the back of the house and her bedroom. He picked up her suitcase and followed.

  “I would just let him take you shopping, if I was you. He has great style, and a similar build to you,” Cassie said as she dropped her stuff in the corner of her bedroom. “He’d pick way better stuff than I would.”

  “I tol
d him yes. Any man that knows what you like and isn’t a threat is someone I’m going to listen to. Although, I’d rather that conversation not be in his bedroom…” Jace hovered in the doorway.

  Cassie stripped off her shirt and dropped it in the dirty hamper. She faced Jace, not able to keep from glancing down his body. Marcus had chosen a crisp, white button up that was a little tight up top, but tapered down as Jace’s body tapered down. Jeans had been replaced with ironed slacks that did wonderful things for his legs. Her mouth started to salivate.

  “Turns out he was right.” Jace’s dimple came out to play as he set down the suitcase and started for her.

  “No, no!” She waved her hands at him. “No, don’t touch me. You look good enough to lick. I don’t want to ruin it!”

  The dimple got deeper. “How about I just touch you?”

  Cassie held up one finger as her core started to throb. “Do not. I will lose control and strip the clothes off you. Then you won’t be so…crisp. You need to be crisp for that outfit to work. It perfectly contrasts your…bad boy vibe.”

  “My bad boy vibe?” Jace asked, sauntering closer.

  Cassie’s knees got weak at the lewd sparkle in his eyes. Her heart started to hammer the closer he got. It got wetter between her legs. “Please stay back,” she whispered.

  His smile was so bright he could’ve blotted out the sun. “Fine. But strip here. I want to see you.”

  “You want to torture yourself, is that it?” she said, pushing down the waist of her pants.

  “Just a little fodder for the spank bank, actually.”

  Cassie smiled as she slipped out of her panties, and then discarded her bra. Completely nude, which had never bothered her in her own home, she strutted to the bathroom in the hallway—her house only having one. “Are you going to watch me shower, too?”

  “No. I’m going to bring in your wine. Do you have a wine rack?”

  “Yes, but not all of that is for me, so if you wouldn’t mind, just put it in the living room. Or dining room? Or anywhere, really. It doesn’t matter.”

  Cassie heard a “Love you” as she started the shower. She closed her eyes and savored the warmth in her chest.

  She just hoped Sean and Krista saw what she did. She hoped her need for love hadn’t blinded her.

  Chapter 25

  Jace wandered through Cassie’s space, taking it all in. It was easy to forget he’d only just met her. Together they were better than great, but they had no past to build from. No historical knowledge of each other.

  Correction: he had no historical knowledge of her. She’d gotten a crash course on him, thanks to his harebrained family.

  She had mentioned that Marcus and Peter had had a hand in decorating her place, and while he saw that in the finery around him, she’d obviously told them what she liked. The paintings on the wall were mostly abstracts, but so interesting they trapped the eye and compelled him to examine all the small nuisances and details. Jace loved every one of them. Some small, some larger, each different, and each packing so much feeling he had a visceral reaction.

  And then there were the colors. She didn’t have pops of brilliant purples or blues—they were all warm colors. Earthy. Subtle. Very relaxing.

  His gaze swept the living room. She had a huge TV he could definitely get behind, a Bose sound system, and some well-made leather couches. They looked like they would mold to his butt, but he didn’t want to try them out for fear he’d switch on the TV and opt to just stay in for the night. Which was a great idea, because he was tired after a seven-hour drive and all this newness, but he wanted to meet her friends. He wanted to flesh her out a bit more. Resting could wait.

  He meandered past the dining room and into the kitchen, putting his empty beer on the counter before realizing she had one of those bins where one side was the garbage, and one side recycling. No foot buttons to open the lid, though.

  He leaned over it, feeling more than a little stupid that he couldn’t figure out how to throw something away. Catching his movement, the lid on the recycle bin swished open, a little light turning red on what must be the sensor.

  Hands-free. Slick.

  He threw his bottle in before opening the fridge and having a peek. Then leaned in a little further. It was mostly empty. An onion and a few apples at the bottom, some cans of V-8, beer, bottles of water…not many food products.

  Jace peeked in her cabinets, relieved that she at least had a slew of non-perishables. Well-organized non-perishables, too. The pasta section encompassed things like spaghetti, but also boxes of Mac N Cheese. Canned section, boxed section—everything had a home. OCD much?

  Grinning, he headed back out to the living room. Decorative candleholders, crystal, china in the cabinet by the table—everything had a home. A few things were left out, like a water bottle on the dining table, or the laptop on the coffee table, but most things were sitting in a particular place. She existed in compartments, which probably helped maintain her multiple personalities.

  Jace smirked. She’d be easier to read with that little snippet of knowledge. He just had to learn the tells. And she’d hate that he could anticipate her, which would make for a great laugh.

  Jace liked it here. It was her, from top to bottom, and it comforted him. He wanted to stay, bring in his stuff, let her find a home for them, and settle in to a life. With her.

  Except, not in this particular house. Thank God she was renting, because this place was tiny. Comfortable because of the decor, but slightly confining. He needed much more space.

  He headed out to the garage to get that wine, and got distracted by the size of the garage in relation to the rest of the house. A two-car garage for a one-thousand square foot house? Although, the garage was long, rather than wide, so for two cars to fit, they’d have to go in one after the other. It would be fine for storing a car, and using the extra space for storage, but not great for two people that both wanted to park in the garage.

  Speaking of storing, there was plenty of space for his Harley. She had the same philosophy in the garage as the house—all items lived in one particular place. Shelves housed bulk items, probably from Costco. The washer and dryer had a clothes rack next to it where a silk blouse hung. A bicycle and fold up chairs hung out in the corner…and not a lot else.

  Jace could turn half of this place into an excellent shop. He could restore old bikes without even needing to open a new branch. Although, it would only suffice for him, and since each new branch he opened tended to blossom within a few months, he wouldn’t stay for long.

  Still…

  He had a quick peek out the back window and cringed. He’d just found her weakness—yard work. The lawn was mowed, but there were patches of dirt to the sides, intended for flowers, that housed weeds instead. A sea of rocks could be a rock-star vegetable garden. She had no outdoor furniture. The woman didn’t even have a barbeque.

  It would never do. He’d let Marcus dress him up tomorrow, and then he’d make Marcus go to Home Depot on the way back. Payback for what Jace knew would be an awful afternoon.

  Jace wandered back to the car for the wine, his mind drifting toward the life his brother had created for himself. He couldn’t remember ever seeing Peter so happy. So blessedly relaxed. He thought it’d be gross seeing his brother leaning up against another man, but strangely…it didn’t bother him as much as he thought. He didn’t want to see anything more intimate, but the idea wasn’t as terrifying as he originally thought. That might be because his brother had found someone, though. He had something Jace had always longed for. Someone that made him smile, and supported him, and was there for him. In Marcus, Peter had found family.

  Jace had to remember to call his brothers. They’d want to hear proof that Peter wasn’t lying. It was still a little hard to believe. You thought you knew a guy.

  “Having a good snoop?”

  Jace flinched as he snapped his head toward the doorway. Cassie stood there in a light dusting of makeup and one of those really fashionabl
e outfits that made her look like royalty. He glanced down at himself, his ego withering that he could have such a beauty on his arm without people snickering at the clown from the other side of the tracks.

  “I wore this to match what you are wearing, dummy. Don’t get all insecure.” She laughed and stepped into the garage. “Marcus put you in Prada. He’s obviously trying to piss Kate off. She hates designer wear.”

  “I don’t like that you can read me so well.”

  “Yes, you do. C’mon, let’s get going. We’re late.”

  Jace leaned down for a kiss, but stopped. “Am I going to ruin your makeup?”

  “No, you’re going to share my lip gloss.”

  As he touched her lips, feeling that familiar zing, he couldn’t help the relief in her grounded outlook. Marlene would have flipped if he tried to kiss her when she was ready to go out. And Marlene hadn’t looked, on her best day, as beautiful as Cassie. Not even close.

  “I’m lucky,” he whispered, running his thumb along her chin.

  “That’s because you haven’t met my friends yet. Or seen me…really let loose.”

  A flutter tickled through Jace’s stomach. He had a feeling it was about to get real.

  A half-hour later they paused outside of a dodgy bar with bars on the windows. Neon beer signs littered the front entrance next to the closed door with remnants of flyers and faded signs.

  “Okay,” Cassie said, her face ashen. Whether she admitted it or not, he was on trial. He’d passed whatever test Marcus had, but now Jace got the feeling he was going into the first stages of the lion’s den. “About K-Jaz. Kate and Jasmine. Kate will shock you because—“

  “Stop.” Jace put his hand on her shoulder supportively. “Don’t ruin the surprise.”

  “But…they aren’t normal girls.”

  “Why? Are they transvestites?”

  Cassie slapped his arm. “No. They are normal girls, but…they’re just…one of a kind, you know? Kind of a shock to the system. I’m kind of the calmer one in the bunch.”