by A C Warneke
Though she shared similar facial features with Melanie and the same shape and color of eyes, Jenna’s hair was black as midnight and short, just brushing her chin. Even though she had chopped off the locks in a moment of bleak despair it was simply easier to keep her hair short, especially with a baby.
Jenna’s eyes moved between Ferris and Melanie, a slight smile tipping her lips. It was impossible not to love the two of them, even if it drove her nuts trying to understand them. They believed in fairy tales and magic, mystical creatures and happy endings and Jenna no longer did. She knew that reality wasn’t nearly so wonderful and she couldn’t pretend, no matter how badly she wanted to at times. Granted, it had its moments but life was dark and painful and some days it was all she could do to get through the day without worrying about the bottom being jerked out from under her again. She wasn’t sure if she would have the strength to struggle back from the abyss again.
Of course, Melanie could never understand Jenna’s reservations. Her sister had never loved someone so much, planned to spend the rest of her life with him, only to lose him in a heartbeat. Lenni led a charmed existence, untouched by the darker side of life, blissfully unaware of the harsh realities most people experienced. Throughout high school, Melanie was the imaginative one that everyone wanted to protect and shelter, the one with a dreamy smile on her lips as she waltzed through a life filled with magic.
Even now, she found the perfect, albeit tiny, apartment and she was madly in love with a drop dead gorgeous man that was madly in love with her. Vaughn worshipped Melanie, looking at her as if she hung the stars and the moon, watching her as if he would protect her with his life. It would shock Jenna if the man didn’t propose within a fortnight, three weeks tops.
Jenna wished her sister all of the happiness in the world, she did. She just wished Melanie wouldn’t try setting her up with Vaughn’s brother. She had barely just made the decision to dip her toes in the water again and she wasn’t ready for anything serious. Serious simply hurt too much.
As long as she didn’t think about Jeremy too much and what her life could have been she was okay. But when she was alone at night, the what if’s started crooning their worrying song in her head. The last thing she needed was a date with some prepubescent man-child who was only interested in sex. High school boys were all about the race to the finish and not the journey along the way. Even Jeremy sometimes had difficulties making it last but he had loved her and because they had been so young, sex was all about fumbling in the dark and clumsy penetrations.
Occasionally Jeremy had surprised her with extended foreplay, despite her furious blushes and feeble protests. Once, probably the night Ferris was conceived, she came with him inside her. Letting out a long sigh, she realized that it had been over six and a half years since she had an orgasm that wasn’t the result of her own manipulations.
“He’s not a child, Jenna, he’s a fully grown man,” Melanie managed to get out between giggles, pulling Jenna back into their conversation. “Why would you think otherwise?”
Jenna’s brows drew together in a puzzled frown because she wasn’t sure why she thought Rhys would be so young. Probably because Vaughn didn’t look very old, maybe mid-twenties, and Melanie kept referring to Rhys as his younger brother. And some of the stories she told, mainly the ones where Rhys was able to eat everything in sight and not gain an ounce, made Jenna think of teenage boys, with their hummingbird metabolism and dinosaur appetites. “Then is he a frat boy?”
Maybe an overgrown frat boy wouldn’t be so bad because there would be no chance of a deeper relationship. But getting involved with Melanie’s boyfriend’s brother was a bad idea for a million different reasons, the least of which was the awkwardness of having to see him afterwards when things didn’t work out. If Melanie married Vaughn, family gatherings would become something to be avoided like the plague and that was not something Jenna wanted to contemplate because she really liked her family.
“Rhys is not a frat boy, either,” Melanie chuckled. “He’s gorgeous and funny and has a set of abs to die for.”
Jenna smirked, one side of her mouth quirking upwards in a disbelieving smile, “And he’s not a frat boy? Any guy who has abs to die for tends to be gay or a total narcissist so which one is Rhys?”
Melanie opened her mouth to answer but the sound of someone knocking at the door cut off the words before they formed. Her smile grew impossibly wider as she crossed the miniscule distance to the door, throwing the words over her shoulder, “You’ll see in a moment.”
As she watched her daughter rush to catch up to Melanie, a brilliant smile on her little face, Jenna covered her face with her hand and chuckled softly. She would never win against those two. Peeking at the newcomers from between two fingers, her laughter died in her throat as a breathtakingly beautiful man with absurdly long hair wrapped his arms around Melanie and hugged her, picking her up and spinning her in a circle before setting her down. Then he bent down and as he greeted Ferris, his smile softened to one of genuine affection.
Without hesitation, Ferris stepped into his arms and embraced him with all of her five-year-old exuberance, chattering away as he stood up with her arms practically choking him as they hugged his neck. Jenna’s heart did a painful little lurch in her chest as the image of Jeremy holding his daughter flashed in her mind, juxtaposed with the reality of this stranger holding Ferris. How could such a magnificent man look so natural holding a nearly six-year-old child?
His long, reddish-brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail and hung to the small of his back, long, thick strands of gorgeous auburn hair. When he smiled, a dimple caressed his cheek and his brown eyes sparkled with amusement. The gorgeous stranger and Vaughn were definitely brothers. They shared similar facial features, from their stone-chiseled jaws to their straight noses and their full lips. But while Vaughn only had eyes for Melanie, Rhys was looking at her with avid curiosity.
There was a sense of familiarity about him, as if they had met before or knew one another in another life. Shaking her head to clear it of such ridiculous thoughts, she smiled wryly because she would have remembered meeting such an extraordinary man. And the longer he looked at her, the warmer his gaze became….
With a self-conscious gasp, Jenna was painfully reminded of her sprawling position: slouched on the couch with her palm over her face, gaping at the man as if she had never seen an incredibly attractive man before. Clumsily scrambling to her feet, she ran her hands over her short locks then over the front of her blouse, smoothing the wrinkles from the cotton material. She could feel the blush coloring her cheeks and she knew she was being ridiculous. Normally she wasn’t so bumbling, tongue-tied and gawky. In the real world she could strike up a conversation with even the most hardened of social misfits and put them at ease. Hell, in high school she had been the fun one, the daring one.
But that was a lifetime ago. Now she worked in the frequently dull but secure profession of an accountant and her social calendar consisted of play dates with mothers who had children Ferris’s age. Her social skills were widely out of practice and in the face of a dazzling smile they had disappeared. She really needed to get out more.
Pasting a smile to her frozen face, she wiped her palm against her thighs before holding it out towards the newcomer who still held her daughter. “Hi, you must be Rhys. I’m Jenna.”
He wrapped his strong fingers round her palm and brought her hand up to his mouth, pressing a heated kiss on her knuckles as his eyes darkened. Electrical currents shot up her arm and her skin burned where his lips pressed. He looked at her as if he knew her, as if he wanted to know her better, on an intimate level, and her breath caught in her throat. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Jenna. You’re even more beautiful than you are in the pictures Lenni has shown me.”
Jenna’s blush deepened as she lowered her lashes, absurdly pleased by his words, the way he said her name in that whisky and sex voice of his. It didn’t change the fact that she was going to disown
her sister when this night was over. As often as Melanie had talked about Rhys, she hadn’t bothered to mention how utterly irresistible he was. He was sex on a stick, oozing sensuality and charm with no effort at all. Rhys was all of the oceans combined and Jenna knew he had the ability to pull her under and make her drown.
Or she would just have to learn how to swim in the deep end. She just wasn’t sure if she was ready to go that far, if that was even where this was heading. She had just met the man and had no need trying to figure out her next move when he hadn’t made a move at all. The only thing she knew was if he was a frat boy she might have to consider going back to college to get a second degree.
Easing her hand from his grip, tearing her gaze away from his full lips, she turned to the golden-haired, golden-eyed Vaughn and smiled with true affection “Vaughn.”
“Jenna,” he said, returning her smile. Stepping forward, he enfolded her in a warm embrace, placing an affectionate kiss on her cheek before letting her go. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You, too,” she murmured.
He stepped back and wrapped his arm around Melanie, pulling her into his hard body in a gesture that was protective and possessive. The two of them were two bodies that shared one soul.
Jenna’s eyes darted to Rhys, who continued chatting with Ferris as if Jenna wasn’t there at all and an odd pang tightened her throat. But then, he looked up and their eyes met and she felt the earth shift beneath her feet.
Crap.
No, it was okay. It was a simple physical reaction to a gorgeous guy who looked incredibly handsome holding her little girl in his strong arms. Of course her heart would melt a little. It was merely lust and it was only because he was the first man she had really seen since making the decision to test the dating waters. He was the first man to look at her as if she was the richest, most decadent dessert and he was an avowed lover of desserts, ready to devour her. The feeling of being desired as a woman was heady and she just wanted to enjoy it for a little while.
It wasn’t like anything could come of it. Obscenely hot men like Rhys preferred equally hot women who didn't have the responsibilities of a child. Since she wasn’t disturbingly gorgeous and she did have a child that excluded her. But as long as she kept her head clear, kept it light and impersonal, she would be able to enjoy flirting with him.
Standing up and leaving Ferris with Lenni and Vaughn, Rhys crossed the very short distance between them and stuffed his hands in his pockets, a boyish grin on his handsome face, “I hope you don’t mind me tagging along.”
“It’s fine,” she said inanely, her ability to converse intelligently a hazy memory. Smiling wider to conceal her missing brain, she added, “The more the merrier, right?”
“Ferris has your smile,” Rhys said, reaching out and brushing his thumb over her bottom lip. The touch was light, barely there and just as quickly gone, but she felt it in her toes. She was going to have to revise her initial assessment because the magnetism of this man was dangerous and exhilarating. It might even be worth testing the waters and if she could find her ability to communicate, it might even be wonderful. A little embarrassment at family dinners would be an acceptable price to pay.
But then his words registered and warmth blossomed deep in her chest. Her smiled softened as she glanced at her daughter, conversing so easily and readily with Melanie and Vaughn. Looking back at Rhys, her tongue not quite as thick as it was two seconds before, she told him, “Everyone thinks she looks like Lenni.”
Rhys cocked his head to the side as his gaze moved over her face in a visual caress. His brows drew together as he slowly shook his head, “No. While she has long hair that would throw most people off, she definitely looks like you. And if she continues to take after her mother, which I am sure she will, she is going to be stunning when she grows up.”
Jenna’s tongue decided to take that moment to tie itself into another knot, all progress gone in an instant because an attractive man complimented her. She had to hand it to Melanie – her sister knew how to tempt a girl into throwing all caution to the wind. But how could her resistance melt in an instant? It wasn’t normal, no matter how gorgeous and appealing Rhys was.
“You are such a charmer, Rhys,” Melanie crooned from where she stood next to Ferris at the doorway. With a meaningful glance at both Jenna and Rhys, she squatted down to Ferris’s level and smiled, “Why don’t you grab your coat so we can get going.”
Ferris quickly did as Melanie asked and the three of them were heading out the door before Jenna realized what their intentions were. They were leaving her alone with a man that had been crafted from her darkest dreams, dreams that she tried to deny even as she longed to dream them.
Snapping out of whatever delirium she had fallen under, Jenna shook her head and laughed at her fanciful thoughts. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to end up like Melanie, with visions of mythical beasts and happy ever after’s filling her head. Grabbing her jacket from the coat hook, she looked at Rhys with a bemused smile. But then, as she was about to slide her arms into her coat sleeves, he took the garment and held it up for her in an old world gesture of chivalry. “Allow me.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, delighted by the gentlemanly act even if he seemed too young to have such courtly manners. Turning, she slid her arms into the jacket, feeling the warmth of his body as he stood so close. His breath moved over the skin of her neck as he stepped even closer, drawing his hands down the front of the coat to smooth out the lines and she had to resist the urge to shiver. Breathing deep, his warm, spicy scent filled her lungs and she did shiver.
Turning, around to face him, she offered a shaky smile, trusting in the old adage to fake it until it was real. If she pretended she had the capability to have a conversation it just might work “And here I was worried that you were still in high school and barely out of puberty. You’re not still in high school, are you?”
He threw his head back and laughed, the sound rich and sensuous and completely wonderful and she knew right then and there that she was in trouble. “Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea.”
“Melanie did say you were Vaughn’s younger brother,” she said with a slight shrug of her shoulders and a teasing smile as she began to remember how to flirt. It was a little rusty but at least she was no longer a burbling mess. “I’m glad I was mistaken. I think I would have had to disavow all knowledge of my sister had you turned out to be some sixteen year old child and that would have sucked because I adore Lenni, even if she’s a bit insane.”
“Ah, but she fits in so well in this madhouse,” he grinned as they slowly walked out the door of Melanie’s teeny apartment into the atrium of the men’s home. Grabbing a leather trench coat and putting it on as they made their way to the elevator, he continued, “She bribes me with the most amazing chocolates and for that alone I will forgive her just about anything.”
“Lenni and her chocolates,” Jenna sighed, her eyes sparkling with laughter. “She has gotten us out of more unfortunate situations because of her way with chocolate. I swear it’s a gift, one that I sadly do not share.”
“Then where do your talents lay?” he asked, pressing the call button for the elevator. It was going to be a few minutes because Ferris, Melanie and Vaughn had taken it down just moments before.
Her eyes sparkled mischievously, “My talent was in letting Lenni believe I was able to talk my way out of whatever trouble we got into instead of letting her know the truth.”
“That you used her chocolates?” he grinned in approval. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned against the wall and let his gaze move over her face, the appreciation apparent in his expression. “Beauty and brains. You must have to fight off unwanted suitors with a stick.”
Her smile broadened at his statement, enchanted by his somewhat archaic words. “What suitors? Most guys tend to run the other way when I tell them I have a daughter.”
“Then they’re idiots,” he said definitively. “Ferris is adorable. I swear sh
e can talk a stone statue’s ear off.”
Jenna inwardly cringed at the familiar refrain. While she enjoyed listening to Ferris talk incessantly, she knew that not everyone felt the same. Why it should bother her that he would remark upon it she had no idea. Holding a smile, she managed to laugh, “She is chatty. Her teacher is always sending home notes letting me know that she tells the most outlandish stories and that she needs to learn to be keep her tales to herself.”
“Never,” Rhys murmured vehemently, his nostrils flaring at the thought of anyone muzzling the little girl. “It would be like clipping a fairy’s wings.”
Jenna stared at him with a measure of respect because he felt the same way she did when it came to Ferris and her tales. Her stupid heart did another little lurch in her chest and she knew that it was starting to thaw from its icy prison of almost seven years. But why did it have to be with Vaughn’s brother? A man who looked like sex on two legs and probably had a harem of willing women? His defense of Ferris tipped the scales and made her eager to flirt with him. He was gorgeous and kind so why wouldn’t she flirt?
For a moment the years melted away and she was her old self once again.
With a relieved laugh, she shrugged her shoulders, “Ferris is simply too smart for her own good and far too imaginative. She and Lenni spend hours together pretending that they live in an enchanted forest with fairies and dragons and her latest obsession, gargoyles.”
Rhys made a strangled, choking sound and she narrowed her eyes as she teasingly glared at him. “I blame you, of course.”
“Me?” he asked, the picture of innocence as he held his arms out to the side to show her that he had nothing to hide. “Why?”
“Well, not just you but your brothers, too,” she waved her hand through the air to encompass the lavish hall way. “Because you live in this magnificent building that represents everything enchanted and wonderful. Ferris fell in love with the three gargoyles that sit on the roof and she has been asking for her very own gargoyle ever since she came for a visit.”
