by E. K. Blair
I yanked the door open, ignored them both and walked straight into the kitchen for a beer. I never drink during the day, but I needed a huge distraction.
Taking my beer back into the sitting room, I sat down in one of the recliners while I gulped some of the beer down.
“So who pissed you off?” Reece asked.
Where the hell did I start, because I felt pissed with everyone?
“My morning started off great, thanks to having the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my arms and then it kind of went downhill fast, and for that I can blame Lewis and my dad.”
Donovan and Reece were grinning at me so I just glared at them.
“Save the Lewis and your dad bit for now, we want to hear about the ‘most beautiful girl’.”
“Fuck,” I tried to relax back into the chair. “Thalia was in the bathroom when I got up, and yes I knew she was in there. I needed to see her, but I ended up sending her back to her room before I dragged her into the shower with me.”
“You’re an idiot.” I frowned at Reece. “What straight guy, turns down a hot chick and I mean she’s fucking smoking.”
“Watch your mouth,” I growled sitting up in the chair.
I looked across to Donovan. “Do you have anything to add?”
“Are you sure she’s dating Liam, because I’ve seen them around town and they never touch. There’s only been an odd occasion where he’s grabbed her hand when crossing the road.”
“She told me she isn’t dating him. Apparently he’s asked her to pretend so the folks don’t throw all the single girls at him.” I put the half empty bottle of beer on the floor and ran my hands through my hair. “I nearly fucked her in the kitchen.”
Both my friends just sat staring at me. “Lewis wanted me to take Mia to some charity thing Saturday night and I said no so he then got onto my dad and within seconds we were having a shouting match in the kitchen. I stormed out and onto my bike. When I returned I caught her in the kitchen looking out of the window towards the barn, for me.”
“Sounds like you’ve both got it as bad as each other. The question is have you got the balls to go after what you want instead of what your parents decide you want?” Donovan asked. “If you need a place to stay until everything calms down, the spare room’s still yours.”
“Thanks.”
My cell chose that moment to ring. With a quick glance at the display I discovered it was Mia.
Sitting back in the chair I answered.
“Yeah,” I said in greeting.
“Well, you’re in a good mood.”
“What do you want, I’m busy?”
In the background I could hear Reece whispering to Donovan.
“I need you to take me to the charity event Saturday night.”
Fuck, not again.
“Look, I’ve already had this conversation with your dad, and the answer is still no. I have a commitment, which I have no intention of cancelling.”
“Is it something with those two idiots, you call friends?”
“Yeah, it is. You finished now, because I need to go.”
“There’s no need to be rude, Jack, but I do need to attend this event.”
I felt like screaming, why couldn’t she take no for a fuckin’ answer?
“I said I’m busy, so you’ll have to find someone else to take you.” The latter I knew would piss her off.
“I’m your fiancée and you expect another man to take me to this event. Is that what you just said?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Then let’s put it another way, if you don’t take me to the charity event, I’ll call the wedding off.”
I was speechless, did she just say she’d call the wedding off. Fucking perfect.
Although she couldn’t see it, I grinned. “Fine, don’t forget to return the ring.” I hung up the phone and looked at my two stunned friends.
Resting my ankle on my knee and my hands behind my head I let them wait for an explanation. If I was honest I didn’t think the wedding would get cancelled that easily, but it felt good to get the last word in.
“She said if I didn’t take her to the charity event, she’d call the wedding off. I hope she meant it, but I have a feeling it was all talk.”
“Then why are you grinning,” Reece asked.
“Because it felt damn good hanging up on her.”
Reece banged his head against the wall he was leaning against, focusing his gaze back on me. “That’s fucked up.”
“Okay ladies, let’s talk music,” Donovan said, changing the conversation as he walked back into the room with his guitar.
I shot him a relieved look and nodded, “Sounds better than my screwed up life.”
“Yeah it does, although the drama in your life is much more entertaining than anything on the box.”
“We need to decide which songs we’re going with Saturday night,” Donovan jumped in with, before I could reply to Reece.
Chapter 28
Thalia
I’d tried on about ten pairs of boots so far, and was starting to get bored, but Liam kept saying ‘just one more pair’. I was going to scream. While the sales assistant went to root around in the back to see what else she had in my size, I started wandering around the clothes section.
They had some pretty decent stuff hanging up, one of which was a lovely, pale pink dress in the softest fabric. With a quick glance at the label, I decided to buy it along with a tank in white and a pair of pale blue denim shorts, which looked like they’d be real short.
I smiled thinking about Jack’s reaction if he caught me in them.
“Thinking about Jack again?” Liam asked. I’d forgotten I was with him!
“What gave you that idea?”
He laughed. “You’re joking right? Every time he’s on your mind, your entire face lights up like it does when you’re in the same room.”
Wow, I didn’t know what to say to that. I had no idea my reaction to Jack was so obvious, it surprised me that Liam would notice.
I needed a breather to get my composure back. “I’m just going to try these on,” I said to Liam already nearing the dressing rooms.
Inside I closed the curtain, hung the clothing up on the hooks in the room then sank to the floor putting my head in my hands.
There was no doubt about it; I wasn’t falling for Jack. I’d already fallen. I needed Callie.
Rooting around in my purse, I found my cell and dialed my best friend, but her cell just rang and rang. Damn. If I didn’t talk to her soon I’d burst. Liam had become a good friend over these past few weeks, but the kind of things I wanted to talk to Callie about I couldn’t say them to a guy, especially when it was his brother I needed to talk about. Ugh.
“Mia, are you sure seducing Jack is the way to go, I didn’t think you liked him much?”
Shit. Was that Mia and her friend? Two bitches together.
“Hush up, before someone over hears you. I told you the other day, he tried to cancel the wedding, but I acted all dumb and left. I need to make sure he marries me and the only way I can think of is to seduce him and tell him in a couple of weeks that I think I might be pregnant. Of course I won’t be because I’m on the pill, but it’ll work, you just watch.”
Oh my God. I felt sick to my stomach. I needed to tell Jack what she had planned, but wait a minute, didn’t Jack tell his dad that he hadn’t slept with her. So, perhaps she wouldn’t be as successful as she thought. I hoped not, because he was mine. God, if only.
Hearing them leave I poked my head out to check if the coast was clear. Without trying the clothes on, I snuck back out in to the store to find Liam, who would you believe stood chatting and smiling away to Mia and the girl, whose name escaped me...Rebecca.
“Ah, here’s Thalia. Did everything f...”
“Everything was fine. I found what I was looking for. Thanks Liam,” I said quickly, before he could announce I’d been in the dressing room.
“So, I presume you’re going to be L
iam’s date for mine and Jack’s wedding?” Mia asked looking down her nose at me.
My heart missed a beat in stress. The thought of Jack married to her tore me in two.
“Yes, she’s my guest.” Liam saved me from answering. “Sorry Mia, but we need to pay for these things and head out. We’ll catch you both later.” He took my arm and pulled me towards the cashier desk.
I sighed in relief. “Thanks Liam. She took me by surprise with that question.” I placed the dress, shorts and tank top on the desk and noticed a pair of boots on the display shelf behind the girl working the register. “Are those for sale?”
She looked behind her and smiled. “Yes they are, and I think they’re your size.”
Taking them from the girl, whose nametag said Tiffany, I tried them on and would you know, they fit me perfectly.
“I’ll take these,” I told her.
Liam chuckled beside me. “I can’t believe we spent ages while you tried all them on,” he said pointing to the display, “when, the perfect pair was sitting over here all the time.”
I grinned while I passed Tiffany my charge card, trying not to think about the dent it would be making into my savings.
When the transaction was complete, Tiffany passed my card back to me just as Mia and her sidekick walked up to us. “Oh, my boots,” she said looking at the ones I’d just purchased. “What are you doing?” she questioned Tiffany.
“This girl just bought them, so what does it look like I’m doing?” Tiffany grinned. Obviously there was no love lost between those two.
“She can’t have them, I was going to buy those,” she said before turning to glare at me. “You need to get a refund so I can buy them.”
She left me speechless. In her dreams. I decided to completely ignore her and grabbed the packages from Tiffany who was still grinning like an idiot and started to walk out of the store with Liam following not far behind.
Back at the car, Liam opened the trunk for me to put everything inside wearing a frown.
“Is she always like that?”
His frown deepened. “I’ve never seen her like that before, although she can be, um, difficult.”
“Ugh, she was fucking rude. See, she even made me curse, which I don’t usually do, well at least not out loud,” I ranted. “Do you know she’s planning on seducing Jack and then she’s going to pretend she’s pregnant so he doesn’t stop the wedding from going ahead. At least that’s what I overheard in the changing rooms.”
“Ah, that’s why you cut me off? You didn’t want her to know that’s where you’d come from.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh Thalia,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulders. “Do you want me to warn Jack, or do you want that honor?”
I sighed, not sure, which was best. “I don’t know, but he needs to be warned.”
“Yeah, he does. Although I don’t think he’d take her up on it, he doesn’t like her much. I know she’s pretty, but she isn’t for Jack.”
Hmm, what exactly did he mean, ‘she isn’t for Jack’?
Opening the car door for me, Liam looked deep in thought. “Do you want to go visit the next town over and we can have lunch over there?”
Smiling, I replied, “Thanks Liam, and yeah, that would be great.”
Chapter 29
Jack
The day with Donovan and Reece had turned out pretty good. Surprising considering how badly it had started, but once we started jamming and practicing some new songs, I felt great. However, after a day at it, I was exhausted and needed some food and hopefully some peace and quiet to eat it in.
My folks, along with Liam and probably Thalia, had gone over to Mia’s house for dinner with her parents. I’d purposely ignored my cell when they’d been ringing and hadn’t replied to any of their text messages.
So I was looking forward to having the house to myself for a short while, without anyone shouting at me to leave my boots outside, or wipe the crumbs from the counter or to not leave the dishes in the sink.
Smiling to myself, I knew I was going to do exactly what I wanted, including leave a mess. I wasn’t a messy person by nature, usually tidying up after I’d been in the kitchen; I just didn’t do it quickly enough for Mom!
Reece had offered me some advice about Thalia, which was typical Reece. The one he favored was for me to fuck her, get her out of my system and then marry Mia. Donovan’s advice had been to tell Mia to take a hike and to cancel the wedding myself and then to fuck Thalia...and to keep her.
Donovan was spot on with his advice. I’d spent the best part of the day between ‘breaks’ thinking about what to do. Mia, I knew was playing dumb about the wedding and she knew I wanted it cancelled. She was going to appear when I least expected it with a plan up her sleeve – that I did know.
As the wedding got closer and closer the more I panicked. What I needed to do was try and have a talk with my dad without him going off the handle, like he did with the majority of our talks. I just wanted to get a sense of what the wedding meant to him because I was so close to finishing my law degree that I couldn’t really see him withholding tuition.
Braking, I came to a stop at the front of the house and climbed out. Grabbing my bag from the back, I started to walk around the side of the house, stopping in my tracks when I heard Thalia say, ‘I don’t know what to do about Jack’. Who was she talking too?
Quietly, I moved closer to the back porch and could just make her out sitting on the swing with her cell to her ear.
“Callie, it’s not that easy. Ugh, he makes me so damn hot.”
I grinned to myself. So I made her hot, well she made me so damn hard.
“I’m not going to jump him. Callie, he’s engaged to someone else and she’s a first class bitch.”
When the hell had Thalia met Mia to make that conclusion?
“I haven’t spoken to her, but she was insisting to the sales girl in the shop in town that she refund me, because she was planning on buying the boots I’d just paid for. If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under.”
Fuck, why the hell was Mia purposely, pissing Thalia off? I hadn’t given her any reason to think I was attracted to her...or had she put the ‘wedding talk’ down to Thalia being here. Women!
“Callie, I don’t know what to do about what I overheard in the changing rooms. I mean if I wasn’t attracted to Jack, I suppose it would be easier to decide, but I don’t want him thinking I’m telling tales because I want him, which I do, want him I mean. Ugh...tell me what to do?”
Having heard that comment, I figured it might be best to make myself known. What did she overhear? It was obviously something to do with me.
“No, she didn’t say that. Mia said she was going to seduce him, to make him think she was pregnant so he wouldn’t cancel the wedding. See what I mean she’s a total bitch and yeah she even has me cursing.”
I leaned against the wall in total shock. That wouldn’t have worked, but I guess there was no way Thalia would know that considering I’m engaged to the damn woman.
Was she crying?
“Callie, when I think about Jack putting his hands on her and not me, it hurts...so much. I’ve fallen for him, hook, line and sinker, but he belongs to someone else and is going to marry her. What the hell am I still doing here? I need to come to you in Texas to find a Texas cowboy, although I don’t think anyone else will do, but Jack.”
She left me stunned, not only with Mia’s plan, but with how she felt about me and she sure as hell wasn’t going to Texas to find a cowboy.
“I’ll talk to you soon.” She ended the call.
Counting to ten I tried to get my breathing under control before I made myself known. She’d wonder whether or not I’d overheard some of her conversation.
“Thalia,” I said, making her jump as I approached the steps leading up on to the porch, narrowly missing one of the potted plants my mom kept there for decoration.
Thalia jumped and glanced at the phone resting in her hands. “I di
dn’t know you were there. Um, how long have you been here?” she asked biting her lip.
I was going to be honest; it would be easier, I hoped, in the long run. I met her eyes head on sitting across from her. “Long enough.”
“Oh God.” She buried her face into her hands.
Sitting forward, I rested my elbows on my knees, and asked, “Thalia, look at me.”
She shook her head.
“Please look at me. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
She appeared to take a deep breath then lifted her head and met my eyes. “I want you too; so much it hurts.” I reached out, but kept from touching her. Yearning filled her eyes as I dropped my hand back in my lap. “I know this situation is different and I’m trying to sort it out, it’s just not as easy as it might appear... Please don’t go to Texas.”
She chuckled. “You heard that, huh?”
“Oh yeah.”
“I won’t. I’m not sure I have the strength to leave, at least not yet.” She wiped a tear away.
“I also heard about what Mia has planned for me. There is no way that would ever happen. She might try, but she wouldn’t succeed...I’ve never had sex with her Thalia. It’s been over twelve months since I’ve had sex with anyone.” Fuck, I felt myself blush.
“So I heard, but, well, you’re a guy.” It was her turn to blush.
I laughed. There was nothing else for it. “How did you hear and yes I’m a guy. My fist has had a lot of use.”
“Oh my God. I can’t believe you just told me that,” she mumbled through her hands, which were once again covering her face in embarrassment. I just roared with laughter.
“How did you hear, Thalia?”
Coming out from behind her fingers, she looked away, out into the distance, but would be unable to see anything because it was pitch black. “I overheard you in the kitchen with your dad. I was on my way in for breakfast when I heard you both shouting, so I thought it best to stay out...I wanted to go after you when you left to make sure you were okay.”
I smiled at her, she was beautiful inside and out. “Then I came back and nearly had you in the kitchen.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” she whispered.
