Too Dangerous: The Lewis Cousins, Book 5

by Bethany Lopez

  I swung my legs over the top of the wall and jumped, doing my best to bend my knees when I hit, then I popped back up and hit a dead sprint. I could practically feel Gabe breathing down my neck as I ran, and that gave me the last boost I needed to push it over the finish line.

  Gabe came in barely a foot behind me.

  I slowed down to a walk, hands on my hips as I worked on cooling down.

  “Fuck, yeah,” I said, turning to Gabe with a shit-eating grin. “I thought you had me, mate.”

  “I tried, you took off fuckin’ fast, like the devil was on your heels. Great job,” he said, clapping me on the back.

  I looked past him to see Jed, Dillon, and Reardon running along side each other, all of them finishing hard. They crossed together.

  “Good on ya,” I called out to my friends, then took off at a jog to find Jasmine.

  When I reached the wall, she had just come over and was jumpin off.

  “Come on, babe,” I called out as I came up next to her. “You’re almost done.”

  Her cheeks were red with exertion and her brow was covered in sweat, but her face was set with determination.

  We passed Jed going back for Serena, and sprinted to the finish.

  Jasmine

  I looked around the picnic area with a sigh.

  I always hated to love our farewell barbecue. It was great to finish up our week with a celebration and to welcome new and returning counselors back to camp. Some of these kids had grown into young men and women and it was fun to see how they’ve changed.

  Still, it also meant family time was over and we’d be heading home.

  “So, what did the realtor want?” Rena asked, coming over and offering me a bottle of water.

  “Thanks,” I said, and grinned at her. “We’ll be able to close early, since the house is empty. Shane and I should be able to be in by the end of next week.”

  “That’s great, I’m so happy for you. I can’t wait to see it.”

  “Me, too. It’s hard to believe it’s actually happening. It feels like I’ve been in my apartment forever.”

  “Well, it’ll take some adjusting. I remember when Jed and I first moved in together. We had plenty of conversations about stupid stuff, like, replacing the toilet paper and leaving dirty dishes in the sink. We were both so used to doing things our own way, that it took a minute to realize we needed to put an effort into respecting each others wishes, and not fight about the small stuff.”

  “Hmmm, I guess I hadn’t really thought about the fact that Shane will be living there, too,” I said, catching myself when Rena let out a surprised snort. “I just mean … it all happened so fast, you know. We haven’t really had a lot of time to let the reality of this marriage set in.”

  And, that was the God’s honest truth. This wasn’t just some summer camp fling, Shane would be going home with me and we’d be living together for at least the next five years.

  Crazy.

  “You guys will figure it out,” Serena said, sounding much more confident than I felt.

  I looked across the lawn and saw Shane surrounded by a bunch of guys. He was doing some kind of movement that was part dance, part seizure.

  “What the hell is he doing?” Rena asked, following my gaze.

  “A victory dance?” I returned, although I wasn’t quite sure.

  Serena laughed.

  “Jed’s pretty butt hurt over the fact that he didn’t win. Said his hands slipped at one point and that cost him the lead. I have a feeling I’ll be hearing about it for a while.”

  “There’s always next year,” I said, thinking I’d probably be seeing that victory dance for a while.

  Shane had been talking about his win all afternoon.

  “Yeah, next year,” she replied wistfully, and I knew she was going to miss camp, too.

  “Hey, Miss Jasmine, did I hear that Australian guy, Shane, is your husband?” one of the female counselors asked.

  “Yup, it’s true.”

  “Wow,” she said, her face conveying just how dreamy she thought he was. I watched as she walked over to her friends, whispered something to them, and then they all looked at Shane and sighed.

  “Breaking hearts across two continents,” Serena joked.

  “Yeah,” I managed.

  That’s what I was afraid of.

  It wasn’t even his fault. It’s not like he was giving these girls any indication that he was interested or they had a chance, but that didn’t stop a girl from wishing. Hell, I knew all about it firsthand.

  This was why I’d promised myself I wouldn’t get involved with him in the first place.

  With his good looks, charming personality, and that damn accent, he made women swoon just by being.

  The problem was, I was charmed. One-hundred percent. Shane was the whole package, I just didn’t know if he was the right man for me. How would he fit into my life? How would I fit into his?

  I let out a sigh.

  Why does everything have to be so hard?

  “Uh-oh, I know that sigh. What are you overthinking?” She looked at Shane again, before turning fully to me. “That man has never looked at another woman the way he looks at you. And, you know, you always used to talk about what a player he is, but I’ve honestly never seen him with anyone. Yeah, he’s friends with us, Chloe, Zoey, and Laurel, but he always comes to everything alone.”

  I nodded, letting her know I was processing what she was saying.

  “Not that it even matters,” she continued. “Because you guys are married now. You’re married, Jazz. Stop fretting over schoolgirl crushes and give your husband the benefit of the doubt.”

  “I know, you’re right,” I agreed, although my mind was all over the place. “Like I said, it’s just all happened so fast. We never really had the chance to date and figure everything out. Now we’re married, and I’m supposed to just trust … It’s not that easy.”

  “I know. Especially for a hardhead like you,” Rena said, tugging on my braid. “Which is why I kinda freaked when you said you guys were married. But, after seeing you together this week, I have to say, I’m a convert. I really like you the way you are with him, and he with you.”

  “Good,” I replied, happy that our goal for this week seemed to have worked and all of the Lewises were on board with our relationship. “You had me worried there for a while.”

  “Come on,” she said, bumping my shoulder with hers. “Let’s go to our men and enjoy the last few hours of camp, before it’s back to reality.”

  Shane

  Things with Jasmine were a little strained.

  In her defense, we’d both been busy since we returned to Cherry Springs. I had to go right to work, check on applications, and get rid of all the crap in my studio that didn’t need to move.

  Jazzy was doing the same, at least as far as packing and working went. At least, that’s what I’d assumed, since she hadn’t really been available to see, or even speak, text, or message, me.

  But, that was all about to change, because it was moving day.

  She couldn’t ignore me when we were in the same house, right? Plus, I had a surprise coming for her later in the day.

  I couldn’t wait to see her face.

  Jasmine had taken the day off work and commandeered a whole mess of Lewises to help her move.

  I was able to fit all my stuff in the backseat of my car and drive it over.

  I’d given my studio one last look, thanked the landlord for giving back my deposit, and set off to begin my new life as a husband. With a home. And a wife.

  God, life was funny sometimes, wasn’t it?

  When I drove down the lane and saw the house for the first time, I couldn’t believe it.

  It was gorgeous, like something off of a post card. And, it was fucking huge. Jazzy and I would get lost walking around in that thing.

  I loved how secluded it was, and the grounds were magnificent. I could see the guys coming over for a game of footy on the lawn. Speaking of the guys, they
were traipsing in and out of the house now, unloading the truck that as parked out front.

  “Ho-ly, shit,” I muttered under my breath as I took in the white columns and long porch.

  I suddenly felt like an imposter.

  This place must have cost Jazzy a lot of cake, and I realized we hadn’t talked yet about finances at all. Hell, we hadn’t talked about much of anything, other than our initial getting to know each other chat.

  We had a lot to go over.

  “Hey, Shane, get your lazy ass over here and help us unload,” Dillon called out as he jogged down the stairs.

  “On it!” I yelled back, shutting the door to my shitty car and going to help out.

  When it was all said and done, Jasmine and I didn’t have that much stuff to unload. We in no way came close to filling up even a quarter of the house.

  “We brought some stuff over from storage for you guys to use until you start buying. Keep it for as long as you need,” Dillon said once we were all finished and hanging around the kickass marble island in the kitchen.

  “Thanks, man,” I said, tilting my beer toward him.

  “You just have the one bed in the master, but I don’t think you’ll need to be housing anyone anytime soon. If that changes, I think we have a spare queen somewhere.”

  Jasmine caught my eye, then looked away.

  I could tell she wanted to ask for the bed and had the sinking feeling I was not going to be welcome in the master. At least, not yet.

  Shit, she hadn’t been kidding about wanting to put me back in the friendzone.

  I’d kinda figured, since shed been avoiding me, but I was really hoping we’d be able to pick things back up once we were living together.

  “Hey, where’s Jed? I thought he was coming?” Reardon asked.

  He was currently putting food in the pantry. I wasn’t sure if it was new food, or had come from Jazzy’s place.

  I hadn’t had food in my cupboards, since I mostly ate at the bar.

  I suddenly felt like a complete loafer.

  Jasmine bought this nice house, she drove a reliable car, she was already putting food in the pantry … What the hell had I contributed to this marriage so far, other than my signature? Oh, and my dick.

  I looked up to see Reardon watching me quietly and remembered he’d asked me a question.

  “Oh, yeah, Jed. He’s on the way. He just had to stop and pick something up.”

  Just then we heard the crunch of tires on gravel.

  “That’s probably him now,” I said, looking at Jasmine with a smile. “Come on.”

  “What’s going on?” she asked, copping to my look.

  “You’ll see,” I assured her, “Now, come on.”

  I took her hand and led her to the front door.

  “Oh my God. You didn’t,” she cried, her free hand going to her mouth.

  “What?” Reardon asked, coming up behind us.

  “Oh, Jesus,” Dillon said.

  Jazzy pushed open the door while we watched Jed open the gate and walk in the yard, a baby goat in his arms.

  I let go of her hand and she ran down the stairs, cooing happily as she took the goat and cradled it to her chest.

  “That thing shit in my truck,” Jed said as he walked over to me.

  “Sorry, mate, thanks for picking her up.”

  “No problem. It’s just like little pellets anyway, easy to clean.”

  “How old is she?” Jasmine asked, her green eyes soft.

  “Eight weeks,” I replied, reaching out to scratch the kid’s head.

  “I can’t believe you did this.”

  “You said you’ve always wanted one. Consider her a wedding present, or a housewarming present.”

  “Thank you, Shane. I love her,” she said, and damn if I didn’t wish I could hear her put a you on the end of it, instead of her.

  Jasmine

  I was head over heels in love.

  With Daisy, my baby goat.

  Everything about her made me happy. The little sounds she made, the way she hopped around the house and in the yard, and her sweet little face.

  I couldn’t believe Shane got her for me. It was actually pretty funny if you thought about it, because we were on the same wavelength. I’d talked about always wanting a goat, and he’d said he always wished for a dog.

  Well, he didn’t know it, but tomorrow I’d be going to pick up a little beagle puppy from a litter outside of town.

  Guess we both wanted to give each other a wedding gift, and a companion to give us joy.

  It was certainly working with Daisy.

  Plus, I still needed to get him a wedding ring to wear. I thought about my schedule for the week, and although it was pretty packed, I could probably sneak out to the jewelry store on Wednesday.

  Or, I could check with Rena. She often commissioned not just paintings, sculptures, and the like for her gallery, but jewelry and crafts from local artists. In fact, that had been one of the turning points for her relationship with Jed. She’d wanted his river table for the gallery.

  I grabbed my phone and was about to call her and ask, when it started ringing in my hand.

  I jumped, startling Daisy.

  “Sorry, sweetie,” I cooed to her, putting her down to answer the call.

  “Hey, Zoey, how’s it going?” I asked.

  “Pretty good. Chris is here keeping Evie company while I try and get some words in,” she said. Evie was their daughter, and Chris was Gabe’s son with Chloe, and her nephew. It was complicated, but they all made it work. “I was calling to see if you and Shane wanted to come to dinner next Saturday. Gabe will be home for the weekend, so I thought it would be fun.”

  “Uh, yeah, I’ll double check with Shane, but it should be fine. He’s working the next five nights, so he should be off.”

  “Perfect, I’ll text you the details. Well, I’d better get back to it, this book won’t write itself.”

  “All right, talk to you later,” I told her, as I set off in search of Shane.

  Jed was over and they’d been going through the house, and the backyard, to see what kind of updates needed to be made. They were categorizing them in necessary, eventually, and purely cosmetic, then we were going to go down the list and prioritize.

  Turned out my husband was pretty handy, plus, since Jed was his best mate and a carpenter, I may not have to wait as long as I thought to make some changes. Jed had recently finished renovations on his house, and studio, with Serena, so he’d offered up his time.

  I found them in the backyard, which thrilled Daisy to no end.

  I left her grazing and joined them by the shed.

  “Hey, babe,” Shane said in greeting, pulling me close and tucking me into his side, just like any normal newlywed would. “We’re just going over everything.”

  “How’s it look?” I asked Jed, trying to ignore the way my heart was pounding with Shane’s arm around my waist.

  The more I was around him, the more he seemed to chip away at the barrier around my heart.

  “Pretty good, actually. The bathroom updates can be done pretty easily. We won’t know for sure until we get in there, but the bones look pretty good. This,” he said, pointing at the shed, “should only take a couple of days to get back in shape. Finishing the basement will be the biggest, most expensive, and time-consuming project. Luckily, there’s no rush, so you can decide exactly what you want, and Shane and I can probably get started on it in the fall.”

  “Wow, that’s amazing. Thank you so much.”

  “We work pretty good together, so I’m looking forward to it,” Jed said, grinning at Shane. “Well, I have a couple orders I’m working on, so I’d better get back to it. I’ll stop by the bar one night this week.”

  In addition to being a carpenter, Jed crafted and sold original furniture pieces. I was thinking about commissioning him for a farm table for the dining room.

  “Sounds good,” Shane replied, shaking Jed’s hand. “See ya later, mate.”

 
We walked Jed to his truck, Daisy bouncing around us as we crossed the yard.

  “Thanks, again,” I called.

  “No problem,” he returned.

  We watched him drive down the lane, then I disentangled myself from Shane and told him, “Zoey invited us for dinner on Saturday.”

  “Cool,” Shane replied, bending to pat Daisy’s head.

  “I told her I’d make sure you’re free … not working, and let her know.”

  “Yup, I’m totally free,” he said, looking up at me with a grin.

  “Okay-dokey, I’ll tell her we’re a yes then.”

  I turned and hurried back into the house, wishing things weren’t so awkward, even though I knew I was the one making them that way.

  I’d asked Shane to take the couch our first night here, and that’s where he’d been sleeping every night since. I felt guilty, having a bed and a room to myself while he was delegated to fit his large body on the sofa, his feet hanging over the end.

  I needed to order him a bedroom set for one of the rooms upstairs.

  I’ll do that now, I thought, grabbing my phone off the counter and moving to my laptop.

  “I’m going to go shower and get ready for work,” Shane called as he came inside.

  “Okay,” I replied, firing up my computer and shooting the confirmation text to Zoey.

  Shane had taken one of the upstairs bathrooms as his own, once I’d made it clear that this house would not be like the cabin, and our relationship had gone back to the friendzone.

  Did I miss his touch when I laid in bed at night? Sure did.

  Did I sometimes get off to memories of us in the cabin? Yup.

  But, just because I’d enjoyed being Shane’s lover didn’t mean I was wrong in putting on the breaks before things got more complicated. Right? I’d been burned plenty of times before, and the last thing I needed was to fall for my husband and have him turn out to be a used like everyone else.

  As I heard the shower go on and the faint sounds of Shane singing came down the stairs, I felt my lips curve up. What if he was completely genuine? If he really was as good as he seemed to be.