Although he didn’t know her parents and had only met them twice when they visited Jade on campus, they’d seemed nice enough. They’d been wholesome-looking church types who took Jade out to dinner once a month when they came into town and had been nice to him the times they’d briefly spoken.
“I’m not sorry,” she said. The unsettled truth of it was plain on her face. “I loved them, but I’m not sure they loved me, and I’m not sure I’m sad enough that they’re gone.” She made a soft sound at the back of her throat. Her lashes fell low to hide her eyes. She moved closer to him. Body swaying as she danced with him, following the strains of the tune. The song was deep and a little aggressive, but her body moved to a slower, more mellow beat. Brushing against him. Teasing him.
But he willed his arousal to stay dormant. Now wasn’t the time to get an erection.
“It’s okay to feel something different from what the rest of the world tells you,” he said. He knew all too well what he was talking about. “Not everything is as black and white as people make it seem.”
“Black and white are there for a reason,” she returned. “It’s a guidepost for what should be.”
“Really? I must have been doing things wrong then.” For most of his adult life, he’d existed in shades of gray. Always doing what it took to protect his family. Nothing overtly illegal, but all that mattered, when he looked at the crisis in the moment and its possible repercussions, was his family.
Jade made a noise of denial and snuggled closer.
Ah, she felt so good.
Like ten years before, Carter wanted to protect her. He wanted to shield her from all the bad things out there in the world that would hurt someone as delicate as she was. And although she was all sharp suits and aggressive wordplay and more successful than he thought she would ever want to be, she was still Jade.
She was still Thick Brown from the girls’ dorm upstairs, fresh from a sheltered life who hadn’t even known what a condom was or how to use one.
With the music thumping around them, Carter made a shushing noise and tugged her closer. He rested his arms along the vulnerable line of her back and allowed her to move in the shelter of his arms. Her silk blouse brushed against his cotton shirt. Her warm breath seasoned his throat. The speakers rained down familiar music and it shoved him right back to the ball of yearning and uncertainty he had been back then.
In college, he’d only been certain of two things. His love for his family. And his ability to fix anything they needed. When Jade blew into his life, something changed, though. At the time, he had no idea what. But now...
God, she was so beautiful. Without realizing it, he’d missed this. The wanting a woman in one breath, and needing to protect her in the next.
He’d missed Jade Tremaine powerfully, and it was a miracle or some extreme denial that he was just now realizing it.
Moving together without the intrusion of conversation, he allowed her the space to simply be for long moments before he spoke again. “Do you want a drink?”
Her head slowly came up and she seemed to blink away whatever was at the forefront of her mind. “God, I must be more tired than I realized.” Lashes flickering low over her eyes, Jade trailed long fingers down her throat and drew back. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I...” She looked around her. “I came here with a friend, or someone I just met.” She wrinkled her nose then. “I don’t know where she went, though.”
“She ditched you?”
“No, it’s nothing like that.” Jade pulled all the way back until they were no longer touching. “I should go.” She dug the heel of one hand into her eye, blinked, then straightened her shoulders.
“Do you even know where you are?” Carter asked.
“No, but I have GPS on my phone.” She all but rolled her eyes at him. “I’m not as helpless as I was back in college.”
Internally, he winced. Of course she wasn’t. For a few minutes, he may have fooled himself into thinking that a small part of the college girl still remained, but now that illusion was gone.
Jade was a grown and practical woman, fully capable of taking care of herself.
He tried to appeal to that part of her. “You look exhausted. You can sit for a minute at my table and have a coffee before you head back on the road.”
Another shake of her head. “No. I think this is where I get off this ride.”
“Carter!”
He looked toward the sound of his name and nearly groaned out load. His brothers Wolfe and Leo cut through the crowd toward them. Only long years of practice hiding his emotions made him nod in the direction of his brothers instead of shouting at them to get out of there and leave him alone with Jade.
They barreled toward him, their height making them easy to spot in the club. It didn’t take a mind reader to see they were about to give him so much crap about Jade. Who they probably thought was just some random woman.
“What’s up?” he asked when they got close enough to hear him without shouting across the club.
“The usual.” Wolfe raised his voice above the music.
“Pax said you were here solo and might need some adult company.” Leo’s grin turned mischievous. “But I guess she didn’t know about your friend.”
“Friend?” Jade lifted an eyebrow at Leo, then offered her hand. “I’m Jade. And you?”
“Leo, the good-looking brother.” He laughed.
Wolfe shook his head and offered his own hand, introducing himself in the deep bass rumble of his voice. And Carter waited with a sick feeling in his gut for Jade to start stuttering or falling all over his brother like most women tended to.
“A pleasure,” she said with a firm shake of his hand and a smile. “You look a lot like Carter.”
“Yes, ma’am. I do. Not many people notice that.” Wolfe’s smile widened, obviously pleased when she didn’t try to make a fool of herself over him. He was well aware of his looks and his effect on the general female population. Happily married for the past couple of years, and infatuated with the same woman for much longer than that, Wolfe didn’t much care what other women thought of his looks. All that mattered was that his wife, Nichelle, loved him.
Unfortunately, Wolfe had to spend far too much time writing off women who had come into the picture as one of his brothers’ dates and ended up trying to get him into bed.
“Ma’am? I don’t recall seeing any grannies around here,” Jade said. “You can just call me Jade.”
“Jade, then.” Wolfe grinned. “Can we buy you a drink?”
She smiled tiredly. “No, I’m good for now, thanks.”
“Well, let us know if you change your mind,” Wolfe said.
He gave Jade another smile before turning his attention back to Carter.
“Did Pax finally scare you into coming out or what?” Wolfe chuckled and clapped Carter on the back.
Although the crowd was intense on the dance floor, Wolfe managed to find plenty of room to move. There was something about his brother, apart from his stupid good looks, that made the rest of the world stop and sigh and take another look. The man didn’t go anywhere without women falling all over him, promising him the world based on nothing but his smile and the unintentional smolder in his eyes.
Wolfe had always been that way, just as Carter had always been the plain one in their family. Once they’d all gone out together and a bitch of a girl who couldn’t get Wolfe into bed called him and Carter Beauty and the Beast. It didn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure out who was who in her mind.
Needless to say, she never got a chance to hit that.
“Pax didn’t scare me into a damn thing,” Carter muttered. “It was just time for me to get out.”
“You planned on getting laid after the blackmail job, didn’t you?” Leo smirked.
“That’s right!” Wolfe threw his head back and laughed. “Diallo Corporatio
n, the ultimate cock block.”
Carter’s brothers laughed it up real good.
He tried not to look at Jade, although he was well aware of her suddenly too-interested look at his brother’s choice of conversation.
Despite not keeping his schedule on the family calendar that usually had where each sibling was working at anytime, they always seemed to know what Carter was doing. Or not doing.
Instead of answering, Carter not-so-playfully punched him in the arm. “I had to get back here.”
Wolfe chuckled. “Come on, let me buy you a drink. We can talk better at your table.”
The music had changed anyway. The dance floor wasn’t as welcoming as it had been before.
Leo gestured in front of him. “Jade, join us?” His smile was wicked and charming.
The hesitation in her was obvious and Wolfe caught his eyes over Jade’s head.
What’s going on here? He caught his brother’s question as easily as if he’d read his mind.
Carter tipped his head in an answering gesture. I’ll tell you later.
“Sure,” Jade said. “I can’t stay long, though.” She checked the crowd over her shoulder like she was still searching for whatever friend she had come to the club with. Then she shrugged and followed Wolfe while Leo kept pace just behind her.
The bottle of whiskey was still there but the bucket of ice was fresh and four other clean glasses sat in a group at the edge of the table. The service was ridiculously good. Wolfe dropped into the leather seat with a groan while Leo sat down next to him, deftly maneuvering Jade into sitting next to Carter.
His brothers thought they were slick.
They had only just settled in when the waiter came back. “Anything else I can get for you?”
“I’m good with this.” Wolfe gestured to the whiskey, a thirty-year-old bottle he probably had a few of at home.
“Me too,” Leo said.
“Just a bottle of sparkling water, please,” Carter ordered while Jade just shook her head and sat back in the cushions.
“So, Jade...” Leo grinned, looking between Carter and Jade. “...what are you doing with our delightful Carter here?”
“Yes, young woman,” Wolfe rumbled with an amused glint in his eye. “What are your intentions with our Carter here? You know he’s a delicate guy. Don’t toy with his heart if you’re not going to make an honest man out of him.”
Carter could’ve happily kicked his brother in the teeth. Both of them.
“Don’t you guys have places to go?” he asked.
“Nope,” Wolfe said. “We’re just here for you, brother.”
Leo cackled like a maniac and poured himself a glass of whiskey.
“Seriously, you guys gotta stop busting my balls.” Carter grabbed the rapidly emptying whiskey bottle from Leo. “Jade is with Stoneheart Public Relations Group. She’s here to deal with the fallout from the situation with Jaxon.”
Wolfe whistled under his breath. “So you’re the PR wizard Kingsley was talking about.”
“I don’t know about PR wizard, but I can make most of your PR nightmares disappear,” Jade said, her tone casual and utterly confident. It was nothing more than Carter had already heard from his business connection in New York. He said she was magic.
Carter was very aware of her warmth next to him in the booth. He noticed too that some of her exhaustion was falling away. Jade looked more animated, more invested in what was going on around her.
“I like her.” Leo grinned. He loved anyone who didn’t conform to his expectations.
When the waiter came back with the water, Carter passed it to Jade without a word. In college, she had been obsessed with sparkling water, especially LaCroix. Surprise flickered across her features as she took in the cool blue can along with a highball glass already clinking with ice.
“Thank you,” she murmured. Then her eyes shuttered. She was thinking too much again.
Leo leaned close. “So what’s your game plan with the Jaxon sit—”
“Nope.” Carter cut Leo off. “We’re not discussing business tonight. Come to one of the meetings later this week if you want in on this. Tonight is just to chill.” Work life got in the way of a good time often enough. If they didn’t need to discuss Jaxon and his idiocy until tomorrow or even the next day, there was no reason to bring it up now.
“Cool. All right, all right. I get it. Business later.”
Coming from Leo that was pretty funny. While not as bad as Pax when it came to gutting life for the most it could give, he was as far from a workaholic as possible. He loved his life easy, simple and fun. Wolfe, who had his own company so had no dogs in the fight, nodded slowly.
“Yeah, business can always wait.”
“Good, because I don’t feel like trashing your brother in front of you.”
On the inside, Carter winced. Cue Leo’s defensiveness in three...two...one.
“But is it trashing if it’s the truth, though?”
Carter stared at his brother. “Who are you and what have you done with Leonidas Diallo?”
“Leonidas?” A hint of a smile curved Jade’s mouth.
“Yeah, our mother has a thing for Belgian chocolates. She saw the name when she was pregnant with Leo and his twin, Lola, and that was all she wrote.”
“Yeah, she’s lucky she only got stuck with Godiva for a middle name.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, my mother has been known to be very mean to her kids.”
“Not on purpose, though,” Leo said with a quick spread of his hands. And that alone was testament to how much he loved their mother. Carter didn’t think he had it in him to forgive a candy-coated name.
“You’re a sweetie,” Jade said, with one of her heart-stopping smiles.
And Carter saw it the moment his brother realized how shockingly beautiful she was. Leo swallowed, looked at her twice then looked once at Carter who only gave him the barest lift of an eyebrow. He could practically see the moment his brother made the mental calculation, the leap, and made the decision not to take any chances. He sat back in his chair, clutching his whiskey to his chest like a teddy bear.
Good choice. Carter briefly squeezed his shoulder.
Jade looked at them both. “Did I just miss something?”
“Nope,” Leo said. “Not a single thing. Um, tell me, do you have a sister?”
“What?”
Carter hid his irrepressible grin behind his drink. “Not everyone has an endless supply of siblings the way we do, Leo.”
“Why not? You’d think screwing like rabbits went out of style after our parents were done.”
“Maybe they just started using birth control,” Wolfe said.
“How many of you are there anyway?” Jade asked.
“Thirteen,” Carter said at the same time as his brothers.
Her eyebrows rose. “That’s a lot of kids in one house.”
“Thank you for being tactful with your response,” Wolfe said drily.
A laugh tickled fiercely at the back of Carter’s throat. He took another drink and swallowed it down. “Do you want a refill, Jade?” He gestured to her now empty glass and the melting ice.
“No.” She exchanged a quick smile with Leo who was pouring on the charm but from a safe distance. “I should probably be going. It’s late and I have to be up early tomorrow to take care of some things.”
“We just got here,” Leo whined.
“Not my fault you’re late.” Jade dropped a grin his way and Carter’s brother practically preened. She stood up. “But I really have to go now. No rest for the weary and all that.”
“I thought it was no rest for the wicked.”
“I haven’t done a single wicked thing in years,” she said. “So, no. Not so much.”
I doubt that, Carter thought, but didn’t say
anything about it. He finished the last swallow of whiskey in his glass. “Let me walk you out.”
With his brothers there, she had been fun and interesting, but he had the feeling she hadn’t quite been herself. Or at least hadn’t felt comfortable enough to say what was on her mind.
“I’ll be back,” he said to his brothers and stood up, buttoning his suit jacket.
“Don’t hurry back,” Leo said and Wolfe tapped him firmly on the stomach; his brother made an oof! of sound.
Oblivious to the men’s byplay, Jade had opened her mouth to say something, probably about how unnecessary it was for Carter to walk her to her car. But he moved out of the VIP booth and stepped to the side, waiting for her to join him.
“You don’t have to do this, you know.”
“Of course. I know all the things I have to do. This isn’t one of them but I’m offering because I want to.”
Jade stared at him, probably taking in how deadly serious he looked. As usual. Or as usual as she would find him now. “Okay.”
“I parked my car out back in employee parking.”
“Lead the way.”
With his brothers behind him and Jade in front, Carter walked out to the parking lot not knowing what to expect. She wanted to say something to him. That much was obvious. But what, except maybe to “confess” to him that she’d actually been a virgin their first time together, he had no idea. They made their way through the crowded club, and outside into the cooling, still-warm-somehow Miami evening.
“This is me,” she said when they stopped near a silver Aston Martin Vanquish.
God damn. The car was sleek and sexy. It was nice to see Jade standing next to it, all proprietary and so very seductive. She was a vision that made his knees go weak.
“This is a hot ride,” he said.
Jade blinked in confusion, like her mind had been anyplace but this parking lot. Then her face cleared. “You have no idea,” she said with a smirk. Whatever uncertain mood she had been in inside the club seemed to have disappeared completely.
Maybe her car was magic too.
Keeping her eyes on his face, she reached into her bra and took something out. It was the key fob to the car. Carter licked his lips, shamelessly watching.
Her Perfect Pleasure Page 6