She beamed, buried her face in the flowers and inhaled deep. “Love roses. My favorite.” She looked sideways at Jax. His brother was also smiling like a lunatic. All of a sudden, Cal didn’t want to know another thing about why these two had such a things for roses. He wasn’t stupid and had to block the image of his ‘tessa in all her blonde glory spread naked on a bed of rose petals.
‘‘tessa. Shit. Charlize Baron-Wilde. He was afraid—more afraid than he’d ever remembered being and that was saying a lot.
Before he forgot, Cal reached inside his jacket and produced the jewelry box. Emotion swept through him at the adoration in his brother’s eyes when he looked at his woman. He wanted to do right by Jax and be the little brother he needed.
“This is for you, Brynn. A welcome to the family.”
Jax stepped closer to his bride and watched over her shoulder as she carefully opened the little box. Her half-gasp was a relief. You never knew with women when it came to jewelry.
“Turquoise, babe. Signifies December and good fortune. The egg speaks for itself,” he added with a humorous snicker as his hand swept around Brynn’s waist and rubbed her protruding belly.
“Oh my God, Caleb. I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful. Thank you.” She put a hand on his arm and quickly leaned in to kiss his cheek. He chortled when she elbowed Jax and muttered, “How come you can’t be so enlightened? Huh?”
It was an obvious jest, immediately answered by his brother’s deep chuckle. “As if! And besides, something’s turned my brother into a pussy. A woman probably because no way is the kid I grew up with savvy enough to search for the meaning of a god damn stone.”
“Oh shush, you.” Cal’s chest tightened when the stunningly beautiful blonde turned her head and kissed his brother. “Kudos to Caleb for not being a Neanderthal.” He almost choked on his spit when Brynn pressed Jax’s proprietary hand into her stomach. “And don’t forget, I have a sister who sprinkles fairy dust for breakfast and never met a crystal she didn’t immediately fall in love with.”
Jax looked straight at him when Brynn uttered the words. The sensation of being squeezed between two high-speed vehicles as he struggled to keep all his tires on the pavement in a steep turn wracked Cal’s already shredded nerves.
“Which reminds me,” Brynn gushed. “Come say hello to my sisters. They’re dying to meet you.”
A brown-haired girl with laughter in her eyes and a smirk he’d normally return, stepped up with her hand out. “So this is what a race car stud looks like in the flesh.”
Cal shook his head and blinked. For real? Shit, man. Jax wasn’t kidding about this girl’s mouth.
His brother, a complete asshole on his best day, compounded Cal’s anxiety when he drawled, “Okay, Rhi. Hands off my brother’s stick shift.”
Jesus. He wanted to murder Jax and it didn’t help that his brother sounded so damn amused.
Operating with driver’s vision—a sort of tunnel focused on one thing at a time—Cal was reluctant to glance around. He knew she was there. Could feel it and wondered if she was as shocked by this turn of events as he was.
And then he remembered the awful way they’d parted. She hadn’t caused a scene, although one was well deserved. Her withering farewell comments still played in his head. Action. Reaction. Karma.
Fucking Karma just came and bit him on the ass. Hard. He shifted uncomfortably, back and forth on feet that felt leaden.
Brynn quite comically chimed in. “Pfft. As if! Rhi couldn’t drive a stick to a shoe sale if her next pair of Louboutin’s depended on it. But Charlie? That’s a different matter. Baby sister can drive anything with wheels and a motor.”
This is what they meant about life passing in front of your eyes—isn’t it? Well shit. The challenge was right there in front of him and everyone was watching. Including his mom.
Fuck. My. Life.
Like a scene from a goddamn movie, the angels started to sing, a beam of light appeared and into it stepped his dream girl. ‘tessa. Only her expression suggested something a lot darker. And dangerous.
What should he do? How should he play this? Her face gave nothing away except displeasure, and her eyes? They were guarded and not exactly looking straight at him.
“Cal, this is my little sister, Charlize. We call her Charlie.” To ‘tessa she said, “Sweetie, let me introduce you to the other baby in the family. Say hello to Jax’s younger brother, Caleb.”
Silence. Absolute silence. He swallowed hard. Extending his hand, he finally breathed when she slid her smaller one into his. He felt her reluctance.
“Nice to meet you, Charlize.”
There was a flash in her eyes and he briefly wondered how much damage she’d do him with a swift kick in the balls. But then it was gone and she withdrew her hand. “Hi.”
That was it. Hi. And then more silence. Dread crept up his spine. He’d just done a stupid thing—no doubt about it. By not being forthright and acknowledging that they knew each other, he’d created yet another layer of bullcrap he just knew would cause regret. They half-stared at each other for a minute—she was giving nothing away—before Jax landed another back slap and ended the uncomfortable impasse.
“Come on, man. Dad’s up next.” Jax kissed Brynn on the lips and smiled. “Ladies,” he drawled before he hustled Cal out of the kitchen.
“That was interesting,” he muttered to Cal. “Start working on your story, bro, ‘cause I’m gonna want every last detail.”
A blast of cold air hit him as they hit the patio. Shit. He’d lost his jacket along the way. Didn’t matter much ‘cause in a heartbeat he was wrestled into a mighty bear hug by his father.
Dinner went reasonably well. They were spread out around a massive carved table that took up most of the dining room. Because of his eye for design, he immediately tagged the unusual piece of furniture as Victorian era and made of a beautifully aging Walnut.
Luckily for him, the spotlight was on his brother and the charming woman carrying his baby. A good thing because he was still in shock.
‘‘tessa.
‘‘tessa was here and trying overly hard to ignore him. With a fake smile plastered on her face, she sat as far away from him as she could. Acting like the life of the party, he wasn’t fooled. She was forced and way too boisterous for the girl he knew.
Trying not to watch her was like driving past a three-car pile-up on the freeway without looking—it was simply not going to happen. So he kept it cool. Surreptitiously getting in sneak peeks here and there. So much better than slouching over his slab of bloody beast with utensils clutched like weapons, snarling and drooling at the same time. Why he’d be drooling was obvious, but the snarl? The snarl was for any sentient life form so much as looking in her direction.
The Baroness of Wild and Countessa of Skippy.
Charlize Baron-Wilde.
Part of him still couldn’t wrap his head around what all this meant. The Mad Elf he chugged down when Jax pressed it into his hand earlier out on the patio probably wasn’t helping. His fucking brother waited till Cal inhaled the entire bottle before informing him it was almost double the usual alcohol content for a beer.
The wine with dinner didn’t help either. Nobody forced him to drink. Brynn certainly wasn’t imbibing so going alcohol-free wasn’t a problem. But for the first time in a very, very long time he just wanted to get shit-faced and forget everything.
But here was the problem. The more buzzed he got, the harder it was not to stand up with a roar, pound his chest and grunt in her direction. Tossing her sexy butt over his shoulder and hulking from the room just seemed more and more entirely within the realm of reason with every sip.
His brother’s hand came down hard on his shoulder. “Just to be clear,” Jax grumbled so only he would hear. “Your keys have been confiscated.”
Shi-fuck, he thought. That drunk? I am? Wait. No. That wasn’t right. He screwed up his face in a tight frown to help him think. Right. Got it. Am I that drunk?
; Clearly, the answer was yes.
“Sorry,” he muttered as it all came crashing down. “Jax,” he ground out. God, he felt like shit.
“I know.” He patted his shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay, Cal. Just ease off on the booze, man. You never were a fun drunk.”
His eyes swung to ‘tessa. She was laughing and giddy. Her face lit up with excitement. Cal went from snarling possessiveness to wanting to lie down on the table and cry.
Miserable and upset he asked, “Why didn’t you warn me?”
Jax sat down and blocked his view. He had no choice but to engage with him. He didn’t need a mirror to know his face looked like a sad puppy’s.
“I didn’t know until a little while ago and even then I wasn’t sure. Could have been nothing more than a huge coincidence.”
Cal hung his head and nodded. Jax would never knowingly sandbag him—especially not if he knew how much this particular headfuck hurt. And it did. Big time.
“Although, I gotta say, bro. Your reaction is worlds away from what I expected. This isn’t like you.”
Jax looked over his shoulder a minute and Cal knew he was observing ‘tessa. Then he turned back and muttered, “Oh shit, wait a minute. You did something. Didn’t you? Holy fuck Caleb. Did you hurt that girl? Oh God. You slept with her didn’t you?”
Cal winced.
“Caleb?”
He drew in a deep breath. “It’s not what you think.”
Jax was up from the table in a flash and twisting the lobe of Cal’s ear. “Outside. Now.”
Everyone barely noticed they left the table. How could they when the middle sister, Rhiann, was holding court with what looked like an enthralling story. Only ‘tessa looked at them. Briefly. And then she turned away.
Fuck.
Out on the patio, Jax flipped on the propane tower heater and slid into a coat. Cal did the same having remembered to grab the leather on the way out—only he struggled overly long with the damn zipper on his jacket. Stupid thing kept moving and wouldn’t line up. Fucking Mad Elf.
“Did you have sex with Charlie?”
“No.” The answer felt totally justified. Until today, he’d never even heard the name.
“Caleb, don’t fuck with me.” Jax sounded furious and not just a little freaked out. “Tell me the truth. You said you met a girl and fucked it up. Did you. Have sex.” Cal groaned. “With Brynn’s sister. Simple question. That girl in there. Her. Answer me Cal or you’re taking a trip into a snow bank at the end of my fist.”
Oh God. He turned away from the fury in his brother’s face and scraped a hand back and forth through his hair. Shoving both hands into the pockets of his leather, Cal faced what he’d done.
“I swear to you—I know it sounds fake but honest to Christ, Jax. We didn’t do the whole name thing. To me she was ‘tessa and I, well you know I wasn’t using my full name. She called me Ty. So did I sleep with Brynn’s sister? With Charlie? No.”
Looser than he’d normally be due to his buzzed state, the hit took him by surprise and made Cal an easy target. Jax didn’t pull back at all. A burst of fire exploded on his jaw when his brother’s beefy paw made contact. It wasn’t that far a trip into a mounded snowdrift once he started flying through the air.
Sprawled on his back in the cold snow he gawked as his brother went bat crap crazy. Marching back and forth, his arms flailed as he exclaimed, “You motherfucker! I know all about that parade of high-end pussy you indulged in during your celebrity days. But holy God, man. That girl? Isn’t she a bit young and innocent for your jaded tastes? Brynn’s gonna shit an eggroll when she finds out you used her baby sister as a sex toy.”
Jax’s voice rose until it became a ferocious growl.
Hold on. Sex toy? No, dammit. That wasn’t right. Struggling off the snow, he scrambled onto the porch.
“Jesus, fuck Jax. You have it all wrong. It wasn’t like that.”
“Oh no?” The bellow was real. “You were her client for fuck’s sake.”
“How’d you know that?”
Cal heard the whiny dodge when he challenged the mention of what went down. The indignation rolling off his brother was intimidating as fuck. He wasn’t in a position to blame Jax.
“She told me herself, of course! We were talking about her job and I asked if she worked with any drivers. Had a feeling I wasn’t going to like the answer but asked anyway. Obviously, she said yes.”
Dammit. Cal waved his hands and made the T symbol. “Time out, time out,” he begged.
“Why? There’s nothing you can say that’ll excuse what you did. My sister-in-law or not, bro. I thought you were better than that. We do not fuck the people we work with.”
“You did.”
Oh shit. Why did he say that? “Sorry. Out of line.”
Jax glowered at him. But the taunt released some of the pressure on the escalating confrontation. Finally, after an uncomfortable pause, he gave Cal a chance to explain. So he did. In a hurry.
“We met at a party. Caught her red-handed trying to steal a jar of peanut butter from my pantry. You can imagine how that went,” Cal joked. When his brother’s stony face didn’t soften, he got serious again. So much for trying to be funny. “One thing led to another and we ended up in a make-out session.” He put his hands up when Jax looked like he wanted to explode. “Swear on all that’s holy we barely got to second base. Nothing but some over-the-clothes action.”
“A party, huh? Just second base? You say that like it’s no big deal. Then how the fuck does she end up working with you? Explain that.”
Hadn’t Thalia and JP warned him that his fuckery where ‘tessa’s job was concerned was one day going to come back and kick his ass? Well. Looks like this was the day.
“Hey. I couldn’t just let her walk away. I asked when I could see her again and she answered with some flip new-agey crap and a maybe yes, maybe no. That shit didn’t sit well with me so I did what any guy would do. Used my influence to get her assigned as my therapist for a few weeks.”
“And then you seduced her?”
“No. Shit, Jax. Stop trying to make it sound like I was fucking around for no good reason. I like the girl. A lot. Never had a female get under my skin the way she has. Nobody seduced anybody. We spent a lot of time together and for the record? She wasn’t stupid. Matter of fact she called me out for manipulating the situation.”
“So did you sleep with her or not?”
Cal thought about the blood stained sheets and clamped his mouth shut. No way was he going there.
“That’s none of your fucking business, big brother.”
He could have sworn he saw a flash of approval in his brother’s eyes and had the distinct feeling he’d just passed some sort of test.
“This conversation isn’t over.”
Of course not.
Cal felt a wave of love. There was no one on this planet he was closer to than Jax. He was a lucky fucker to have a brother who’d knock him on his ass and then jump down his throat. No, for real, he grumbled to the snickers of doubt tittering in the background of his mind. The man had an understanding of how the evolution of bullshit, internal and external, impacted our true selves.
Shit. Seriously? That sounded like something ‘tessa would say.
Jax wasn’t calling Cal on his shit. He was making it clear that there simply wasn’t going to BE any shit. Made him even happier to be home. Where he belonged. Where the hype and the celebrity and the phoniness wasn’t knee deep. Right now, all he wanted was to be real. Be authentic. It was the only way if he was going to fix the damage his fake life had caused.
He wanted Charlize Baron-Wilde and he was going to need whatever help he could get to make that happen.
“YOU WERE CERTAINLY ON TONIGHT,” Rhiann sighed in the darkness.
They were sharing the garage loft and collapsed together after the exhausting evening—falling onto the mattress that was too big for a full head and footboard in the A-frame ceiling’d space.
Charlie rol
led to her side and smiled at Rhi. The only light in the room came from the moonlight streaming in through the huge arched window overlooking Wilde House.
“It’s just so great being here with everyone. And seeing how happy Brynnie is—well, it’s contagious, y’know? Jax is a really great guy.”
“Mom says he’s smitten. Smitten! My God—I laughed for five minutes when she said it.”
“Aw, I think it’s cute,” she was quick to assure her sister. “He’s so,” Charlie made a comical face and fanned herself. “Ya’know? And seeing a big guy like that all but crawl on his hands and knees for Brynn, it’s … well, it’s staggering.”
Rhiann snickered and tucked both hands under her cheek. “I know this company that does personalized embroidery, like monograms and stuff, on clothes. Unfortunately, I didn’t think of this until right before coming here, so what I ordered won’t be here till after they get back from their honeymoon.”
Whatever her sis had planned was going to be legend. She could sense it. Rhi was good like that. Her smart-assery knew no limits and she could deliver a tongue-in-cheek headfuck without breaking a nail or smudging her polish.
“What did you do, Rhi?” She was laughing already.
“Okay, so you see how he pretty much plays the man-in-black card twenty-four-seven? Yeah, well I started thinking. He’s a big deal. The people working with him and his clients speak of Jax in glowing terms. Seemed to me a man like that, at the top of his game and with a business about to explode and expand, well, he needed some monogramed shirts. Not T-shirts,” she shuddered dramatically. “One step up. Collar and everything! Had a dozen black shirts embroidered with BWA. Discreet. Left breast. Looks like initials.”
“BWA?”
“Butt Whacker Alpha.”
The converted garage filled with the sounds of their hysterical laughter until Charlie begged Rhi to stop because she kept on tossing out one-liners about the attributes and characteristics of the homegrown alpha. She was gonna’ pee her pants if her sister didn’t hush.
“And holy cannoli, Charlize. That brother of his. My word. Who knew there could be that much sibling hotness in one family? Did you check him out? Aiee Papi! Pretty sure Caleb Merrill’s been leaving a trail of melted panties all across Europe.”
Wilde Magic (Wilde Women Book 3) Page 25