My Brother’s Girl

by Parker, Ali

  “Then how did they know?” I pinned her with a hard stare. I wanted to believe her, to believe Caden’s best friend, Jake Isaac, but there was no way. The story had too many holes in it. He’d betrayed me. Plain and simple.

  “I don’t know. It was six years ago. Is there any way—”

  “No,” I barked out as tears blurred my vision. “No, there is no way I will ever get over it. He was supposed to love me forever. Someone fucking redefined forever for me. You have no clue how bad it hurts to know I’m not with the one person that was for me.”

  “Hey, it’s okay.” She reached out and brushed my tears off my face as a sob left me.

  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’m going home. You can come with me or grab a cab if you want to stay. He’s an asshole, and if he hadn’t proved that all those years ago, he just did again with his fucked-up antics on the dance floor. I’m not staying here.”

  He’d touched me like I was still his and assumed I would want that. He’d gotten in my face and tried to make me feel like I was the one who hurt him. What a narcissistic, backward, self-serving pig.

  “You listen to me, and you listen good.” Dana forced me to turn toward her and cupped my face. “He’s not winning this thing. I don’t know that I believe either of you were at fault, but you’re Olivia Desmant. You graduated at the top of your class from NYU and have been taking the finance world by storm. You don’t tuck tail and run. You didn’t back then when shit came up, and you’re not doing it now. Clear up your tears and show that bastard who you are. Don’t run from this. Don’t. You’ll regret it more than anything else that’s happened over the years.”

  I nodded and took a deep breath. She was right, though I hated like hell to admit it. Moving back, I wiped at my eyes and tried to fix my makeup in the mirror.

  “You’re right. I’m going to have one hell of a cry tonight when we get home, but for now, I need to show him that he doesn’t matter.” I gently poked at the puffiness under my eyes. “Is it obvious that I’ve been crying?”

  “Nope.” She averted her eyes and smiled.

  “Fucking liar.” I pulled her into a tight hug. “Go get the scoop on him. I want to hear what he’s been up to later tonight.”

  “You’re bi-polar. I thought we were going to hate him.”

  “We are, but only on the surface. He’s playing a game and I can’t let him win. I’m not sure working for Luke is going to work anymore because it would kill me to be around Caden all the time, but I’ll take things one day at a time, or try to.” I shrugged. “What else can I do?”

  “Do you love Luke?” She reached out and squeezed my hand.

  “I don’t know. I love the idea of what he represents, but true love where my heart flutters around him and every cell in my body lights on fire because of him? No. Not even close.”

  “Then why are you settling?” She released me and reached up to fix my mascara.

  “Because, Dana. No one will be who I thought Caden was going to be. Not even Caden has a chance of being that guy anymore.” I turned back to the mirror and checked myself one more time.

  “Then you need to get over it. You’re the only one suffering by the decision to shut every man out of your life. You’re comparing them to a boy that doesn’t exist anymore.”

  “Yeah, he does.” I smiled and walked past her. “But only in my dreams.”

  “Oh Lord. Here we go.” She laughed and walked through the door as I held it open for her.

  Somehow, Kadia had grown even busier in the four or so minutes Dana and I were hiding out in the bathroom. What was already a fully packed venue was now spilling over. People crowded the bars, pressed up shoulder to shoulder as they waited for their chance to place their drink orders. Dancers had taken to the platforms spread throughout the place and the clothing was getting skimpier and skimpier. I glanced up at the third floor and spied a completely naked girl with copper hair twirling around a dance pole before a sea of men, all of whom likely wanted to steal her away into one of the sex rooms.

  I couldn’t blame them. She was a smoke show.

  I spied Luke through the crowd, talking with a large group of people. I assumed and hoped that these were people who worked with him. Even if I had no intention of accepting the job at Taylor, Taylor, and Barden, it would still serve me well to do some networking. I couldn’t let Caden’s presence get in the way of my career trajectory. Nothing else ever had. Why should he be any different?

  “I’m going to go take my place beside the boss man,” I told Dana, nodding at Luke as he threw his head back and laughed at something a pretty blonde with red lips said. “Find Caden and see what you can find out?”

  I gave her a tight smile and walked toward Luke, grateful that Caden was nowhere to be found. His crude comment wasn’t heartfelt at all but a jab to pull me in closer. I hadn’t seen him in six long years, but I knew his tricks backward and forward. Now I just had to work hard at not falling for them.

  “Hi, beautiful.” Luke extended his hand toward me as the crowd parted a little.

  “Hey, you.” I moved up beside him and wrapped an arm around the back of his waist before smiling up at him.

  Luke gave my ass a squeeze and let his hand fall a little lower to the hemline of my dress. The tips of his fingers grazed across the backs of my thighs as he turned to face his groupies. “Guys, this is Olivia. She’ll most likely be joining us at the firm. She’s brilliant and beautiful, no?”

  “The question is, what is she doing with the likes of you?” A handsome blond guy chuckled and extended his hand. “I’m Jeremy. Remember me? From the poker tournament we played for Luke together?”

  “Of course, I remember you. I took half your money. It’s good to see you again, Jeremy.” I shook his hand.

  Jeremy laughed and rubbed at his chest. “I was hoping you’d forgotten.”

  Luke’s fingers were creeping dangerously close to my ass cheeks. I hated that he would do this to me when I was trying to impress his colleagues, but I also liked it. I liked the risk. I liked the flutter in my chest. And I especially liked how his touch made me forget all about his little brother.

  “I never forget,” I teased.

  “I’d love to know what she’s doing with you too, Luke.” Caden walked up on the other side of me and snorted as he moved into the circle. I was struck with the sudden impulse to slap Luke’s hand away. “Seems like she chose the wrong brother, hm?”

  Everyone laughed and took turns introducing themselves. I ignored the tension coming off of Caden and wished for the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I could put up a brave front with Dana, but standing beside him left me weak and ready to run for cover.

  I wanted his fingers tracing lazy patterns on the back of my thighs. I wanted him to be the guy in the club who knew this place was for the sex depraved, who knew he could get away with things with my body at Kadia that he couldn’t in any other club.

  The crowd disbursed and I faced Luke, reaching up to smooth out the collar of his shirt. “Your employees seem nice.”

  “They are, for the most part,” he said. “But they can be sharks. You’ll have to watch your back with them.”

  “Just with them?” I nipped at his lips as I stretched to the tips of my toes. “You and I both know you’re the real shark, baby.”

  Luke growled and I felt it rumble in his chest. “You’re coming home with me tonight.” He leaned down and kissed my lips a few times.

  I knew Caden was watching and I was glad for it.

  Good. Let him watch. Let him squirm. Let him imagine all the ways his brother touches me now.

  I pulled back and sighed heavily. “I can’t. You know I need to spend time with Dana. We’re running out of days before she has to fly home. But you’ll be the first person I go to for comfort when she leaves.”

  Luke pressed his thumb to my lower lip. “Comfort, hm?”

  Caden cleared his throat and lifted his beer. “To you two love birds. I hope you enjoy ea
ch other.” He poured the entire thing down his throat and left his empty glass on a nearby table. Then he turned and marched off, leaving me reveling in my victory.

  “We always do.” Luke winked at me, took my hand, and led me back to the dance floor where he spun me out and then into him, catching me with a hand on my waist. “You look stunning tonight, Olivia. Every man in this place wants you. Come here so I can put my hands on you without looking like a sex-starved man in front of my staff.”

  “I was rather hoping you were starved. I like feeding you.” I turned and slid my hands up his chest as my stomach soured. I wanted to shove my relationship in Caden’s face, and yet there was a huge part of me that ached at the thought of being the one on the side of the dance floor watching him be pawed at by someone. I glanced his way and was glad to see him and Dana talking off to the side. The sweet smile on his handsome face reminded me so much of the boy I’d grown up with. The one that taught me to fish and took me to all the school dances.

  “I wish you would change your mind.” Luke leaned down and kissed the side of my neck as his hands squeezed the top curve of my ass.

  “About what?” I turned my face a little to brush my lips by his temple.

  “About coming home with me. I got some new toys I want to try out on you.” He pressed his lips to mine and breathed in deeply. “And then I want to bend you over and slide into that tight little ass of yours. It’s been too long, baby. I’m starting to forget what it feels like to be inside you.”

  A soft groan left me, and I moved back a little. “Behave. I’ll come over this week sometime and we can see if you invested wisely at the sex shop.”

  “Something about hearing you come leaves me looking for imaginative ways to make it happen.” He pulled me in tightly again. “We need to stop. My dick is rock hard and quite noticeable I’m sure.”

  “I would say so.” I brushed my stomach against his erection and touched the side of his face. “Have fun tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow. My stomach is killing me.”

  “No. Don’t go yet. You just got here.” He touched the side of my face as his expression hardened.

  “Don’t whine. I hate it when you do that.” I winked, moved back, and walked toward Dana as she and Caden laughed about something loudly.

  “I’m heading home. You coming or getting a ride?” I forced a tight smile and focused on Dana only. The weight of Caden’s stare left my pulse spiking and my stomach tightening.

  “No, I’m coming with you.” Dana turned back to Caden and gave him a quick hug. “It was good to see you, old friend. You still talk to Jake?”

  “Sure do. The old bastard up and moved to Maine.” He shrugged, looking impossibly cute. “He’s a junior high coach up there now. Loves it.”

  “I thought he was going to fire training,” I butted in, momentarily lost to the conversation.

  “He finished that up too. He just volunteers at the local station.” Caden’s expression softened. “Hey, about what I said out there.”

  “No. We’re good. Nice party. Thanks for the beer.” I glanced down at Dana. “You ready to go drown our lust in a bowl of ice cream and old stories?”

  “I sure am.” She turned to Caden. “Take care.”

  “You too, Dana.” He lifted his beer and turned his attention back on me.

  I wanted to break the stare, but I couldn’t. I needed to search his face, to find the boy I loved in the man that stood in front of me. Those were the same deep green eyes I’d lost myself in as a girl. His jaw was the same, too. Flexed and stern and hard. I’d always known what he was feeling just by the set of his jaw. His brow was furrowed. His forearms thick with muscles and straining at the fabric of his dark shirt.

  He was so much more drool worthy now than I ever could have imagined.

  “All right. Let’s go.” Dana pulled me back.

  I turned and walked to the door with her, ignoring the deep throbbing in my chest. I glanced down to ensure my heart wasn’t lifting my blouse with the intensity of its thumping.

  “Fuck,” I mumbled and pushed the door to the club open.

  “Yeah, that was intense.” She shook her head and glanced back at me. “What if he didn’t do what you think he did all those years ago, Olivia? What if someone pulled the wool over both of you? To break you up?”

  “Who would do that? And if so, why the fuck wouldn’t he be man enough to confront me?” I handed the valet my ticket and glanced back at the club. “It doesn’t matter. I have much bigger problems than a handful of what-ifs from the past where Caden is concerned.”

  “Like what?” She put her hand on her hip.

  “Like the fact that I’m dating his brother.”

  “Who you don’t love.”

  “That’s irrelevant. This isn’t a fairy tale and I’m not a princess.”

  “You act like one at times.” She wrapped her arm around my back and pressed her head to my shoulder. “We’ll figure it out, but don’t close every door. Not yet. Not when fate is softly knocking. And for the record? Not being in love with Luke is very relevant. Like extremely relevant.”

  I dismissed her concern with a wave of my hand. “Yeah, yeah. Agree to disagree. I’ll sort it out. I just need time.”

  “You need tough love,” Dana muttered.

  Chapter 15

  Caden

  I danced with a few of the girls from the office and took my leave a little early too. After a long night of tossing and turning, I finally decided to get up. The apartment was quiet and a little chilly in the early morning light.

  After fixing a cup of coffee, I pulled down my old yearbooks and sat at the kitchen table, mulling over all the great shots of me and Olivia. She’d changed so much and yet not at all. She still had the same brilliant white smile and high round cheeks. She still had the inquisitive bright blue eyes and the smooth skin and the deep full lips. She still had the body. She was just a little more filled out now. She’d gone from being a girl to being a woman and the change suited her well.

  But there was something different about her. She had a hard edge about her that hadn’t been there when we were young. Back then, she was all soft edges and sweet smiles. Now she was hard edges and rehearsed smiles. Her work had changed her.

  Or what happened between us had changed her. It had certainly changed me.

  All that was missing was my ring on her finger and our first baby in her belly. Maybe that would have saved her from the hardness.

  “Shit,” I mumbled as I closed our senior yearbook and sat back. “Why? Why didn’t I just go after her? Demand to know what she was thinking spreading that shit about me? All those years and she turns on me our senior year. Why?”

  I leaned forward and pressed my palms to my eyes. Seeing her the night before had been the biggest thrill I’d had in years, and yet I was completely messed up inside over it. I hadn’t been lying on the dance floor when I opened myself up to the truth. I’d been looking for her everywhere since the minute I left home for college, regardless of the fact that I had no clue that she’d come to New York as well. The last year since getting her resume had been hell. I couldn’t go anywhere without searching the faces with a franticness that I hated.

  “And now I’ve found you.” I brushed my hand over the yearbook. “And you belong to the one man I’d never hurt.”

  I let out a long sigh and got up to get dressed. I was meeting Luke at the golf course in an hour as I did every Saturday morning. It was where we did our best thinking—or tried to.

  After changing into a pair of slacks and a nice shirt, I combed my hair and stared at myself in the mirror. I hadn’t changed much either. What did she think of me now? She hated me for sure, but was she still attracted to me? Did her nipples bud at the sight of me? Did her body grow wet?

  “Stop. Shit.” I groaned as my cock hardened as if on cue. I didn’t have to do much more than think about her, and I’d be dangling over the edge of a caveman-like need for a long night of fucking someone. Anyone. Her.


  Fuck, I needed it to be her.

  I rubbed my chest above my heart and walked to the kitchen to get my keys. I’d take the bike even though Luke hated it when I drove it. It was uncouth and far beneath me in his opinion, but that was half the reason I got it. I wasn’t cut out to be the kind of guy that wore a suit all my life, but here I was, playing the part really fucking well.

  Was my girl doing the same? Did she miss the hayfield and big lakes we used to fish on? The sound of crickets in the distance and slow dancing in her daddy’s front yard? Did she miss me?

  Did she miss us?

  * * *

  The drive to the golf course settled me some, and the odd stares I got as I parked the Harley up next to the expensive cars that lined the parking lot were well worth the effort. The obnoxious shiny black bike with chrome details certainly stood out in the line of Bentley’s, Porsche’s, Mercedes, and exotic sports cars. Society could suck a dick for all I cared. People with money and high ideals were closed minded, and the more I hung out with my brother and his friends, the more I realized that he expected me to soon become that as well.

  Never. He might have been raised high on the hog in New York with his mother’s rich family, but I was a country boy stuck in a business suit. I’d learned to fit in eventually after joining him in New York and would continue to, but just seeing Olivia and Dana the night before had me yearning to get back home for a visit.

  Houston called out to me every time I got a whiff of freshly mowed grass or wet soil—both of which were hard to come by in the city.

  “Why do you do that?” Luke rolled his eyes and held the door to the clubhouse open for me. His dark gaze flicked from me to the Harley in the lot.

  “Do what?” I asked innocently as I tucked my helmet under my arm and tugged off my leather gloves. The smirk that played on my lips wasn’t helping my case much though.

  “You know what.” He popped the top of my helmet. “You know everyone here is going to hide their wallets now. You look like a misplaced Wall Street bad boy. Hide your daughters. He’s here.”