Daring Wes: Cade Brothers Series

by Jules Barnard

  Working at Club Tahoe hadn’t been on Kaylee’s radar. Wes probably wouldn’t be happy about it… But she’d scoured the want ads for days and there really wasn’t much out there. “I’d be very interested, actually.”

  “Wonderful.” Emily beamed. She stood and handed Kaylee her business card. “Email me your résumé and we can go from there.”

  What should have been entirely disheartening—finalizing the end of her wedding—had turned out to be…oddly invigorating.

  A job at the club?

  Wes would hate it.

  But Kaylee could think of worse places to work. Club Tahoe was paradise compared to some of the places she’d worked for in the past. And if she was supporting children, it wouldn’t be bad at all. Not exactly what she had in mind for a career, but she only needed something to get her back on her feet.

  Chapter 13

  “You hired who?” For a second, Wes thought Emily said she’d hired Kaylee to work at the club.

  “You heard me right, Wes. And I don’t want lip from you,” Emily said from beside Levi’s desk.

  This time, Wes hadn’t walked in on them unannounced. He’d learned his lesson the last time. He knocked first. But it wouldn’t have mattered, because Levi and Emily were actually working when he came in.

  “You aren’t the only one scrambling to get the club ready for the tournament,” she said. “We needed someone to run Club Kids, and Kaylee was the perfect candidate. In fact, she’s way overqualified. But if all goes well, I’ll be able to convince her to stay on. In the last two weeks, she’s managed to pull together a program that was running on a shoestring budget. It goes without saying that the parents love her.”

  “Two weeks?” How the hell had he missed that? Oh yeah, he’d been busy putting together a tournament.

  No doubt the parents loved Kaylee. On the surface, she was beautiful and sweet and gentle, with small things like children and puppies. But getting your heart crushed, even by soft hands, wasn’t something a guy easily forgot.

  Wes slid a look to Levi, who was smiling at Emily. “I see your velvet hammer is in full effect.”

  “You have no idea,” Levi said proudly. “And if we manage to get the resort ready in time for the tournament, you can thank Emily for it.”

  Emily tapped on her tablet. “Not true. Everyone’s been contributing.” She peered lovingly at Levi. “Especially you.”

  “Because of that whip you’ve been wielding,” Wes muttered.

  Emily grinned. “I do like that part.”

  “Babe, don’t take away all my thunder,” Levi said. “You know how much I enjoy throwing my weight around here.”

  “And I need you to. That flaky chef is giving Bran a hard time again. Can you talk to him?”

  “Macon.” Levi leaned back in his chair and crossed his thick arms over his chest. “It’d be my pleasure to make sure that pretty boy is doing his job. Matter of fact, maybe Bran should promote Macon’s second-in-command. We’re all tired of Macon’s after-hours activities affecting his job.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Emily said, and switched out papers on Levi’s desk. “Sign these, please. They need to go to finance.”

  Wes blinked and rubbed his forehead. The conversation had derailed. “Getting back to Kaylee, you really think it’s a good idea for her to work here?”

  “Yes,” Emily said. “And it wouldn’t hurt for you to check in on her. She’s dealing with a major life change.”

  “She’s my ex. Why would I check in on her?”

  “Because you care about her?” Emily said sweetly.

  Dammit, he did. But he didn’t like his family knowing it. And he didn’t like the look in Emily’s eyes when she brought up Kaylee. As though he and Kaylee might get back together—and that was never happening.

  He cared about Kaylee, but she’d burned him. He had enough disappointments in his life without going through another round with his ex. Even if she was beautiful. And sweet and feisty, just like he liked his women.

  Lately, however, he’d preferred the easy, uncomplicated type. Women he didn’t care to go back to. And it had been over a month since he’d been with one of them…

  Jesus, maybe it wasn’t the tournament preparation that was frying his brain. All he needed was a good lay to cleanse the mental sludge that had taken shape in his overworked body and mind, compounded by too much interaction with his ex.

  “I’ve seen her during lessons and she seems fine,” he said. But Wes wasn’t so sure. She’d been pretty messed up when he found her after Eddy McDouche had cheated on her.

  “Listen.” Emily actually set down her tablet. “I’ve invited Kaylee to drinks in the lounge with us tonight. We all missed it last week, and everyone could use a chance to unwind. If we don’t, we’ll be toast by the time the tournament arrives.”

  True. However… “Those regular get-togethers are for the brothers.”

  “And Emily,” Levi said sharply.

  “And I’ve invited Kaylee,” Emily said. “She has no one in town, and I really like her. She’s super sweet and very smart. And she’s helped me a ton. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, Wes, but Kaylee’s invited.”

  Wes glared at Levi. “Since when do women come before brothers?”

  Levi tugged Emily closer and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Emily is family. Get used to it.”

  Wes threw up his hands. “You’re not even married. Adam has an excuse to bring Hayden to beer nights—they’re engaged.”

  “It’s only a matter of time,” Levi said.

  Emily blushed at the touching look Levi sent her.

  This scene was enough to make Wes hurl. “I’m outta here.” He headed for the door.

  “You coming tonight?” Levi said.

  Wes opened the door and glanced back. “I’ll go, but don’t think my habits are gonna change just because my ex is there. If she doesn’t like seeing me hook up with other women, she can find different friends to hang out with.”

  “Giving yourself a lot of credit there, Wes,” Emily said. “How do you know Kaylee even cares?”

  Because Wes cared. But he wasn’t going to admit that to these two.

  “I just know.” He swept out and down the hall.

  Probably good for Kaylee to see him with other women. Would put them on the right footing moving forward if she was going to continue working at his resort.

  * * *

  “What about that one?” Kaylee pointed across the lounge at a beautiful woman with red hair.

  Wes gritted his teeth. This wasn’t what he had in mind. Not. At. All.

  Levi, the dumbass, had blurted that Wes was scouting women tonight, and Kaylee got the bright idea to help him out.

  What. The. Fuck?

  He glowered. “I don’t need your help.”

  “I have very good taste in women. Not so much in men.”

  Considering she’d chosen him to date at one point, Wes ignored that comment.

  Kaylee smiled prettily. “I can identify a psycho chick at one glance.”

  “What if I like psycho chicks?” No guy liked psycho chicks, but this conversation was getting out of hand and he’d say just about anything to get her to stop “helping” him.

  She waved him off. “That’s silly. The psycho ones end up stalking you and killing your cat when you’re not looking.”

  “I don’t own a cat.” This was not how he’d envisioned beer with his brothers. This night was meant to relax him, not cause him more stress. “I can find my own woman, Kaylee.” He smiled, but it might have come off a tad predatory, given her flinch.

  He’d slept with a hell of a lot of women since their breakup. Not that he’d boast. It had been purely for survival and not because he was proud of it. Someday, he’d want a girlfriend again.

  One who wasn’t complicated.

  Or prone to dumping a guy on his ass.

  “Point is,” he continued, “I got this, don’t you worry.”

  But reall
y, Kaylee picking out women had totally turned him off to the idea. He glared at his brothers, sitting around the table and taking in their conversation as though it were a sitcom.

  “I don’t know, Wes,” Hunt said. “You should listen to Kaylee. I wouldn’t mind having her for a wingman.” Hunt’s gaze slid down Kaylee’s T-shirt, which clung lightly to her curves. She wasn’t dressed up, but she didn’t need to be. She was a beautiful woman, and Hunt was addicted to beautiful women.

  Wes shot his brother a glare, and Hunt smirked, the jackass.

  “That’s wingwoman,” Kaylee said, and grinned. “And I’d be happy to hook you up, Hunt.”

  Wes stared suspiciously at the drink in her hand. She was on beer number four, not that he was counting. But she’d also had a shot with Emily as a warm-up when they first arrived. If Wes recalled correctly, his ex would be three sheets to the wind if she didn’t stop drinking.

  Kaylee flagged the waitress and ordered a Long Island Iced Tea.

  Good God, what was she trying to do? Drown herself?

  He gestured at the drink the waitress brought her. “Maybe you should chill on that. I’ve seen what happens when you’re drunk.”

  Kaylee’s eyes narrowed. “I’m single, Wes. I don’t have a keeper, and I’m not looking for one.”

  “You go, girl!” Emily high-fived Kaylee, but it was a drunken high five. They nearly missed, which caused the women to burst into laughter.

  Wes looked at Levi.

  “Don’t glare at me,” Levi said. “You think I have a say in these things?”

  Fuck. Wes never thought he’d see the day his oldest brother became ball-shackled. “You disappoint me, you really do.”

  Levi’s response was to nuzzle his girlfriend’s neck. Meanwhile, Hunt already had a woman on his lap—where she came from, Wes hadn’t a clue—and Adam stood to leave.

  “I’m off,” Adam said. “Hayden and I have plans to make. You all heard we pushed the wedding up?”

  Bran tipped up the bill of his baseball cap. The rest of them had given up the stupid hats, but not Bran. If Bran didn’t resemble him and his brothers so much, Wes would wonder whether Bran was of his blood. The guy could be a monk. “I thought the wedding wasn’t until this spring?”

  Adam glanced nervously at Kaylee. “It was…but with a cancellation in the schedule, we were able to move it forward.” He looked apologetically at Kaylee. “I’m sorry. I hope that’s okay.”

  Kaylee waved lazily—drunkenly. “Better you than me.”

  Club Tahoe booked weddings a year or more in advance, even in the fall and winter. Kaylee must have booked her wedding a year ago—and now that the slot was open, Adam and Hayden had snatched it.

  She could pretend all she wanted, with the playful wingwoman crap, but considering the amount of alcohol she’d consumed tonight, Wes highly doubted Kaylee was over her broken engagement.

  He didn’t know why that bothered him, but it did.

  Chapter 14

  Most of the time, Wes was a one-track guy when it came to prospecting hookups. But tonight he was distracted, because he saw things from a different perspective—a woman searching for a hookup.

  Some piece of shit in a fancy suit was all over Kaylee, chatting her up. Wes didn’t care what his and Kaylee’s relationship status was—there was no way he’d let her go home with this guy while she was drunk.

  If she was sober? Maybe.

  Okay, he’d have issues with that too, but definitely not if she’d been drinking.

  He stood and threw down some bills. “I’m out.”

  Bran was texting, Adam had left an hour ago, and Hunt had stolen out with the woman he’d had in his lap earlier.

  Levi looked up from his conversation with Emily. “So soon?”

  Wes knew what his brother was getting at. He hadn’t picked up a woman yet, and he never went home alone when he was hellbent on finding one. But whatever. After the week he’d had making a million final arrangements for the tournament, he needed his bed more than a warm body. Bran must be rubbing off on him. And wasn’t that a depressing thought? “I’ll catch you tomorrow. Eight, right?”

  Levi nodded. “We’ll be here bright and early. Working through the weekends will be the norm until the Tahoe Invitational.”

  Wes nodded, his gaze snagging on Kaylee a few feet away. The guy had his hand on her hip, and Wes’s muscles tensed.

  Levi looked over as well. “We’ll make sure she gets home okay.”

  “Don’t bother,” Wes said. “I got this.” He strode over to Kaylee and did something he’d pay for later, but he didn’t give a shit.

  Wes snaked his arm around Kaylee’s waist and toppled her back into his chest. “Babe, time to go.”

  She swiveled her head back, her gaze wavering as though she were at sea. “What?”

  No way he’d leave her behind while she was this drunk, even with Levi’s promise to watch out for her. He grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. Fortunately, she didn’t pull back or try to stop him. The guy she’d been talking to complained, but Wes ignored him entirely.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  He waited until they were in the lobby before he stopped and looked her in the eye. “I’m taking you home.”

  She laughed. “Let me get this straight. You can scout out women all night long, but I can’t go home with a guy?” She crossed her arms and wobbled, but that didn’t stop a stubborn look from settling onto her beautiful face. “I’m single, and I’m not your responsibility. I haven’t been for a long time. I’m no one’s responsibility.” A hint of vulnerability tinged her tone.

  “You’re not going home with a guy while you’re drunk.” He didn’t tell her he’d have dragged her away even if she weren’t drunk. Because he couldn’t explain that one.

  “I’m a grown woman. You have no right—no right!” Her expression was indignant, but he sensed there was more to tonight’s rebellion. She was hurting. Was it all because of McDouche? She’d nearly married the guy, but as far as Wes was concerned, Kaylee had dodged a landmine, getting out before it was too late.

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced away, letting out a stiff breath. “Do you really want to go home with a random dude?”

  She swallowed, not meeting his eyes. “I don’t know. I’ve never had a one-night stand. I don’t want anything serious, and I guess I thought it would be nice to feel wanted for one night.”

  He ground his teeth. The idea of Kaylee with that guy made his stomach roil. He’d never been possessive of women. It was the reason he could walk away from them. Well, except for Kaylee. And maybe that was just the way it would always be. Which was why living in the same town—working together—just wasn’t going to work. But he had too much on his plate right now to do anything about it. “Take it from me, you’re not missing anything.”

  By the way her gaze softened, he was afraid she saw more than he wanted. “If hooking up with random people is so bad, why do you do it?”

  “Boredom? Scratching an itch?”

  It was more complicated than that. He’d not wanted a close relationship with a woman, and casual hookups kept him from thinking about why.

  She pursed her lips. “You should call a doctor about that itch. It sounds nasty.”

  He snorted. “I’m as clean as spring rain.”

  “Why do I doubt that?” she said.

  “My soul might be dark, but let’s just say, I always sheathe up.”

  “You didn’t always with me.”

  He stiffened. Not because they were talking about condoms. But because he wasn’t prepared for her to bring up the past. And them. Having sex.

  Images of them making love crashed over him. And the heat that had punched his chest earlier, after seeing her with some skeezy dude, rushed south, warming and inflaming. “We were careful… Most of the time.” He gave her a cocky grin and her face paled.

  “I gotta go,” she blurted, and rushed past him, bumping into his arm as she did.


  He caught up to her. “Hold up. I said I’d take you home. You’re not driving in your condition.”

  “Fine.”

  Fine? No pushback?

  Why did talking about their past sex life make her look like she wanted to puke?

  Man, if Wes wasn’t so confident in that department, Kaylee’s reaction could have given him a complex. Good thing he knew better.

  He guided her to his car and opened the passenger door, watching her closely. She staggered into the seat of his Range Rover, and he got the sense it wasn’t all from alcohol.

  He swept around the back of the vehicle, entered the driver’s side, and turned the ignition.

  This was what he’d wanted. To take her home. So why was his adrenaline rushing, his hands shaking? And not in the heated way they had earlier. Something was bothering Kaylee, and that put Wes on edge.

  “Kaylee,” he said as he pulled down the long drive of the Club Tahoe entrance. Her head was tipped against the seatback, her face pointed out the window. “Why did you get upset when I said we’d been careful? Because I sure as fuck was faithful to you, unlike that piece of…” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What I meant to say is, I was a good boy back then. So why the sour expression?”

  Her face scrunched up and she covered it with her hands, mumbling something that sounded like baby.

  “What was that?” His senses went into hyper-alert. She wasn’t acting normal. Not even for a drunken Kaylee.

  She dropped her hands and stared down at them. “I lost our baby.”

  Her words had come out light, for all the weight they carried.

  Wes’s head swiveled to her and he swerved, nearly driving them into a ditch. “Excuse me?”

  “Our baby.” Her soft eyes were shining, face contorted in pain. Tears started streaming down the smooth skin of her cheeks. She looked away and huddled in the corner between the seat and door.

  He glanced feverishly between her and the road. “What are you talking about?” But it was too late to get a coherent answer out of her.