Back off. “You don’t either. I don’t know anything real about you.”
“I’m not that hard to get to know, really.” He flashed me a quick smile. “But you… I think you’ve made an art form out of deflection and self-possession.”
Stop analyzing me. I rolled my eyes. “You think throwing a dishrag at you is an example of how self-possessed I am?”
He laughed, a deep reverberation that bumped its way down my spine. “Fair enough.” And then he shot me that look again—that look that felt as though he were sliding his long, masculine fingers inside my panties. “You look beautiful tonight.”
I flushed inwardly at the compliment. Outwardly I smirked. “So does your girlfriend.”
Braden sighed heavily at my pointed comment and picked up a few of the glasses from the bar. “I didn’t mean anything by it, Jocelyn. It was just a compliment.”
No it wasn’t. You’re playing games with me. And if we’re going to be around each other all the time, I want it to stop. “Was it? Do you talk to everyone the way you talk to me?”
“And what way is that?”
“Like you’ve seen me naked.”
Grinning, Braden’s eyes glittered with heat. “No. But then I haven’t seen everyone naked.”
Frustrated, I shook my head. “You know what I mean.”
I almost jumped at the warm whisper of his breath on my ear as he leaned down to murmur quietly into it, “I like the reaction I get out of you.”
I pulled back. So I was a challenge? Right. I got it now. “Just stop. You’re Ellie’s brother and we’re probably going to have to see one another, so I’d prefer it if you wouldn’t try to make me uncomfortable around you.”
A scowl formed between his eyes. “I don’t want you uncomfortable.” His gaze was searching again but this time I was giving nothing away. With a deep sigh, Braden nodded. “Fine. Look, I’m sorry. I want us to get along. I like you. Ellie likes you. And I’d like us to be friends. From now on I’ll stop flirting with you and I’ll try really hard to forget what you look like naked.”
He put the drinks on the bar and held out his hand for me to shake. The look in his eyes was a new one. It was pleading, boyish and totally endearing. I didn’t trust that look at all, but I found myself shaking my head, smiling despite myself as I reached out to clasp his hand. As soon as my fingers slid along his palm, the hair on my arms rose.
I’d thought that spark that people apparently felt when they touched someone they were attracted to was a myth reserved for chick-lit and Hollywood.
But no.
Our eyes collided as heat rushed up my arm. The tingling between my legs intensified, the need in my gut moaned with want. All I could see was Braden, all I could smell was Braden, and his body was so close I imagined I could almost feel all his hard strength pressing against me. Right then I wanted nothing more than to pull him into the ladies restroom and let him screw me hard against the wall.
Braden’s hand tightened around mine, his pale eyes darkened, and I knew… he wanted me too. “Fine,” he muttered, a dangerous quality entering his expression as he leaned down, his words puffing against my mouth he was so close. “I can do this. If you can pretend, I can pretend.”
I jerked my hand out of his, trying not to tremble as I reached to collect the rest of the drinks. Braden picked up the ones he’d laid down when he’d reached for that godforsaken handshake. I hated that he was right. Our attraction was nuclear. I had never known anything like it.
It made Braden Carmichael extremely dangerous to me.
And I had to dissemble. I shot him a careless smile. “I’m not pretending.” I walked away before he could say anything, glad for the wall that had obscured our table’s view from us. I’d have been mortified if anyone had borne witness to our interlude.
Braden sat down next to Holly, handing her a drink and Adam his. Our eyes collided for a brief second and he gave me a mockingly polite smile before leaning back and sliding his arm around the back of Holly’s chair. His girlfriend smiled at him, a manicured hand moving to rest intimately on his thigh.
“Babe, I was just telling Ellie about this Gucci dress I saw online. I was thinking you could take me to Glasgow to try it on. You’ll like it. It’ll be worth the money.” She fluttered her fake lashes at him.
No one needed to tell me that she meant it would be worth Braden’s money.
Disgusted, I threw back my drink and tried to ignore them. Holly wasn’t for it.
“So, Josh, how can you afford that gorgeous flat with Ellie?”
All eyes fell on me. “It’s Joss, actually.”
She gave me a shrug and a narrowed-eyed smile and suddenly I wondered if maybe she’d caught the looks between me and Braden.
Shit.
“So?” she insisted, a little cattily.
Yeah. She’d seen ‘em alright.
“My parents.” I threw back another drink and turned to Jenna to ask about her part-time job with the Scottish tourist industry.
Holly’s voice cut through my question. “What do you mean ‘your parents’?”
Stick a sock in it, lady! I looked at her with veiled annoyance. “Their money.”
“Oh.” She wrinkled her nose as though she suddenly smelled something very, very bad. “You’re living off your parent’s money? At your age?”
Oh no she didn’t. I took another drink and then smiled at her in warning as if to say, ‘don’t play this game with me, sweetheart, you won’t win.’
She didn’t heed the warning. “So they pay for everything? Doesn’t that make you feel guilty?”
Every fucking day. “Was it your money that bought those Louboutin’s… or Braden’s?”
Ellie choked on her laughter, smothering the sound quickly in a gulp of her drink. I patted her on the back, aiding her in her pretense. When I looked back at Holly she was glaring at me, her face flushed red to her hairline.
Point made. Question deflected. Spoiled bitch put in her place.
“So people can get married at Stirling Castle, huh?” I turned back to Jenna and our earlier conversation. “I’ve only visited it once, but it’s a beautiful venue…”
~5~
Two nights later I was soaking in the tub after a strenuous workout at the gym when I heard Ellie’s whoop of joy. Raising an eyebrow at the door, I wasn’t surprised by the knock that sounded on it two seconds later.
“Can I come in?” she asked with laughter in her voice.
Clearly whatever news she’d received couldn’t wait. I glanced down to make sure I was sufficiently covered by bubbles. “Sure,” I replied.
The door eased open and Ellie stepped inside with two glasses of wine in her hand and a smug expression on her face. I took the glass she offered and grinned at her infectious good humor. “What’s going on?”
“Well,” Ellie beamed, “After six dire months, Braden has finally dumped Holly.”
I snorted into my glass, ignoring the way my stomach flipped at the news. “That’s your exciting news?”
Ellie stared at me like I’d said something crazy. “Of course. It’s the best news in God knows how long. Holly was the worst of the lot. You know, I think the other night at the bar was the final nail in her coffin. Braden seemed mortified by her. It’s about time he dumped that self-absorbed, two-faced, money-grabbing pain in the arse.”
I nodded in agreement, thinking about his blatant flirtation with me. “Yeah. He’d probably have only ended up cheating on her or something anyway.”
Ellie’s joy instantly fled and she scowled at me. I raised an eyebrow at her reaction. “Braden would never cheat.”
She really did think he walked on water. I cocked my head with a cynical smirk, a look probably bordering on condescending and punch-worthy. “Please, Ellie, he’s a guy who flirts with anything that moves.”
Considering me for a moment, Ellie leaned back against the tiled walls, seeming unaware of the steam clinging to them and now most probably dampening the back of he
r shirt. Her celebration was apparently forgotten in the face of my negativity. “There’s one thing you should know about Braden. He would never cheat. He’s not perfect, I know that. But let’s just say that he would never be that cruel or dishonest to anyone. Anytime he’s been in a relationship and his interest has waned and hopped onto someone new, he’s been honest with his girlfriend and broken it off before starting up anything with someone else. I’m not saying his attitude isn’t a little shitty, but at least he’s honest.”
Curious about Ellie’s surety, I took a sip of wine before asking, “Did someone cheat on Braden?”
She gave me a sad smile. “It’s not my story to tell.”
Wow. If Ellie was being close-mouthed about it, Braden really must be sore over it.
“Suffice to say, he’s a serial dater. Completely monogamous but jumping from one relationship to the next. Holly lasted longer than most. I think it was because she took frequent trips down south.” Ellie then threw me a teasing, almost knowing look. “I wonder what girl has caught his interest this time.”
I eyed her carefully. Did she know? Had she witnessed the spark between us?
“And I wonder if she’ll finally be the one to knock him on his arse. He needs a reality check.”
I murmured an incoherent response, not wanting to encourage her thoughts in my direction.
“Sorry for interrupting your bath.”
“No, it’s fine.” I raised my wine glass at her. “You brought red wine. We’re all good.”
“Have you ever cheated on someone?”
Whoa. Where did that come from?
“Well?”
Was this an interview to date her brother?
Staring her straight in the eye so she would know I was being deadly serious, I replied more honestly than ever, trusting Ellie not to push me too much on the subject, “I never get close enough to anyone for that to be an issue.” My answer seemed to deflate her, and that only reaffirmed my guess that she’d been holding onto some kind of romantic notion about me and Braden. “I don’t do relationships, Ellie. I haven’t got it in me.”
She nodded, her expression a little lost. “I hope that changes for you.”
It never will. “Maybe.”
“Okay. I’m going to leave you to your bath. Oh.” She stopped, turning back to me. “My mum cooks a big roast dinner on Sundays for all the family. You’re invited this Sunday.”
A sudden chill descended over my warm bath and I shivered. I hadn’t been to a family gathering since high school. “Oh, I don’t want to intrude.”
“You’re not intruding. And I won’t take no for an answer.”
I smiled weakly, gulping down the entire glass of wine as soon as she closed the door behind her. Feeling the wine churn in my gut, I sent up a prayer for a miracle that would get me out of the family get together.
***
Friday night I was running late for work at the bar. Ellie had decided to cook us dinner and it had turned into an unsalvageable disaster. We’d ended up eating out and losing track of time as we fell into deep discussion about our work—Ellie’s research and my book. Ellie had gone home to bed because of an awful headache that had come on suddenly, and I hurried to the bar. I shot Jo an apologetic look as I passed through and into the staff room. I was just shoving my things in my locker when my cell rang.
It was Rhian. “Hey, hon, can I call you back on my break? I’m late for my shift.”
Rhian sniffed down the line. “Okay.”
My heart stopped. Rhian was crying? Rhian never cried. We never cried. “Rhian, what’s going on?” The blood pounded in my ears.
“I broke up with James,” her voice cracked along with my belief.
I thought Rhian and James were solid. Unbreakable.
Fuck.
“What happened?” Oh God, had he cheated on her?
“He proposed.”
Silence fell between us as I tried to understand what she was saying. “Okay. He proposed, so you dumped him?”
“Of course.”
What was I missing? “I don’t get it.”
Rhian growled. Actually growled. “How can you of all people not get it, Joss? That’s why I’m phoning you! You’re supposed to fuckin’ get it!”
“Well I don’t, so stop yelling at me,” I snapped, a pang radiating in my chest for James. He adored Rhian. She was his entire world.
“I can’t marry him, Joss. I can’t marry anybody. Marriage ruins everything.”
And it suddenly dawned on me we were entering our no-go area. This was about Rhian’s parents. I knew they were divorced, but that’s all I knew. It had to be something deeper, something worse, for Rhian to turn her back on James. “He’s not your dad. You’re not your parents. James loves you.”
“What the hell, Joss? Who the fuck is this and what has she done with my friend?”
I paused. Maybe I was spending too much time around Ellie. She was rubbing off on me. “Fair enough,” I mumbled.
Rhian sighed in relief. “So you think I’ve done the right thing.”
“No,” I replied honestly. “I think you’re scared shitless. But from one scared shitless person to another, I know no one’s going to change your mind.”
We were silent, just breathing down the phone to one another, feeling that connection between us, that relief that there was someone else out there just as messed up.
“Have you thought about the reality of this, Rhian?” I finally whispered. “James with someone else I mean?”
A choked noise crackled down the phone.
My heart broke for her. “Rhian?”
“I’ve got to go.” She hung up. And somehow I knew she was hanging up to cry. We never cried.
Feeling a deep melancholy settle over me, I texted her to advise her to really think about things before she did anything she’d regret. For once, I wished I wasn’t so broken, so Rhian had a best friend who was strong and not afraid to love, to hold up as an example of what was possible. Instead, I was her excuse that she wasn’t being irrational. I was her enabler.
“Joss?”
I glanced up over at Craig. “Yeah?”
“A little help, please.”
“Oh sure.”
“You fancy a quick shag after work?”
“No, Craig.” I shook my head, following him out, too depressed to even banter with him.
***
Sunday rolled around before I knew it, and I was so preoccupied with my book and with Rhian, who kept avoiding my calls, and too afraid to talk to James in case he put another crack in my heart with his heartache, that I didn’t have a prayer’s chance in hell of coming up with an excuse to get out of dinner with Ellie’s family.
Instead I was bundled into a cab with Ellie, dressed in celebration of the hot day in my Topshop shorts and a pretty olive-green silk camisole. We took off for Stockbridge and stopped literally five minutes later outside an apartment that looked a lot like ours.
Inside, I was unsurprised to find the Nichols’ home very much like ours too. Huge rooms, high ceilings, and a cozy collection of clutter that reminded me a lot of Ellie. Now I knew where she got it from.
Elodie Nichols greeted me with a very French kiss on either cheek. Like Ellie, she was tall and beautiful in a delicate way. For some reason I’d been expecting a French accent, even though Ellie had told me her mom had moved to Scotland when she was four.
“Ellie’s told me so much about you. She said the two of you have become fast friends. I’m so glad. I was a little worried about her when she said she was taking on a flatmate, but it’s all worked out nicely.”
I felt like I was fifteen again. Elodie just had that mothering way of talking down to you. “Yeah, it has,” I answered congenially. “Ellie is great.”
Elodie beamed, looking twenty years younger and very much like her eldest daughter.
Next, I was introduced to Clark, a kind of non-descript, dark-haired guy with glasses and a sweet smile. “Ellie says you’re a writer
.”
I threw Ellie a wry smile. She told everyone I was a writer. “Trying to be.”
“What do you write?” Clark asked, handing me a glass of wine.
We had congregated in the sitting room while Elodie checked on something in the kitchen. “Fantasy. I’m working on a fantasy series.”
Clark’s eyes widened fractionally behind his glasses. “I love fantasy novels. You know, I’d be happy to read it before you send it off for queries.”
“You mean, beta-read it?”
“Yes. If you’d like?”
Remembering that Clark was a college professor and was used to grading papers, I was secretly really pleased by his offer. I gave him a small smile of gratitude. “That would be great. I’d really appreciate it. Of course, I’m nowhere near finished yet.”
“Well, when you are, just give me a shout.”
I grinned. “I will, thanks.”
I was just beginning to think I’d make it through this particular family dinner when I heard kids’ laughter.
“Dad!” a young boy’s voice carried down the hall towards us, and then its owner appeared in the doorway. Running toward Clark, the small boy’s face was lit up with excitement. I guessed this was Declan, Ellie’s ten year old half-brother. “Dad, look what Braden got me.” He thrust a Nintendo DS and two games in Clark’s face.
Clark looked at them, smiling. “Is that the one you wanted?”
“Yeah, it’s the latest version.”
Looking up at the doorway, Clark clucked his tongue in mock disapproval. “It’s not his birthday until next week. You spoil him rotten.”
I jerked around, my palms instantly sweating at the sight of Braden standing in the doorway with his hand on the shoulder of a miniature version of Ellie. The teenager was huddled close to him, her thick bangs and short haircut exceptionally stylish for such a little thing. My eyes didn’t linger long on the mini-Ellie, who I deduced was Hannah. No, they slid up over Braden, drinking him in before I could stop them.
On Dublin Street Page 6