Boyfriend's Brother (7 page)

Janie sighed. "You don't sound fine, but dammit, I can't stay on here. Call me back when a meteor shower isn't screwing with the comm traffic, okay?"

Chloe could totally do that. "I will. Give 'em hell, Janie."

The call went dead on another loud burst of static.

Chloe tossed the phone on the sofa and flopped back against the cushions. Admitting she'd done something stupid helped ease the ache in her gut, but would it be enough? Chloe didn't want to face Marc coming from a position of guilt and confusion. Then again, she could really be getting worked up over nothing. Pretty damned asinine to worry about something before it happened. The stuff she felt for Jace… could fade. It would. She just needed some time and distance.

When Marc came back, she'd be ready for whatever he had planned.

She hoped.

* * * *

Jace disentangled himself from the leggy blonde with an unceremonious grunt and crawled off the bed. He'd done his part. She'd leave with no complaints and should be well-satisfied. But, geez, he hated the empty pleasure. Jace couldn't wait for her to make an exit and leave him in peace. He stumbled to the bath, mumbling about a shower. Yanking the door open, he flipped the lights on and met his reflection in the mirror. Hell, he looked like shit. Felt like it, too.

Turning the shower on as hot as it would go, he scrubbed a hand over his face. The squadron had an overnight layover at spaceport Gamma after their transport pilot discovered a burned up thruster when they'd stopped to refuel. Jagger took it as a sign from the universe and immediately dragged the crew to the nearest courtesy bar to find the hottest action. Jace finally couldn't offer any excuses for not hanging with the guys. He let them cajole him to the club and buy him round after round of drinks.

Jace sucked it up and went for the first woman who expressed an interest. So what if she resembled Chloe. The majority of the females in the club had blonde hair, natural or not, and the odds he'd end up with one had to be off the charts. At least the guys couldn't bitch about uneven numbers. Deuce's interference only went so far, and Jace appreciated the effort his friend had made.

Stepping under the water, Jace lathered up, wincing when the washcloth came into contact with his neck. Merlene, no Marlena something or other, had a thing for leaving marks. She'd latched onto his throat more times than he could count. Of course, he didn't really try. He'd been too busy flashing back to the night with Chloe, remembering her teeth grazing his skin, reliving the slide of her flesh against his, and hearing the way she sucked in a breath when she'd been close to orgasm. A shudder tore through him, and he shook it off. God, he needed to forget his brother's girlfriend.

Or maybe fiancée, by now.

Jace turned the shower to cold and ducked directly under the spray. When he couldn't stand it anymore, he shut the knob off and grabbed a towel. The frigid temp didn't wipe the memory away, but it did wake him the hell up.

Wrapping the terrycloth around his waist, he cracked the door open to find his room empty. Heaving a sigh of relief, he got dressed and gathered his gear. He still had over eight hours before they'd launch for the Nimmy, but he wouldn't sleep. Too much stuff warred for attention in his head. Exiting into the corridor, he headed for the far end of the station. He stopped for a giant cup of coffee at the officer's mess, then continued on his walkabout. Ruthlessly shoving thoughts of Chloe and Marc aside, he focused on trying to figure out what he wanted to do about the future. His gut churned when he thought about re-upping for another stint. But it might be better in the long run. Staying in would keep his contact with family to a minimum. Marc and Chloe deserved their chance to be happy, and Jace didn't want to get in the way. Not that he could. Hell, he didn't even know exactly how he felt about Chloe. And he didn't want to examine things too closely. Much easier to lock his emotions up and look ahead.

He did his best, wandering around the station, mentally listing pros and cons. Back and forth, up and down, he weighed his options. He got exactly nowhere to close to a decision, and he barely made the transport flight back. He'd spent so much time with his head up his ass he had to run to get there.

Jagger slapped him on the shoulder, misinterpreting the reason Jace showed up only seconds before roll call. "Welcome back, man. We've got even numbers again." He waggled his eyebrows. "Even I can't handle threesomes all the time, dude."

Paul Jaginski might be one of Jace's closest friends, but he made having sex with two women sound like the ultimate contact sport. Jace couldn't even deal with one anymore. He shrugged and kept his mouth shut. He wouldn't bother setting Jag straight.

If he tried, he'd have to admit to going through the motions long enough to make sure the perky-titted blonde left his bed satisfied and not much else. Climbing on board, Jace settled back and prayed for sleep. Maybe he'd find some answers in a dream.

He couldn't seem to find them anywhere else.

Chapter Seven

Chloe thought she'd be ready. But Marc caught her off guard. He'd returned from maneuvers in a somber mood. His platoon leader had announced he'd been diagnosed with terminal cancer and he'd be retiring from service immediately. The guys had thrown him an impromptu party the previous day, and Marc didn't want to talk about the fact he'd never see his CO again. The man boarded a flight for his home planet to spend what remained of his life with his family.

Chloe figured Marc would hold off on whatever big surprise he'd planned. She really should've known Marc would bounce back and decide life didn't last long enough to wait for anything he wanted.

They'd finished up a quick stir-fry she'd made for dinner. Not one of Marc's favorites, but she'd been running late after meeting with her CO about the new class of cadets. The meeting hadn't gone great. Major Rafael Ferenza asked her point-blank when she'd shoved a stick up her ass. She'd been snapping at students and losing her patience—definitely not her standard operating procedure—the first week of class. Her personal issues had taken a toll, but she assured her boss she'd dial it back and go easier on the recruits. She'd been friends with Raf for a long time so he cut her some slack, and she almost accepted when he offered to take her out for coffee and check rank at the door so she could unload whatever had her twisted sideways.

Instead, she'd thanked him and declined, mentioning getting home to cook dinner. Thankfully, Raf didn't bust his gut laughing, since her culinary skills barely passed muster.

She started to get up to clear the table when Marc put the tiny square box in front of her. Her stomach clenched, and she sat back down. Her eyes seeking Marc's, she didn't know what to say.

Marc took care of starting the conversation.

"Don't you want to know what it is?"

Chloe could guess, hell, any woman could, but she inclined her head anyway.

"Open it." His grin spread wide across his face like he'd just put the most awesome thing in the universe on the table.

Chloe sucked in a deep breath and flipped open the box. Every girl's dream gleamed inside.

Every girl's but hers.

Her eyes sought Marc's again, and he grabbed her hand. "Wanna get hitched?"

She didn't expect a huge romantic overture, didn't really need it either, but 'wanna get hitched' barely resided a step up from asking her if she wanted to watch arena ball or shoot billiards. And it kind of clinched things. Marc had no more of an idea what went into a marriage than she did.

She slowly snapped the box closed and sat it in front of him. "I can't."

The shock hit hard. "What?" He blinked and cocked his head. "Why not?"

He'd clearly expected her to say yes.

Chloe looked down at her hands. "I need some time. To think about it."

"Time! What for?" Marc's voice rose a little. "What's to think about?"

Chloe met his gaze. "Gee, Marc, I don't know. We've never talked about marriage and all of a sudden BAM! You think it's time?" She shook her head. "I have no idea what there is to think about." She tried to keep the sarcasm at bay but didn't quite succeed.

Marc sat back. "What are we doing here, Chloe?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

Chloe sighed. "I don't know, Marc. What
are
we doing?"

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. "Taking the next step."

Chloe sat back, needing some space between them. "Next step? With zero discussion?"

Marc shot her a confused look. "What's to talk about?"

Oh, hell. She had to work to keep her mouth from falling open. "Forever maybe?"

Marc snorted. "Nothing lasts forever, babe. You know that."

Chloe closed her eyes. "Then why get married?" She knew the reasons she'd consider signing on for a lifetime but had a feeling hers wouldn't match Marc's.

Marc considered her question and answered with one of his own. "Why not? We love each other, right?" When she nodded, he warmed up a bit. "We've been together a couple of years, and it's logical to talk marriage at this point."

Oh, Marc. "Except the flaw in your logic is that we've
never
talked about it. You just handed me a ring and said let's get hitched."

"What's the problem with that?" He snapped his fingers. "Wait. It could have been more romantic, but you don't really go for that kind of thing."

Chloe held back a sigh. "It's not about the presentation, Marc."

He got frustrated. "Then what's it about? I don't get it."

Chloe explained. "What do you see us doing in five years, Marc?"

He frowned. "I don't know. I never think that far ahead."

Chloe pressed her point. "Do you see us raising kids? Are we still in the military? What if I decide to leave and go civilian? What if you do?" She drove her case home. "Don't you think we should talk about these things?"

Marc's eyes narrowed. "What's going on, Chlo? With you?"

I almost had sex with your brother and can't stop thinking about it
.

She pressed her lips together. "Nothing."

Marc quirked a brow. "This is not nothing. Maybe we don't talk stuff to death, but we've been together long enough for me to know something's up here."

She wouldn't tell him. She wouldn't tell. She wouldn't.

"I'm fine."

Marc rolled his eyes. "Sure. Tell me when fine means you being jumpy and restless and climbing the walls? 'Cause the last time I checked, that did
not
define 'fine'."

Okay, he'd shocked her. "Since when did you notice shit like that? That's more your brother's territory."

Dammit! She needed to shut up. Like right now. None of this should really land on Marc.
She
had the drama going on in her head.

Marc spoke softly. "Since it's become the norm for you." His voice rose. "And since when did Jace enter this picture?"

She closed her eyes. Son of a bitch. She wanted to stop the train wreck and get off. Neither of them deserved it.

But she couldn't seem to get a grip. The stupid almost sex with Jace had guilt crawling around in her brain and pain squeezing her heart. And the stupid asshat didn't have to be here so he couldn't share the damn burden.

"Chloe—"

She whirled around. "Shut up, Marc. Just"—she broke off and grabbed a jacket, taking a huge calming breath before speaking again—"shut up for now." Hoping the softer tone helped, she snatched her keys from the counter. "I gotta think. Clear my head." She stalked to the door and turned the knob. "Don't wait up for me."

She couldn't look back. Didn't want to see the confusion in his face. And it would definitely be there.

She yanked the door open and darted out before he could argue.

Not that he would. He'd go with the flow and not worry that she'd left acting like a raving maniac.

But he would wonder what the hell kind of problem she had… and get it all wrong. And it wouldn't be his fault.

Gah! She'd landed in shit creek. And Chloe didn't think she could fight the current anymore.

Chapter Eight

Back aboard the
Nimichellen
, Jace kept more to himself. He'd slept the entire flight back to the ship and hadn't awoken with any earth-shattering epiphanies. Didn't help his mood at all. And since he couldn't stand being around himself, why make his team put up with him?

He took some time to work on tweaking the flight program and offered to code the simulators for when the instructors got the go-ahead to roll out the new planes. Keying in line after line of data helped keep him busy and gave him the opportunity to ruminate on how and why he'd grown so restless.

The debacle with Marlena Whateverhername had him fearing the worst. No, more like confirming his notion he couldn't do the 'screw anything that offered' thing anymore. He'd already been tired and bored with the scenario before spending the night wandering around the spaceport trying to figure out what the hell to do with his life.

And not think about Chloe.

Geez, Chloe. What should he do about her? He had to be infatuated. He couldn't have fallen in love. Not with the woman his brother wanted to marry.

No, he refused to consider the idea. One thing to think she could be the one, quite another to actually own the notion and do something about it. Jace would keep burying the feelings, because he didn't know what else to do with them.

Deuce tracked Jace down in the rec room while he read through the latest news reports on the wireless monitor.

He dropped down in the chair opposite Jace and kicked his feet out. "I finally figured it out." His all-knowing grin made Jace roll his eyes.

Jace put the monitor aside. "You figured out how to zip up after all this time?" He sent a bland look toward Deuce. "Congrats. Quite the accomplishment."

Deuce snorted. "Funny, Jace, but no. I know why you've been such a killjoy lately."

Jace seriously doubted it, but he lifted a brow. "Well, enlighten me, oh wise one. Please."

Deuce sat up and leaned forward. "You're bit, man. A woman finally got you hooked."