Date Night (Wish Come True Book 1) (13 page)

JT ran his hand through his hair in
apparent frustration. “I don’t like it.”

“Well you don’t have a say in the
matter,” I pointed out before filling my mouth with salad and chewing
furiously. Typical male. He didn’t want to commit to a relationship with me but
thought he still had a right to voice his opinion on my decision. If he wanted
a voice then he needed to have some skin in the game.

“What does your mother think about
this?” A slight smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “Or Grannie?”

“They think I should pursue all
opportunities. Keep my options open.” I shifted my gaze down towards my plate
to hide the mirth dancing in my eyes at his annoyed expression.

“Mackinac Island is pretty cool,”
Derek said. “I’d go for it too Jordan. Do you need some company on the ride up?
I haven’t been there since I was a kid.”

“Thanks,” I said, smiling at him.
“It’s on a Monday. I thought I’d head up on Friday and spend the weekend on the
island to explore. Are you busy then?”

JT shook his head. “You have football
training starting that week Derek.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” I sat back in
my chair and shrugged my shoulders. “It would’ve been fun to have someone to
hang out with all weekend. Jared will have just finished his semester and is
starting work. Grannie said she didn’t think she’d be up to the long drive and
my mom has to work. Maybe I can ask Steve to go?”

“What?” JT nearly spat out the
lasagna he’d just shoveled into his mouth. It took him a moment to chew it up
and swallow. “He can’t go with you. You barely know the guy.”

“Why not,” I challenged with my eyes
wide and innocent. “You said yourself that he’s a good guy and I highly value
your opinion.”

“Yeah,” Derek said, arching his brow
at JT. He sat back in his chair and gave his big brother a curious stare. “Why
not? Jordan’s an adult now. She can make her own decisions.”

“Thank you.” I replied, nodding my
head in agreement with Derek.

“You shut up!” JT glowered at his
brother. “This is none of your damn business.”

“How is this any of
your
damn
business?” Derek shot back, his eyebrows furrowed in anger.

JT set his fork down with a
controlled effort and then pushed himself out of his chair to stride
purposefully out of the room, through the door wall and onto the back patio. I
pursed my lips and glanced at Derek. This was not going very well. Maybe I was
pushing JT’s buttons too hard. I needed to make this right and got up to follow
him outside.

“JT,” I started as I walked up behind
him and reached out to grab hold of his arm.

He turned and glared down at me. “You
are
not
taking that son-of-a-bitch with you.”

His entire body tensed up as if ready
to snap. My lips parted in surprise at the depth of his anger. Shit. He must
love me if the thought of me going away for a weekend with another man elicited
such an intense reaction. Why couldn’t the idiot just admit his feelings for me
out in the open and we could move forward?

“Do you hear me?” He said it at a
near shout and then paused to inhale deeply with his eyes closed, as if trying
to rid his mind of some horrible vision. When he opened them again and gazed at
me, his deep blue eyes were warm and clear. He stepped tentatively towards me,
reaching out his hand to cup my face. “If you want someone to keep you company,
then I’ll go with you to Mackinac Island, Jordan.”

I enclosed his hand in mine and
gently rubbed my cheek against his warm palm, reveling in the feel of his skin
on mine. “Can you afford to take that much time off work?”

“More than I can afford to allow you
to go up north with another man,” he said with a hint of a smile lifting the
corner of his mouth.

I pursed my lips to hide the smile
fighting to appear. I was glad he hadn’t lost his sense of humor. “You’re a
very stubborn man, JT. Do you know that?”

“And you’re a very frustrating woman,
Jordan. Do
you
know that?”

“But
still
you love me,” I
said, breaking out into a full smile before turning to leave. If he wouldn’t
say it, then I was going to say it for him. “I’ll see you later, babe. I have
to leave or I’ll be late for my date.”

JT grabbed me by the hand to pull me
back squarely against his chest. Storm clouds gathered in his dark blue eyes as
he stared intently into mine. And then thunder and lightning struck as his
mouth crushed down on my lips in a fury of passion, knocking the breath out of
me and sending bolts of sheer desire through my body. I reached up to lace my
hands through his hair, pulling his mouth harder against mine and unleashing my
pent up yearning, lashing my tongue against his over and again until we were
both forced to come up for air. JT breathed in quick and shallow breaths as he
leaned his forehead against mine.

“Just in case you’d forgotten what it
was like to kiss your Prince Charming. Have a nice date.” He walked back into
the house, leaving me there in a puddle of unfulfilled desire.

J.T.

I sat brooding on the couch as I
riffled through the channels without even bothering to try and see what was
playing. Jordan had been gone thirty minutes. She was probably at Fifth Avenue
already gracing Steve with her beautiful smile. What was my problem anyway? If
I hadn’t been such a jackass, we might already be back in my bedroom beginning
our journey to forever.

The sound of the garage door slamming
shut caught my attention but I didn’t bother to see who had entered. There
weren’t many people who felt comfortable enough to stroll into my house so I
had a pretty good idea who it would be. I forced a smile when Jared appeared
around the corner. Well that would’ve been inconvenient if he had shown up
tonight while I was occupied in my bedroom.

“What up?” Jared said, plopping down
on the couch next to me.

“Not much, man,” I returned, keeping
my attention focused on the never ending flipping of channels.

“Dude.” He yanked the clicker out of
my hand. “Enough with the random clicking. Let’s get out of here. It’s my one
night off from the intensity of medical school and I want to get out and see
the town. We haven’t shot pool in a long time. Come on. Let’s see what kind of
action there is going on.”

A ball of angst rolled in my gut at
the mention of playing pool. Shit. Fifth Avenue was our regular hang out. I was
damned if I did and damned if I didn’t. Jared would be suspicious if I
suggested some other joint but I would be tortured watching Jordan playing pool
with another man. Derek had been right. It was the oldest trick in the book to
check out the goods. God help me. I didn’t know if I had the strength to be
witness to that kind of a date.           

“Grab Derek,” Jared said. “I want to
check out his new car.”

We hopped into the Camaro for the
short ride to downtown Royal Oak. The town was crowded. Not surprising for a
Saturday night. The three of us entered Fifth Avenue and I waited in line to
reserve a table. The place was packed so we hung out at the bar. Jared went
ahead to order our drinks—two beers and a soda. Derek would be pissed at me for
not letting him drink a beer.

Most establishments didn’t bother
carding Derek. With his build and heavy stubble, he easily could pass for my
age. But right was right. I couldn’t stop Derek from doing what he wanted while
he was out on his own, but I’d be damned if I would condone breaking the law
with my little brother. Never mind what I’d done on my own at the same age.
Just like my dad always said:
‘Do as I say, not as I do.’
Although in my
father’s case, the point was rather moot because he had always done the right
thing.

Leaning up against the bar, I nursed
my beer while I allowed my gaze to casually roam the place. She was in here
somewhere. A moment later I found her. Or more, her ass. I watched Jordan lean
over the pool table while concentrating on her next shot. She was oblivious to
how hot she looked in those skinny jeans. The tiny little crocheted halter top
thingy she wore wasn’t any better with the way it clung to her body. When she
finally stood again, my eyes were glued to the tantalizing tangerine color
which started right where the cream color left off, at the center of her chest
where her nipples must be hiding under the delicate cloth. And if that wasn’t
bad enough, the oval shape cut out of the bodice completely exposed the cleft
between her full breasts.

I glared at Steve taking in all of
her hotness. And here I had thought Jordan dressed for me tonight. Why did she
have to shove it all back in my face so thoroughly? I regretted my challenge
that she be sure I was
The One
by dating other men. What a complete ass
I had been. Of course I was
The One,
if the way her body reacted to my
touch was any indication. If that scum so much as touched her anywhere except
on the lips, I was going to deck him.

“What’s your problem JT?” Jared elbowed
me in the side. “We’re never going to attract any babes tonight if you keep
scowling that way.”

“Oh, he’s just,” Derek started but
then immediately thought better of it when I shot him a dangerous stare, “got
heartburn from the lasagna Jordan made us tonight.”

“Asshole,” Jared said. “Why didn’t
you invite me over? Lasagna is one of my favorites. She finally paid you back for
forcing you to go to that reception hall with her, huh? Dude, I’m sorry she
roped you into that one. If I had known she was going to ask, I would’ve
stopped her.”

“No problem,” I said casually. If
Jared only knew the half of it. “It was no big deal. And I got two hot meals
out of it; one on the night of the reception and one tonight. Not bad for a guy
used to eating pizza and Chef-Boyardee most of the time.”

“Speak of the devil,” Jared whistled
as he finally spotted his sister across the room. “Must be here with that hot
date Grannie was telling me about earlier. Damn. What’s she got on? She must be
seriously into that guy.”

His words grated on me. “I’m shocked
Grannie let her walk out of the house dressed like that.” There was no way I
was entering that hornet’s nest, but with a little luck, I might get Jared to
act like the big brother and send her home to get changed.

“I don’t recall you complaining when
she was at our house an hour ago,” Derek shot off before his words caught up to
his brain. He visibly flinched at the daggers shooting out of my eyes at him.

Jared raised his brow at our
interaction. “Are you kidding? Nobody tells Jordan what to do. She’d probably
deck me if I told her to change. Not that I don’t want to. Every sleaze ball in
here has his eyes glued on her. But she knows how to take care of herself. I
made sure of that at least. Lord knows the girl has a solid right hook.
Besides, it looks like she brought a chaperone. What the hell is Leah doing
here?”

I quickly scanned the high top table
and stools at the end of the pool table and saw Leah sipping on a bottle of
beer. How had I missed her earlier and what was she doing here? My stomach
churned slowly. Had Jordan asked Leah to bail her out of the date when I
alluded to a night in my bedroom? Could it be that she had called off her date
with Steve for me and I had repaid her by wanting to hide our relationship? If
so, she must be furious with me.

We all watched Jordan for a minute
before recognition set into Jared’s face. “Hey, don’t we know that guy?”

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s Erik’s
cousin. We used to hang out with him sometimes when we’d go clubbing.”

“Right,” Jared nodded and then
chugged down the remainder of his beer. He playfully punched me in the arm.
“Let’s go say, hey.”

We descended upon Jordan and Steve. I
smiled inwardly as Steve’s face paled at the sight of three men, each well over
six feet tall, approaching their table. Apparently he hadn’t expected to share
his date for the night or to be faced with Jordan’s brother. It felt good
somehow to glare down my nose at Steve. Testosterone was rushing through my
veins. If I had a club in my hand, I probably would have thumped it on my chest
before knocking Jordan out and dragging her away with me by the hair. The
thought lightened my mood considerably.

“Long time, no see,” Derek laughed,
giving Jordan a fist bump. “Hey Leah! What up?”

“What’re you guys doing here?” Jordan
asked, staring at us with a cocked brow.

“What,” Jared said, crossing his arms
over his chest. “You think you own the place Jordan? I wanted to play some
pool. How was I supposed to know you were here? And what’re you doing here
Leah? Date crashing?”

Jordan stared at me with a slight
grin but held her tongue. I probably should’ve been embarrassed but instead
just shrugged it off. I couldn’t wait to hear Leah’s explanation.

“I was supposed to meet some friends but
they bailed on me at the last minute,” Leah said casually. “Jordan was nice
enough to adopt me for the evening. But now that you guys are here, maybe I can
round out your table? Make it two on two?”

“Sure,” Derek said and flashed a
grin. “You can be on my team.”

“Are you kidding me,” Jared said.
“We’ll whip your asses all night long. You and JT against me and Leah. That’ll
be fair.”

I waited for Leah’s scathing retort
about playing as well as any guy but she kept silent and went to retrieve her
purse while Jared and Steve caught up, reminiscing about old times. I snorted in
laughter when a pained look reflected off Steve’s face as Jared described a
particularly hot chick Steve had scored with at the bar one night. Jordan and
Leah shared a disgusted look. Not really what a guy wanted to talk about when
on a date with another hot babe. Jared was so flipping oblivious. Or maybe he
was doing it on purpose. Either way, it was high fives all around.

My euphoria didn’t last. Before long my
name was called over the loud speaker and we made our way over to our own pool
table. It was three down from Jordan and Steve; close enough to see what was
going on but far enough not to be able to hear their conversation. The next
hour was pure torture. I should’ve heeded my gut and convinced Jared to play
pool somewhere else. If I had to watch Steve bend next to Jordan one more time
as if trying to help her set up a shot, or place his arm casually around her
shoulder or waist, I was definitely going to explode.

The only thing that kept me rooted to
the spot was Jared. I hadn’t figured out yet how I was going to approach Jared
.
His earlier comments made it clear he thought his sister was as big a pain
in the ass to me as she was to him. Not that Jared didn’t love his sister. They
had a great relationship over all, but grated on each other’s nerves sometimes
like any brother and sister might.

Still I had the feeling it was going
to be a complete shock to Jared’s system. Why couldn’t Jared be like Derek and
just accept it for what it was and be happy for me? After my outburst at the
house earlier, I knew my kid brother was on to us. Yet he hadn’t said a word.
Wisely. Probably because Derek thought Jordan was awesome and would be happy to
have her around.

Frustration slowly built in me the
longer we played and I couldn’t help but take some of it out on the balls. I
relished the opportunity to smash the cue ball over and over with the full force
of my anger. So what if I inadvertently sent the balls flying off the edge of
the table from time to time. On the fifth time, however, I sent the ball flying
into Leah’s arm and Jared went off on me, punching me in the arm. Hard.

“What’s your deal, JT?” Jared asked.
His voice was laced with irritation. “You’ve been acting like a jackass all
night.”

But I didn’t hear him. My eyes were
trained on Jordan and Steve as they weaved their way out of the pool hall and
onto the street. They paused directly in front of the window and stood face to
face talking. Jordan had her hands shoved into the front of her jeans and was staring
up at Steve from her five foot six height. Even if he was a midget to me, Steve
still had four inches on her. I felt mesmerized by the scene. Something in my
gut told me this was it. My brain screamed for me to turn away—not to witness
the kiss. But I couldn’t get my muscles to function, like I was caught in a
nightmare, partially paralyzed, causing my movements to be painfully slow.

Yet the moment Steve moved in for the
kiss, I felt myself propelled forward at lightning speed toward the door. I
yanked my arm forcefully away from the hand that tried to stay me in my tracks.
Nothing was stopping me from getting outside and telling Jordan what she and I
already knew. She was my woman. I’d had enough of this nonsense.

What an idiot I had been over the
past couple of weeks. Of course I could study
and
have a relationship
with Jordan. Hadn’t I raised my brother single handedly while working a part-time
job and going to school? And still I had aced my classes. Besides, Derek was
growing up and leaving to go away to college soon. He simply didn’t need me as
much. It was time to face that fact and start living life a little. Jared would
learn to deal with it. I forced my way through the door with long purposeful
strides, not stopping until I stood directly behind Steve.

“It’s time for you to go,” I said in
a quietly menacing voice which brooked no argument.

“JT,” Jordan started. But I was
beyond reach.

“Now. Or this is going to get really
ugly, really fast.”

“Whoa.” Steve backed up an inch or
two with his hands splayed outward in a defensive position. “I was just
leaving. Jordan already made it clear to me that she isn’t interested.”

I hadn’t realized how tense I was
until I heard the words come out of Steve’s mouth. I instantly felt myself
relax; which is probably why I wasn’t prepared for the right hook that came
crashing into my jaw and left me splattered on the sidewalk a second later.
Damn
that had hurt.
I ran my finger over my split lip and glanced up to find
Jared towering over me, fists pumped and ready for more action.

“You bastard,” Jared yelled. “Since
when have you been nailing my sister?”

“Back off, Jared,” Jordan yelled and
came to kneel down next to me. She cradled my head in her hands and surveyed
the damage. “You’re bleeding. Here. Put this tissue on it to stop the blood.
That’s going to swell up like a balloon in a minute. We need to get you home
and put ice on it.”