Love and Chaos: A Growing Pains Novel (40 page)

“So I should tell Sean that, right? That’ll help?”

“You shouldn’t say anything to Sean. Let Jason handle it, honey. That man has all but peed on you—he hasn’t, right? You’re a wild one when you get riled up. Tell Uncle Marcus, did he take you to new heights last night? You both seem very…
je ne sais quoi
today. Great sex can really rev the spirit.”

“Jace has always been good at everything he tries,” Peter
offered, returning to the kitchen to get the drinks.

“
Ew. Shut up.” Cassie failed to hide her smile.

“Anyway, your young hunk will figure out the best way to keep you his, don’t you worry. That man is like Sean in a lot of ways—he sees what he wants, and figures out the best way to get it. Just let the man work.”

“I agree, sweetie,” Peter called. “Jace doesn’t give up on people, and will
not
let you go. Trust me.”

Cassie
heard the feet coming down the hall and turned to find that hunk Marcus spoke of. Jace had on a shirt that perfectly molded to his body. Every delicious bump and groove was on display. And then his delicious smell hit her, turning her legs to rubber and her swollen, deliciously sore sexy parts begging for contact. The man was too handsome for his own good.

“Hi, baby,” Cassie breathed as his gaze hit hers. “Looking good.”

“Thanks.” He nodded a greeting to Marcus and his brother as he walked over to stand next to her, resting his hand on her lower back. “Marcus thinks I should wear this even though it’s…tight. I feel like a clown, though.”

“You need to put a sweater over it, honey. You don’t take out the guns until later.” Ma
rcus smiled.

Peter
strolled into the room with two martini glasses full of clear liquid. Cassie shied away immediately, relieved when the glass was passed to Marcus instead of her.

Jace
headed back to the hallway, his soft sigh barely heard.

“He’s only putting up with me because he knows how important this is to you,” Marcus said in a low voice as he leaned in. “I want hourly updates, too, doll. If I need to call the young stud in the middle of dinner, I can. I have some work issues that’ll throw him off his game.”

Peter nodded seriously, approving that plan.

“Thanks, Marcus,” Cassie said with a nervous smile as Jace reemerged from the hallway, pulling a sweater over his head.

“Ready?” Jace asked, rubbing her back. “I want to get out of here before Peter and Marcus decide to gang up on me again.”

“Payback
’s a bitch,” Peter said with a smile.

“Sure
.” She gave Marcus a small wave as they went toward the door. “How much did you spend?”

“A lot. He took me to far too many stores. I eventually just let him chose whatever he wanted. It was either that, or knock him out.”

Cassie laughed as she led the way to her car.

“I’ll drive,” he said, steering her toward his truck.

Cassie let him open the door for her and help her up before climbing into his side. He turned the key to start the loud rumble and shake of a diesel engine.

“I wanted to ask—“ Jace started as he turned out of the parking lot. “Would you mind if I kept my Harley in the corner of your garage until I settle on a place of my own?
I don’t like leaving it to the elements for so long.”

“No, tha
t’s fine. Take a turn here. We’re going to meet Krista. Sean is still at work.”

“And you met Krista through your brother, right?”

“Yes. Left up here.”

“And she
’s the one Marcus calls Geek Girl?”

“Yes. He was talking about her today?”

Jace merged onto the freeway, following her pointed directions. “Yeah. Giving me the rundown of personalities. It’s nice to know I have people rooting for me. Is your brother really so hard to please?”

Cassie ignored the rush of butterflies, loving how unconcerned and confident Jace was. She reached over and put her hand on his thigh. “It’s not that he’s hard to please, it’s that he’s an excellent judge of character. He tends to see promise, or lack thereof, pretty quickly.”

“And you’re worried I don’t have promise?”

“
No, but… I don’t know. It’s just a really big deal to me. His opinion is the most important opinion in the world. I want him on-board.”

“He will be, baby. We’ll be fine.”

They pulled off the freeway, and Cassie led Jace to a little dive bar on the outskirts of a strip mall. “What is it with your friends and dive bars?”

“I thought she was in a café, actually. I wonder if we’re in the wrong place.” Cassie slid out of the truck and slammed the heavy door behind her. “Was a truck this big absolutely necessary?”

He locked up with his keychain and came around to place a hand on her lower back. “Yes. Big man, big truck.”

“Tight shirt.” Cassie surveyed the area before checking the address on her phone. She brought up Krista’s name and tapped to call.

“People in bars talk so much shit, did you know that?” Krista asked in greeting.

Cassie waved Jace forward. “We’re outside. I thought you were going to go to a café?”

“Yeah. I was. But Sean is being super demanding at work, so I figured I better have a beer alone to calm down.”

“See you in a sec.”

“Bye.”

Cassie hung up and dropped the phone into her handbag. “Krista isn’t in a great mood, it sounds like. Sean is technically her boss
, even though they do great as a team. Sometimes—most times, actually—he can go way overboard on his demands. Being that Krista is an overachiever, she then raises the stakes for herself even higher. She’ll probably be pretty snarky.”

“I’m starting to think Ben is the only friend that isn’t.”

They entered the bar and found Krista on a barstool, her phone on one side, her iPad Mini on the other, with a book pulled up, and a beer in the center. Her handbag hung off her knee. Cassie could clearly see the scowl as she and Jace approached.

“In a crap mood, huh?” Cassie asked as she stood next to her friend.

Krista looked up from her book and blinked as her eyes adjusted to Cassie’s face. “Does it show? I was trying to advertise ‘not available’. What did I manage?”

“Bitch.”

“Ah, yes. That’s my backup. Guys still approach, though. Irritating.”

“That face didn’t work, huh? Amazing.” Cassie stepped to the side so Jace could step up. “This is Jason, but everyone calls him Jace. He’s Peter’s brother.”

Krista smiled as her slate gray eyes analyzed the new addition. “Hi.”

Jace nodded in greeting, sitting a stool away so Cassie could sit between them. “Can I get you a beer?”

“No. This is my second. I don’t want to be drunk before dinner even starts. I have this employee that is literally doing nothing all day.
Nothing!
It is so damn irritating because then I have to do it all.” Krista heaved a sigh.

“Should we get one, or should we go?” Cassie asked, putting her hand on
Jace’s forearm so he knew not to order yet.

Krista noticed the gesture, her gaze taking in the contact, and then their body postures. “Get one.
I am still in calm down mode. I don’t want Sean getting wind of work problems until he meets you’re beau. He’s worried enough.”

“
Why?”
Cassie whined, sitting. “He’s never been so weird about this kind of thing before.”

Krista leaned her elbows against the bar as Jace
flagged down the bartender. “You seem serious for the first time. Kind of going all in. And you seem to be running at it with your customary wild streak, which always makes him nervous because he’s the exact opposite. Or don’t you remember the three years it took for us to finally get together?”

“Bitter much?” Cassie asked with a laugh.

“A little bit. You two look like you’re cutting out all that insecurity bull crap that Sean and I specialized in. I’m a little jealous.” Krista slipped her iPad back into her purse.

“I would usually approach things like Sean,” Jace admitted as he laid money on the counter. “But
that didn’t work out in the past, so I figured I would just fall in and let things go where they may.”

“And how’s that working out for y
ou?” Krista verbally tossed over at him.

“Well, it’s been a week and I’m
in as deep as I’ve ever been. So I guess we’ll just see if she steamrolls me.”

“Oh, she’ll steamroll you, all right. And pound you, and confuse you, and force feed you shots—I heard you did that to Ben last night, by the way, Cassie. He deserved it, though I hear he feels like crap today. He tried to come into work. He was eight shades of green before Sean sent him home.”

Cassie stared at her beer. It stared back, promising pain. She really didn’t want to drink it.

Krista noticed and laughed.
“Getting old, McAdams. Your recovery time is getting slower.”

“Don’t I know it,” Cassie muttered.

“I won’t make you drink it. C’mon, let’s get the show on the road. Can I have a ride? I came with Sean today.”

“How’d you get here
?” Cassie asked, leaving a full beer behind as she climbed off the stool. Why they needed to get one in the first place she didn’t know.

“Bus.”

They walked out to the truck and climbed in. After Jace started the engine, Krista gave directions.

“Wait,” Cassie interrupted as they got on the freeway. “I thought we were going out
to dinner. Are we going to your house?”

“Yeah.” Krista crossed one leg over the other, negotiat
ing the move since the extended portion of the pickup didn’t have as much room as a normal car. “He wants to see if Jace knows what you stand to inherit—see if he is gold digging like some of your ex’es. I told him you probably didn’t tell Jace, but you know Sean—leave no stone unturned. And now I just stuck my foot in my mouth. Sorry, Cass—it’s been a long day.”

Cassie’s face went a furious shade of red when she felt
Jace’s gaze swing her way. They rode the rest of the way in silence, pulling up twenty minutes later to a huge house on the bluff, overlooking the ocean. The sun was just kissing the horizon, the glittering blue water a beautiful contrast to the fire spreading through the sky. Cassie inhaled deeply, loving this house. Loving its position and the fact they had a private beach just down the sloping cliff.

“Here we go,” Cassie said in a low voice.

“Hey, Jace,” Krista said as Jace opened his door. He looked back at her. “Can you give Cassie and me a second?”

He glanced at Cassie before quietly getting out of the car and strolling toward the ocean with his hands in his pockets. Krista said, “
First of all, let’s get one thing totally straight. Sean is not worried sick you found someone; he’s worried you won’t get treated like a princess. He’s worried you’re going to get hurt. He’s barely eating because he’s terrified you’re going to jump into a situation that’ll be damaging and he won’t be able to do anything to help you. And you know he feels like this because you do tend to jump into one terrible situation after that next…”

“Yeah,” Cassie mumbled.

“He’s also scared that he isn’t going to like Jace and it’ll crush you. He knows that. This is high stakes for you, but as the guy that raised you, it’s high stakes for him, too. So you do have to cut him a little slack. And it’s not like this is a shocking situation—I know very well you could’ve ended his and my relationship in the beginning if you hadn’t liked me. You put him through hell—he’s just doing the same to you.”

“I don’t like you. I just didn’t have the heart to tell him.”

Krista snickered. “Fine. Well, if Sean finds reason for concern, what do you plan to do?”

“Be really upset.” Cassie let her head thump back on the headrest. “But I love Jace. No, it hasn’t been very long, and sure, maybe some of that is the desire to love in general, but…I really like him, Krista. So…it’
ll kill me, but I won’t give Jace up just because Sean is being a douche-nozzle.”

“Gross. Unlea
rn that word from Kate, will you?” Cassie felt a body lean on the seat behind her. “He’s hot, I’ll give him that. And has that quiet manly thing, which is good because you talk too much. There can’t be two talkers in a relationship. And I can see how much he cares about you—you guys care a lot for each other. That’s obvious. He seems solid, and he’ll take care of you, I can tell. I see a lot of Sean in him, actually. A lot of Sean.”

“What is the point of this babbling?” Cassie asked, watching Jace as he looked out into the distance.

“Do you get your nervous giggle around him?” Krista asked, ignoring her question.

“Yes. And I act like a
doofus half the time.”

Krista pushed her shoulder
from around the seat. “Well, you have my vote for him. I’m not as great of a judge of character as Sean, but I don’t see any warning signs, like I have with the majority of the other asshats you bring around. Now, get out.”