Love and Chaos: A Growing Pains Novel (6 page)

“No, we’re not staying.” Peter waved Cassie away from the car. “We’re going to stay at the hotel this week. Save the rooms in the house for the kids.”

“No, Peter
!” Becky put her hands on her hips. “Didn’t Roger tell you? We finished the add-on. Nick, Jenn, and the kids are staying back there. Your father and I moved down to the newly finished master suite, so there’s plenty of room for you two.”

“No,
Mom, it’s okay. That’s a full house for a week. We’ll just stay at the hotel. I already made reservations.” Peter waved Jace away from the trunk, where he stood silently, waiting for the resolution.

“You’ll stay here, Peter. Your
mother has already arranged everything.” Roger turned back to the house, putting his hand out to let Rachel go first.

Peter stared after his father, his body slumping. Jace stepped forward to clap a heavy hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Probably better—we don’t have many cabs coming out this way, and you won’t want to drive if you drink at all.”

“C’mon, honey, let’s get you a glass of wine.” Becky ushered a crestfallen Peter ahead of her. “Jason will bring your things in. Cassie, Jason will get you comfortable—give you a moment of peace.”

“Yes, sure. No problem.” Cassie blinked a few times as Peter was ushered away, not really sure what to do with herself in the wake of crazy.

“We have a ping pong table.” The masculine rumble reminded her she wasn’t alone. Her gaze found the speaker, standing by the car, patiently waiting for her to finally open the trunk.

“Um…” She shook her head in tiny movements. “Huh?”

Jace crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps jutting out. “You’re not used to a big family, huh?”

Cassie stared at him, trying to find gravity. “No. It’s pretty much just my
brother and I. My parents are…not parental material.”

“Everyone’s pretty friendly here. You’ll be fine.”

“Uh huh.” She looked around, blinking in the setting sun and glancing out at the valley below. An orange haze had settled, glittering off of distant windows like stars. Trees burst with the colors of fall, plentiful and plush. “It really is beautiful up here. The countryside is so…majestic.”

Jace followed her gaze, letting the silence linger, as comfortable as a fire in winter. After another breath of sweet smelling air tinged with manly
sage smell she turned back to the trunk.

“Okay, ready.”
She clicked the button on her keychain and the trunk swung open.

“You acclimate quickly, huh? Quick on your feet?” Jace still stared with
an impassive expression.

“You stare a lot, hu
h? Trying to work on your ESP?”

Jace’s
lips quirked. He gave a tiny shake of his head and turned to the trunk. “I’ll be expecting that lesson in ping pong.”

“I don’t give lessons. I give spankings.”

His lips quirked harder, one side almost pulling into a half smile. “That right? How does Peter deal with it? I didn’t think he was one for sports.”

Crap.

He wasn’t. Hated them, in fact. He did some weights to keep his body cut, but hated running or most cardio. If he did anything, it was yoga. Completely the opposite of Cassie.

She reached into her bag of smack talking immediately. “He isn’t. Plus, I only destroy those with confidence problems.”

“I don’t have a problem with my confidence.” He took out the groceries and set them on the ground to the side. He reached in for the largest suitcases.

“You certainly do. Too much of it. I’ll help you shave that down a bit.”

“Ah.” He shook his head again, that smile threatening. “Well, we’ll see what you can do.”

Jace couldn’t help the buoyancy of his insides as he stood next to one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. He couldn’t believe his brother’s luck in finding her. White-blond hair fell down her face in a sheet, her delicate features lending her the beauty of a nymph. Her easy smiles and vivid blue eyes, sparkling with mirth and intelligence, had his heart hammering and palms sweaty. Absolutely gorgeous.

And Peter’s. Taken by one of the best guys in the world. Jace wouldn’t have it any other way—Peter deserved someone good in his life. He deserved to be with someone
that made him happy. Jace just wished Cassie’s charisma didn’t flirt with his senses, or her chaotic thoughts didn’t constantly have him leaning in to catch every word. She was all kinds of distracting!

Ripping his gaze away from her face, he
hefted two huge suitcases, eyeing the third smaller one. In addition, the wine and beer, a litter of books, electronic gadgets, and an exploding makeup bag all needed to be hauled in.

“Staying awhile?”

“Oh, uh…” She ducked closer, pushing his arm just enough to hint he was in the way. He nearly laughed with his immediate urge to step to the right.

Pushed around by a girl. Since when?

“So, those are Peter’s.” She pointed at the suitcases in his hands. “Mine is this one.” She clutched the smaller red suitcase and yanked. The beer rolled off to the side, clinking dangerously.

“Here, I got it.” Jace dropped
Peter’s suitcases, steadied the crate of beer, and took her suitcase by the strap. He pulled it out easily and set it down by the back of the car, careful to miss the flowers.

“You shouldn’t put Peter’s sui
tcases on the ground. He’ll bitch.” She ducked back into the trunk and straightened her books.

Jace chuckled because she was absolutely right. Which made Jace leave the suitcase right where it was. Peter was funny when he got riled up.

Jace leaned against the trunk and stared down at that angelic face. Cripes, but she was a beauty. Perfect for Peter. Their style and poise matched perfectly. He had to admit, though, he’d liked her better in the grocery store, with her hair in a messy halo and without makeup. She didn’t need all the fancy clothes and those expensive but uncomfortable looking shoes. Jeans and a tee shirt, hair in a ponytail—that’s how she looked best.

“I can feel you staring at the side of my head. Practicing death curses or something?” Those
blue eyes glanced his way, so vivid they sucked a guy in and wouldn’t let him back away.

He suppressed laughter.
“Just wondering what’s taking so long.”

“
Well, caveman, I actually read, and I don’t like when my books get messed up.”

He shifted
, getting a look at her books, half expecting to see a dozen shirtless men with writhing women draped over them. Instead, dragons or spaceships or men with swords colored the covers. “Why don’t you get an e-reader?”

“Because I like bookstores. And also, I go to the library a lot to write, so while I’m there I just pick up a book. Or three.”

“What do you write?”

She glanced at him with a furrowed brow as she zipped up her makeup bag. “For work. I write a life and leisure column.”

“For which newspaper?”

“For a magazine, actually, and I don’t want to say. I write under a pen name so my friends can’t make fun of me.”

He put his hand on the edge of the car and leaned so he could watch her expressions. She gave away her thoughts on her face—he liked the honesty of it. “Why would they make fun of you? Don’t you know what you’re writing about?”

“Yes. But sometimes…I embellish. Plus, I don’t go to their work and heckle them, why would
I want them heckling me?”

“Where’s your computer? I assume you’ll be writing about the trip?”

She straightened up and faced him, a wave of irritation washing over her. He almost laughed again—he had no idea why riling her up was so much fun.

“Ask many questions?” She stalke
d around the car, yanked the back door open, and pulled a computer bag from the back seat. “There. Happy? All accounted for.”

“Thrilled. Are you ready to get this in the house, or what? Time’s a-
wastin’.”

“I swear I am going to—“ Her face set in a firm line of irritation. Those deep blue eyes sparkled, though
, right before a smile threatened her lips.

“What? Chase me
with a ping-pong paddle? Throw darts at my head?”

The smile broke free. “Anybody ever tell you how annoying you are?”

“Yup. All the time. C’mon.” He reached down for the suitcases. After he straightened back up, she stepped closer to him and pushed the wine, two books, and the makeup bag through his arms next to his body.

“Whoa, wait—“ He shifted so he had a better hold on the wine as she grabbed the flowers and assessed him. “This isn’t the Titanic—we can come back down for a second load.”

“I hate doing multiple trips. We can do this.”

She put her purse over her shoulder and bent to her suitcase. That done, she grabbed the crate of beer and straightened up. And stared. Expectantly.

“Ready?” He headed toward the house. At the door he stopped and half turned, starting to labor with the combined weight. “Hurry up.” He jerked his head to indicate she should cross in front.

She stepped around him gracefully, her luggage scraping his, to go in through the door first.

“Amazing—I figured you’d bitch that I was in the way. Or bossing you around. Or already in front so I should just go first…” He let the laughter ring through his voice.

She
hesitated at the foot of the stairs and glanced back. “Up here, right?”

“Yeah. Second
door on your left. Leave the beer down here. And take this wine. We don’t need to—“

She’d already put her stuff down and turned to remove the bottle. She set them in a neat pile, her package of chocolate on top, before turning back to her stuff. “Okay, up we go.
Why didn’t I bitch? Was that your question?”

“
You just don’t seem like the type of girl who likes someone telling her what to do.”

Her laughter rang out, throaty and pleasant.
At the top of the stairs she glanced at the doors to either side, her gaze lingering on the art on the walls. “You thought I was strong-willed, or thick headed? Who decorated?”

“My mom. Just here, on the left.”

“Marcus would go gaga over this house.” She opened the door slowly, peeking in as though a dragon waited inside.

“Who’s Marcus?”

“He’s Peter’s—“ Cassie froze, glancing back at Jace with round eyes. “Friend. Well, my friend, really. Mostly mine. But kind of ours, I guess. Both of ours. I met him through Sean. My brother.”

“
Your
friend?” Jace asked in confusion, not sure why her body language suddenly screamed
uncomfortable.

“Well…uh…
kinda….” Her eyes darted around the room, not wanting to look at him.

He’d seen that look a million times.
He’d learned what it meant—lies and deceit from a woman keeping something from him. Something big that would tear him apart.

He dropped the suitcases slowly, unable to help the shot of adrenaline that coursed through his body. “Explain this. How do you know this Marcus?”

She faced him with uncertainty. Her body shied away from his bearing and his proximity, probably reacting to his anger and mistrust. Fear crept into her expression, which wrung his heart for a brief moment—until he realized what harm she could do. If this girl was cheating on his brother, Jace would end her connection with this family immediately. He would not allow what had happened to him to happen to Peter.

“He’s a friend of mine. Ours. I told you, I met him through Sean. My brother.” Her limbs started to shake as her face close
d down.

“What is he to you? Ex-boyfriend? Do you see much of him?”

Confusion warred her features.  “Ex-boyfriend? Of
mine?
”

He
waited expectantly.

A
smile replaced the confusion. “
Oh.
You think I’m cheating. Ha! No, not with Marcus.”

“Not with Marcus? With someone else then?”
He couldn’t help the ragged discomfort in his voice just thinking about it. Remembering the pain.

As if reading him easily, her
expression turned sorrowful. “I’ve been there. You know—cheated on. I’d never do that to someone. I’d break up with him first. I remember how I felt—like nothing. Like mud on a shoe. I don’t cheat. Never have.”

Jace stopped the insane urge to crush his fist into something. Ripped out the need to sob like a coward. Instead, he flexed his muscles and stared her down
, hating that sympathetic expression. Hating how vulnerable she made him feel with her understanding.

Cassie’s
hand reached forward. He flinched back before he could help himself. Instead of backing off, though, she gently touched his arm. Her eyes delved into him, rooting him to the spot, splitting him wide open. In a soft, feminine voice, she cooed, “I am going to rip you apart in ping pong, just so you know. Literally. I am going to make you my bitch.”