RIDE: The Complete Delancey Brothers Trilogy (6 page)

"Bye Elle!"

"Good night Casey. Night Angelina!"

"Goodnight!"

I had come upstairs to avoid talking to them. They were engrossed in their conversation, and I was not fit company for anyone, feeling the way I did. I was still angry after what had happened.

Enough so that I'd neglected to mention that Jackson was outside cooling his heels. I snorted. I was glad he had to wait outside. Maybe it would cool down his other... body parts as well.

He certainly wasn't welcome in here.

Not after what he'd done. He hasn't just kissed me, he'd manhandled me! The man flat out admitted he didn't like me and then he'd kissed me again! Three times!
 

I was beginning to think he had kissed me just to get a rise out of me.

The worst part was, it had worked.

I was annoyed, even as I felt myself responding to him.

He knew it too.

I forced myself to calm down and went downstairs to run Casey's bath. I laid out her evening meds and made her a cup of licorice tea to help her sleep. All of it was routine, which gave me plenty of time to think.

Out of everything I'd learned tonight about my new neighbors and this town, one thing kept circling in my mind.

Jackson Delancey was a real son of a bitch.

But damn, the man could kiss.

"So?"

"So what?"

"You like him."

I shook my head adamantly.
 

"No. No I do not."

"He's very handsome."

I shrugged.

"And he was staring at you all night. I could practically see the sparks."

"Trust me Case, there were no sparks."

"Uh huh. Sure. So where did you guys disappear to then?"

I looked at her, handing her a glass of water. She took it wordlessly and waited. I handed her her pills one at a time, using a little teacup so we didn't get our germs all over them. It was best to minimize her risk for infection. The damage to her body included a severely weakened immune system.

We'd learned that the hard way.

The best thing was to not wear shoes in the house, wipe down handles and doorknobs regularly and wash our hands. We had so many hand soaps and creams it would make your mind spin.

But it worked. Casey's body needed time to heal, not fight off every cold and flu that made the rounds. And she
was
getting better, slowly but surely.
 

"I'm waiting."

I handed her another pill.

"He took me on a detour."

"He did? What happened?"

"I asked him to take me back and he did. That's it."

"That's definitely
not
it."

"Take your pill."

She grinned and took her pill. Then she wheeled herself into the bathroom. I helped her into the tub and started to leave.

"Come on Ange. Sit and tell me. I never hear any gossip."

I sighed and perched on the toilet seat. After I wiped it down of course. We used a lot of wipes in this house. Most people would say we were neurotic. But it was so important to protect her as much as we could. That included keeping me healthy too, so I didn't pass anything onto her.

"Fine. He kissed me."

Casey squealed and splashed the water.

"I knew it! How was it? He's gorgeous Ange admit it."

"He's an oaf! He totally manhandled me!"

She was laughing as I frowned at her.

"I wouldn't mind being manhandled now and then."

"You are a bad girl, Casey."

She nodded happily.

"Yes I am. So, did you kiss him back?"

"Not the first time."

"The first time? How many times did he kiss you?"

I chewed my lips, thinking.

"Three times. And I slapped him three times."

"You didn't!"

I finally smiled. It was kind of funny when you thought about it. It had been like slapping a brick wall. Even his face had muscles.

"I did."

"That's not like you Ange."

I sighed. It really wasn't. I don't think I'd ever slapped a man before in my life. I was a pacifist. In the past I would have just avoided someone I didn't like. That's just what I would have to do with him.

It's too bad the man lived right next door!

"I know but he was so damn arrogant! He just grabbed me out of the blue. Then he suggested we sleep together so we could get back to disliking each other with that out of the way."

Now Casey was cackling like a witch. I watched her with a sour look on my face. Eventually I started laughing too.

"Well at least he's- practical!"

She leaned back and sighed dreamily.

"If only Prince Charming would come along and make an offer like that to me someday..."

I threw a loofah mit at her.

"You are an ass sometimes you know that."

She nodded sleepily. She'd only been in the water a few minutes, but I could tell it was time for her to go to sleep. Even just going out to dinner took a lot out of her.

"Okay, enough excitement for today, let's get you in bed."

A half an hour later she was settled and sleeping soundly. Meanwhile I was wide-awake. I didn't drink wine very often. You would think it would help you get right to sleep. Instead it was keeping me up for some God forsaken reason.

It wasn't just that either. It was him. Jackson Delancey was wreaking havoc with my peace of mind.

My fingers slid over my lips again and again. I could still feel him. For some strange reason I almost thought I could still smell him! He'd smelled like evergreen and leather. It was very manly and very appealing. I'd never smelled anything so delicious in my life.

This was ridiculous! I didn't even like the man! I
extra
didn't like him!

Finally I gave in and turned on the light. I did some unpacking in my room, careful not to wake Casey. By the time the sun was starting to light up the sky I was ready for bed. I glanced at my alarm. If I lay down now I could get a few hours sleep before Casey got up.

The next thing I knew someone was banging on the front door.

Chapter Nine

Jackson

I'd gotten up early as usual. I'd wolfed down my breakfast, finished before anyone else even made an appearance. Mrs. Garretty handed me a basket on the way out the door.

"What's this Mrs. G?"

Her soft blue eyes twinkled at me.

"It's not polite to go calling empty handed."

"I'm not going empty handed."

I held up my tools. She rolled her eyes at me affectionately. She'd been a mother to all of us over the years. I loved her dearly, even if she was meddling.

"Not the same dear. Here, take this to go visit your lady friend."

Seemed like everybody had a vested interest in getting Angelina and I together. Especially me. Of course, they might stop helping if they knew I just wanted to screw her six ways from Sunday.

I had no intention of settling down. But I had amended my plans a bit.

I lay awake half the night carefully planning my attack. I didn't just want one night. I wanted casual sex, as much as I wanted, on demand, indefinitely. After the way she'd kissed me back, I knew she'd be a real wild cat in bed.

She'd kissed like a sophisticated city woman. She hit like a bantamweight. I just need to keep her too busy in bed to go around slapping me again.

We could screw when we wanted to, and dislike each other the rest of the time.

It was a perfect plan.

I just had to convince her of it.

Of course, casual sex did not mean I would allow her to be with other men. No, I'd keep her way too busy for that. Maybe I'd put a path in between our two properties. I could go back and forth at night as the mood struck me. From our house, right up to the back door of hers.

Yes, that was an excellent idea.

I just had to talk Angelina into it. I grinned as I drove over to her place. I hoisted my tools and the basket of food. Then I rang the doorbell, waiting expectantly.

Then I rang it again.

And again.

Seven minutes later the door opened. My eyes grew wide at the sight of her. Angelina stood in the doorway in a slinky, semi-sheer tanktop, slouchy pajama pants with fuzzy bunny slippers. Her gorgeous hair tumbled over her shoulders. Her face was still soft and unguarded from sleep.

She looked sexy as all get out.

But that wasn't even the best part. Oh no. That was below her neck. Her nipples looked like they could cut glass. I could see them clearly, as well as the outline of her perfectly round, bouncy looking tits.

BOOM

Just like that, I was erect.

"What are you doing here?"

I ignored her surly tone, my eyes glued to her chest. From her sharp intake of breath, she realized what I was doing too. I licked my lips appreciatively and she crossed her arms over her chest.

I smirked at her.

"Nice slippers."

She glared at me. We both knew I hadn't been looking at her feet. I bet those looked cute too. Especially if they were draped over my shoulders as I-

"Jackson, I said what are you doing here?"

I lifted up the basket and the tools.

"I'm here to take a look at your... house. Did you forget?"

She stared at me, clearly not awake yet. She even let her arms drop. I used my peripheral vision to soak in those perky tits of hers.

I didn't want her covering up. My job would be much more pleasant with those jugs of hers on display. One might even say the day would fly by.

"Angelina? Do you want me to look at your leaks or not?"

She rolled her eyes and stepped aside, allowing me to enter.

"Take your shoes off."

"You're joking."

She shook her head vehemently.

"No, I'm not. No shoes."

I set my tools down inside the door and kicked my boots off. Thank God I didn't wear raggedy old socks like my brother Jake. Mrs. Garretty had a habit of raiding his sock drawer to throw the old ones away. He would grumble about it and we would all have a good laugh.

Jake had lived on the road for a long time. Elle said she was still working on getting him house broken. But not me.

No, I was not the sort of man to show up at a lady's house with nasty socks on his feet. My breath was fresh too. And I'd shaved. I wanted to be smooth when I got my face between her luscious thighs.

No woman wanted a man's mouth on her when he was scruffy.

Oh yes, I planned to put my mouth all over her. That was the way to get the upper hand. First I'd make her squeal with pleasure. Soon she'd be begging me to fuck her nice and hard. I would be more than happy to oblige her.

I watched as she padded into the kitchen, my eyes on her delicious looking ass. I'd like to spank that ass. Oh yes, I could picture her cheeks with some nice red marks on them.

I wondered how much they would jiggle.

"Do you always get up so late?"

She glanced over her shoulder at me, holding her finger to her lips. She spoke softly, indicating that I should be quiet. I did my best to walk softly, not the easiest thing for a man of my size.

"It must have been the wine. Casey slept in too, which is great. She usually wakes up a bunch of times. She needs all the sleep she can get."

I put the basket on the kitchen table.

"What's that?"

"I'm guessing it's baked goods. Muffins, that sort of thing. Compliments of Mrs. Garretty."

"Oh. Thank you."

As usual, she looked confused when I did something nice for her. I watched in fascination as she rubbed her foot up and down her other leg. She'd clearly forgotten how see through her top was. I tried not to stare too obviously. It wasn't easy.

Of course, working with a hard on wasn't the easiest thing to do either. Maybe I could convince her to take a little break with me before her sister got up. I grinned. A little light fucking with breakfast.

No, not a little. A lot. If we started now, maybe we'd be done by sundown.

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"Coffee would be great."

"Sorry, no coffee. I have green tea."

"Sure. I guess you did just move in."

"Yes but we don't have coffee around anyway. Caffeine is rough on Casey's system. I stick to her diet for the most part. It's easier that way."

Once again I was struck by her dedication to her sister. She might be a pain in the ass, but she was a good person deep down. That much was obvious.

I frowned a little. It was a lot more fun to think about hate fucking her when I thought she was a high-strung bitch on wheels. But even if she was a saint, I didn't want a relationship. I just wanted to take out my rampant lust on her delectable little body.

And make her scream.

My ego demanded that.

She was watching me I realized. I hadn't been staring at her tits thank God. I stole a quick glance when she looked away. I moaned out loud, feeling my cock bob in my jeans.

"What?"

I cleared my throat.

"Nothing. So, where should we get started?"

Angelina

I sipped my green tea, watching Jackson climb a ladder on the side of the house. He had pulled off his sweater and handed it to me. I was fighting to resist the urge to smell it.

Me of all people. Sniffing a man's shirt. Not even my man either. Just a jerk who happened to smell intoxicatingly good.

This was ridiculous.

I
was ridiculous.

I tried not to stare as his bulging muscles pushed against the thin cotton of his t-shirt. The man was exceptionally well built. Not just from the gym either. You could tell he earned those muscles the old-fashioned way. Through hard work and manual labor.

He looked like a cowboy, but the movie star version.

Clint Eastwood on steroids.

It was... distracting. To say the least. And I had things to do.

"Do you need anything?"

He grinned at me, looking over his shoulder from where he was patching the porch roof.

"I'm good."

"I'm going to get dressed."

He shook his head and turned back to what he was doing.

"Too bad, I liked the bunny slippers."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. Casey was up now and reading in the sunroom. I'd set it up with one of the hepa air filters, a few houseplants and a comfy chair. I'd even strung some sparkling string lights shaped liked stars along the wall of windows.