Teasing Trent (The Alexanders) (17 page)

Ridley stood right behind him watching the exchange with wide eyes.
 

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“OH, GREAT. SHE has a lot of nerve showing up here.” Matt looked over her shoulder and frowned. Ridley turned and peered in the same direction. There were so many people there that she couldn’t be sure what he was looking at.
 

Until her eyes zeroed in on Jackson and Mara talking to a beautiful woman in a short, white dress.

“Who is that?” She hated to ask, hated that she wanted to know so badly. The woman was tall and thin with long, curly brown hair. Her light brown skin looked airbrushed, almost as if she’d photoshopped herself before leaving the house. Just then, she tossed her long hair over her shoulder and smiled at Jackson.
 

Ridley hated her on sight.

Mara turned and walked away from them, her shoulders drawn up and her lips twisted into a snarl. Matt chuckled and tossed his empty beer bottle in one of the recycling bins nearby.
 

“That is Jackson’s bitchy ex-girlfriend. Looks like she’s already pissed Mara off. Typical.”
 

Jackson crossed his arms, his body language communicating that he definitely didn’t want to be there. Miss Photoshop clearly didn’t get the message because she kept moving closer and closer, leaning in toward Jackson as she spoke even as he leaned away. Ridley clenched her fists.
 

Without thinking about what she was doing she found herself moving in their direction.
 

“I’m sorry for the way things ended between us but I’ve moved on and I suggest you do the same.” Jackson turned as she walked up. Her mouth went dry.
 

The bravado that had compelled her to march over there didn’t extend to knowing what to say.
 

“Hey. I was wondering where you’d gone off to.”
 

The other woman looked her up and down but didn’t extend her hand. “I’m Alana. I don’t think I’ve met you before.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ridley.”
 

Jackson put an arm around her and anchored her to his side. “Hey, baby. I didn’t mean to abandon you.” He nuzzled her hair and snaked an arm around her back to settle possessively on her waist.
 

She looked at him in shock, then quickly covered her reaction with a bright smile. Her pulse raced as she curled against Jackson’s chest. It shouldn’t give her such satisfaction to see the other woman’s eyes narrow at the affectionate gesture.
 

If he wanted her to play along to get rid of a clingy ex-girlfriend she could do that. It was no big deal, despite the fact that her libido was suddenly wide awake and doing the samba. She’d have to be dead not to react to the flex and play of Jackson’s muscles under the thin, short-sleeved shirt he wore.
 

Especially when he was holding her so tightly that she was plastered against those muscles.

“No, I was fine,” she managed to get out, hoping her voice didn’t betray just how turned on she actually was. Did he have to smell like that, all warm and slightly sweet?
 

“I was just hanging out with Matt and watching the boys play. The thing is, I hate to be a party pooper but I think I'm going to go upstairs and lie down for a bit.”
 

She figured it was as good an excuse as any. It was one thing to play lovers for a few minutes to fool his ex, but she couldn’t be this close to Jackson for too long without melting into a puddle. No doubt, they were already attracting attention. She turned and met Nick’s frosty gaze. She smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back.

What is his deal?
 

“You live here?” Alana asked suspiciously. “Who are you, one of his little cousins?”

Ridley would have laughed in any other circumstance. She was used to the criticism. When people found out who her sister was, their first question was usually
why don’t you look like that
? She was immune to rudeness at this point and she certainly wasn’t going to take offense when the criticism came from a woman who looked like she had bird feathers or something equally ridiculous stuck to her eyelashes.

“Yes, I live here.”

 
The ironic thing was she didn’t even have to lie. She currently
was
living there, and unless her sister changed her mind about letting her stay in her house alone, she’d be there until Raina came back.
 

Jackson’s hand tightened around her waist before he turned to look at her, his gratitude clear by the way the stress lines around his eyes relaxed a little. In that moment, Ridley experienced a fierce surge of protectiveness.
 

Cat fights weren’t her style and she’d never been the type to engage in verbal spats over a man. If a man wanted to be with her, then he needed to tell other women that he was taken.
 

Period.
 

But in this case, not only was Jackson not her boyfriend but she could clearly read the S.O.S. signals the poor man was sending out. This girl looked like the type who wouldn’t take no for an answer, and as his friend, she was more than happy to help him get this she-cat-in-heat off his back.

“Like I said, I’m going upstairs to rest. Are you coming?” she asked.

Jackson nodded slowly, as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying. Alana watched them with slitted eyes, her mouth falling open slightly as Ridley threaded her fingers through Jackson’s. Just as they were walking off, Ridley turned back.
 

“And if Jackson and I are cousins, then I'm pretty sure we're both going to hell.”

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DID SHE REALLY just say that?

Jackson was fully aware that he was playing with fire. He couldn’t articulate what had made him do it. It was one thing to tell Alana he was dating someone else, but to draft Ridley into playing the part without permission was just asking to get slapped. He was lucky she’d gone along with it at all.
 

He certainly hadn’t expected to hear her stick up for him in that honey-sweet voice of hers. Not only had she gotten him away from Alana, but she’d slyly insinuated they were sneaking off to have sex. Or at least that was how he’d interpreted it. He wasn’t sure if she’d meant it to sound that way or if his dick had taken over his hearing.

Either way, he wasn’t going to resist if she wanted to drag him upstairs. Even if it really was just to sleep.

“Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that. She just pissed me off. One of your
cousins
. Really? Who hugs their cousin like that?” Ridley shook her head. “I won’t ask why you were attracted to her. She’s very pretty. Other than the crazy things stuck to her eyelashes and the pound of makeup she’s wearing.”
 

“No comment. But I’m willing to admit that most of my relationships are pretty shallow. My friends pushed me hard to get back into the dating scene after…”

“After your wife died. It’s okay, Matt told me. I’m really sorry.” She squeezed his hand as she said it.
 

His wife was usually a subject he didn’t discuss with anyone. Part of him was angry that Matt had told her, but the other part was glad. Jackson couldn’t figure out why, but for some reason he didn’t mind talking about it with Ridley. She seemed like she really was sorry for his pain and not just saying it to score points like most of the women who eventually found out.

“Thanks. It was a hard time and after a while I started dating just to shut everyone else up. I’m sure you can imagine the kind of women they were setting me up with.”

“Hey, I’m not judging. My own sister apparently thinks I’m a prude and need to sleep with a ‘real man’ like you.”

Jackson choked, letting go of her hand to thump himself on the chest. “What?”

“I know. Crazy, right?” Ridley continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was now completely aroused.
 

He put his hands in his pockets and tried to hitch his pants higher to cover his erection. “She actually said that?”

“Pretty much. She knows you’re exactly my type so she thinks I should use this time to seduce you. Of course, I told her I’d get right on that.” She laughed and covered her face with her hands. “Wow, that’s even more embarrassing than the first time I said it!”

“Jesus, Ridley.” Jackson held a hand to his heart, which was now pounding so hard he worried it might jump out of his chest and land on the grass. “If I actually thought you meant that, you wouldn’t be safe anywhere.”

“Jackson…” she pleaded. “Don’t make fun of me.” She peeked at him from between her fingers.

“I’m not making fun of you, trust me.” He stepped closer and pulled her hands down, holding them firmly in his. She watched with wide eyes as he dipped his head, her lips parting as he moved in.
 

There were a million reasons this was a bad idea. In fact, he’d listed them mentally just last night. However, he suddenly couldn’t come up with even one reason he shouldn’t kiss her. As he zeroed in on her mouth, all he could see was that her bottom lip was slightly fuller than the top. He was going to
bite
that plump lip.

Just then Matt walked up. “Hey. Look who just arrived.”
 

It took Jackson a few moments before he could tear his eyes away from Ridley’s. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a soft sigh, her breath wafting across his cheek. There were so many thoughts running through his head, all of them screaming at him to pick her up, throw her over his shoulder and take her in the house. Then they could “get right on it” as she’d jokingly put it.
 

Only he wouldn’t be playing around.
 

“Jackson? Uh, should I give you two a minute?” He met Matt’s amused eyes and then followed his finger to where he pointed across the grass. What he saw cooled him down instantly. He took a deep breath and stepped back from Ridley.
 

“We’ll
definitely
pick up this conversation later.” Then he turned to the older couple walking in their direction.
 

“Mom! Dad! Over here.” He waved his arm to attract their attention.

Alana, who’d been hovering off to the side watching them, huffed out a breath and scurried in the opposite direction, her short dress riding up as she trotted away.

“Well, what got her so excited? Not that I’m not happy she’s finally gone,” Ridley said.
 

He reflexively pulled her against his side again. Not that he wanted to fool his parents. His mother had eyes like a hawk and fooling her was something he hadn’t attempted since he was a teenager. No, he realized he wanted Ridley to meet his parents just because he liked her.
 

“She never got along with my mother. She’s probably afraid to face her. My mom is a bit intimidating sometimes.”

Before she could answer, his parents approached. His father immediately pulled him into a hearty hug. “There’s my boy!”

Jackson laughed and hugged him back, his father’s joy contagious. Mark Alexander had a way of making every gathering a party and treated everyone he met like family.
 

Between volunteer work mentoring at their church and taking on more summer workers than he needed, just so the local boys could have productive work, he was always helping others in some way. When Jackson was younger, it was hard for him to understand why his father gave so much of his time and energy to others. In some cases, he’d felt like people took advantage of his father’s welcoming nature.

Now that he was older, and hopefully wiser, he saw his father’s actions for what they truly were.
 

Kindness.

He hugged his mother and gently kissed her cheek, then stood still so she could fuss over him as she liked to do. After several exclamations over how thin he was and how he needed to take better care of himself, he was finally able to get a word in edgewise.

“Mom and Dad, I’d like you to meet Ridley Wells. Ridley is my neighbor and lives on the next street over. Ridley, these are my parents, Mark and Julia Alexander.”

Ridley glanced up at him and smiled softly, looking relieved when he didn’t mention anything about the accident. He hated that she still seemed ashamed about it. His parents wouldn’t fault her for her circumstances. If anything, his mother would probably bundle her up and coo over her just like she did her own children.

“Hello, Ridley. I’m so glad you decided to join us today.” His mother hugged her briefly and she shook hands with his father.
 

“Jackson was really nice to invite me. I just wish I’d had time to prepare something.”

His mother’s eyes lit up. “That’s all right, honey. Do you like potato salad? Mine is on the end of the buffet in the red and white bowl.”

“I’ll be sure to try it. My potato salad was never anything special but I make really good seafood salad. It’s one of my sister’s favorites.”

Jackson was amazed. The one time he’d introduced Alana to his parents, they’d spent the entire evening making awkward conversation. Ridley, however, seemed to have no problem chatting with them. When he tuned back into the conversation, his father was trying to convince her to make him a shrimp salad.

“Dad! She’s not here to work. You’re going to scare her away.”
 

His father winked at him and nodded in Ridley’s direction. Jackson shook his head slowly, hoping his father understood that they were just friends. The idea of being just friends with a beautiful woman was foreign to his dad, well, to pretty much every guy he knew. But after the way they’d connected last night, they definitely weren’t strangers, yet they weren’t going to be lovers, either. He owed her better than that.

“Oh, honey. What happened to you?”
 

When Ridley went rigid at his side, he knew his mother had caught sight of the bruises she’d tried to cover with her long sleeved shirt.