Chapter Five Audrey #2
But when Alex’s hand found a new home, slipping across the faint five-o’clock shadow on his jaw before settling firmly on my son’s shoulder, the tape on that box peeled open. Ripped. Right. Apart.
“Someone found me.” The awkward quiet was finally broken with Alex’s remark. Damn, the husky quality of his voice pulled at something deep inside me, tempting me to step closer to him.
“Earth to Mommy!”
Yeah, Mommy’s staring, isn’t she? “Just tell me you knocked on Mr. Rodriguez’s door instead of bursting into his room?” One naked encounter for the day was plenty.
Chase held up a room key, closing one eye. “I may have borrowed the spare key from Dad when he told me what room Uncle Alex was in.”
Uncle Alex? My heart did a weird little stumble at those two words strung together. Not because I thought of him like a brother, but . . .
“He didn’t barge in.” A quick throat-clear from Alex. “Not really. I was in the shower, so I didn’t hear his knocking. He gave me time to dress.” He was defending my son, and I kind of loved that.
“Chase.” I tried to pull off serious, but my son’s wide-mouth grin was far too infectious for that scolding to hold any weight.
“Sorry, I was just excited. I want another snowball fight. That okay? Dad said he’s in, too.”
Alex and Trevor in a snowball fight? Two men who’d both seen me naked, huh? Because today couldn’t get any more awkward.
“Mommmmyyy.” Chase waved his hand, trying to coax me out of my head, which was currently a messy place to be.
I forced my attention on my brother’s friend, the sexy man assigned to watch over me, as I relaxed my arms and pushed my sleeves to my elbows.
The side of Alex’s mouth lifted, revealing that one lone dimple I’d clocked the moment he first smiled back at me over Christmas.
“We were planning on heading to our place to grab some stuff, but I think we can squeeze in a quick snowball fight first if Alex is up for it.” I met Chase’s eager eyes. “Which team will I be on?”
“Daddy says you have to watch because of your head.”
Of course he did. “I’m fine,” I reassured him. “No way are you having a snowball fight without me.”
I could feel Alex’s glare land hard. He was about to side with Trevor on this, wasn’t he?
“You and Daddy together, then! I’ll have Uncle Alex’s six.”
Oy. I worried at how easily Chase paired my name with Trevor’s, like there was a little hope for reconciliation clinging to the edges of his words.
This right here just became my new concern about the dangers of sharing a roof with Trevor. Chase would never want me to move out. He had his parents together again, and he didn’t understand that didn’t mean we were together together.
This was the definition of the “start over” I knew Chase was secretly hoping for when Trevor had first asked us both to move out here last year.
“How about boys against girls?” I asked. “I’ll pull Aunt Eden onto my team. Two against three.”
Chase laughed, already sprinting down the hall.
Alex watched him go, the smile slipping from his mouth as he turned back to me. His hand braced lightly on the doorframe, head tilted in question. “Are you okay?”
The warmth in his voice made my chest ache, same with that sincere expression crossing his face.
“And I’m not talking about what happened to you last night,” he clarified, eyes shooting to my temple as if now noticing where I’d been whacked and regretting not playing doctor sooner to see if I was okay.
With his free hand, he reached out, brushing my hair away to inspect the damage without touching my skin.
I angled my head, allowing him to see the bruise and knot.
“A man that hits a woman deserves, well . . .” He briefly closed his eyes, mouth tightening.
Yeah, tell me about it.
“Trevor’s right. You should watch only, not join.” His throat bobbed with a deep, anguished swallow before he reset his attention on me, his hand falling to his side.
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. Just don’t go whacking me too hard.”
“I wouldn’t dream of whacking you hard.” His eyes lit up, then he gave me a hesitant smile. “Anyway, I was asking you something, right?”
I forgot myself, too distracted by the gentle way he’d checked on my injury.
“Right, I, uh, was saying that this can’t be easy for you to be here together. For any of you.”
“We haven’t been under one roof in a long time,” I admitted, my body relaxing a little despite the fact I was doing something I hadn’t done with a man in forever: opening up.
Heck, I hadn’t even done that with Ryder yet.
“I need to be here with Chase, but it’s going to be hard for him when it’s time for me to leave. ”
I had a feeling Alex was about to share some words of wisdom, but Chase’s “Hurry!” killed his chance.
“We should get a move on so we can head to my place afterward.” I glanced at our bare feet. “You have boots?”
Alex smirked, that dimple flashing again. “What kind of operator would I be if I didn’t?” He gestured toward his room. “Meet you downstairs. Might want to warm up that throwing arm. I have excellent aim.”
“I would hope you do.”
His answering look made my stomach flip.
And also, did I just flirt? Mildly successfully, too?
“Audrey?” he said quietly.
“Yeah?” I whispered right back.
But before he could say anything more, Chase returned, full of energy and exasperation.
“What’s taking so long?” Without hesitation, he hooked his arm with Alex’s and tugged him down the hall.
Alex shot a parting glance my way, and I couldn’t help but smile, watching how easily Alex fit into our world. I also couldn’t help but notice the way his mouth tilted into a helpless grin as he surrendered to Chase’s commands.
I saluted my son, catching a subtle wink from Alex before he vanished into his room, Chase right on his heels.
It didn’t take long to bundle up and make our way outside. The sun was low behind the mountains, painting the snow in a pale gold.
As expected, the second Trevor saw me, he started in on his lecture. Orders to stand down. Sit on the sidelines.
My response was to pack a snowball and let it fly right at him. He reluctantly agreed after that, but not before barking out “Go easy on her” commands to everyone.
Chase then pulled Trevor and Alex into a huddle, gesturing animatedly as he mapped out their battle plan as team leader. I loved how both men deferred to a nine-year-old without missing a beat.
Eden’s boots crunched across the snow as she joined me. “Think we have a chance?”
“A pretty good one, since they’re going to treat me with kid gloves.”
She laughed, tugging her pink hat lower over her short blonde hair. “Your brother’s friend is cute, by the way. Like sexy, manly hot—not boyish cute.”
I knew she wasn’t pointing out the obvious because she was interested. She was trying to let me know it was okay if I noticed a guy. A gentle nudge of support. We may not have been sisters-in-law anymore, but we’d stayed friends since the divorce.
“I have no plans to date again.”
“So you keep saying, and I’ll keep hoping you change your mind.” She hip-checked me.
Before I could shut her down, Chase’s excited shout cut through the air, along with a snowball. It smashed into Eden’s jacket, dead center.
Eden and I took cover, pelting them back as fast as we could.
I landed a decent shot against Trevor before spinning around and getting hit in the butt by one. Not too hard, but enough to surprise me.
I faced forward, finding Alex smirking, another snowball already cocked in hand.
“Aren’t you supposed to take it easy on me?” I reminded him.
“Believe me, I am,” he returned, that handsome, lazy smile doing a number on me.
Like distract me from my snowball-making mission.
I knelt for more snow too abruptly and became dizzy. I lost my balance and fell.
Alex somehow not only caught me, but he also managed to pad my fall, using his body as a cushion. But now I was smack on top of the man. Sitting right on his crotch, because, you know, why not make things more awkward?
“You okay?” His breath clouded the air between us.
“I got a little dizzy. Thanks for the save,” I whispered, hating that both men had been right about me not joining in on the fun.
Alex continued to stare into my eyes like he could read my thoughts and see my soul.
It took Trevor slicing through the tension to remind me we weren’t alone. “You good?” he barked out, and I remained sitting on top of this man like it was the most natural thing in the world for me to be doing.
What is wrong with me? Oh, right. Bump to the head to blame. Phew.
“Are you okay?” Trevor asked again, but in a slightly more neutral tone than he’d used before as he offered his hand to help me up since I had another man trapped beneath me with nowhere to go.
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured once on my feet as Alex stood.
“Time to sit out,” Trevor ordered, and I decided to behave myself and listen.
Alex gave me a small smile before Chase hit him with a snowball. “Turning on me, are you? Well, then . . .” His husky laugh filled the air before he took off after Chase, and my son squealed and ran.
Trevor joined in on the pursuit as Eden came over.
“Sorry about my brother ruining that moment you two seemed to be having.”
“Moment?” I shrugged. “What moment?”
She smiled. “You know what I mean.” She nodded toward her brother. “Trevor can be such an overprotective pain in the ass sometimes with the people he loves. He may have looked jealous, but he’s just like that. Heck, my boyfriend’s the sheriff and he gives him a hard time.”
Exactly what I’d hoped to hear. Not jealous, just a pain. Good. “Speaking of Beau, you think he could meet me at my house? Let us in?”
“Why do you need to go back?”
I peeked over her shoulder and lifted my chin toward the guys. “Alex wants to check out my place, and since he’s going, I’d like to grab a few things. I’m sure the other overprotective man in my life told him to go over there. A.k.a. my brother’s orders.”
“Brother . . .” she said on a sigh. “Still can’t believe you have a big brother. Damn.”
You and me both.
“Trevor will want to go with you.”
“He needs to stay with you and Chase,” I reminded her. “I can’t go anywhere without knowing he’s protected.”
“Those guys were serious pros. I just don’t think you should go home until—”
“What?” I cut her off, and she closed her eyes, her shoulders falling in disappointment, indicating she’d slipped and said too much. I knew Trevor had been holding back, dang it. “What is he keeping from me?” I reached for her arm.
After a hesitant pause, she lifted her head and frowned, eyes on me. “I heard him on the phone with our cousin this morning while you were asleep.”
“Which cousin?”
“Tessa. Her dad’s a general, remember? But that’s not why he called her. Anyway, he wanted to talk to—”
“Her husband. Army Special Forces. Now co-runs a security company. Also, he’s the son of the secretary of defense.
” I let those overwhelming facts sit heavy in the air, trying not to surrender to the worry that came with them.
Kind of hard not to. “Chase loves Tessa and Gray, and their baby, Penny. And, of course, their cute dog, Lucky.” The memory produced a smile, but it fell away fast. “Why in the world would Trevor think the break-in would require the help of someone like Gray?” Unless my suspicions are right and it wasn’t random.
“Trev’s just overprotective. No stone unturned, you know him. It’s who he is. He won’t rest until he knows without a shadow of a doubt it was random and you and Chase are safe at home.”
“He said as much to me.” I closed my eyes, the pain in my temple now making a comeback as I connected the dangerous dots I’d tried to ignore earlier. “Does he think someone is using me to get to him?”
“Maybe. Possibly. Or, well, more likely an enemy of—”
“Mitch,” I breathed out, nerves twisting me up. “An enemy of the man Trevor never liked or trusted in the first place.”