6. Hadley
“Ican’t believe you’re here! Wait.” Laney pulls back and plants her hands on my shoulders. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Ah…” I have no words. I can’t tell her the truth even though I’ve never lied to her before and she knows more about me than anyone. “I’m?—”
“She’s with me.” Quade’s arm slides around my waist as he moves next to me.
“With you, with you? How the hell did that happen?” Laney’s words feel like an accusation and I recall a few conversations about her older brother and I want to slap myself in the head.
“Yes.” Quade’s arm tightens, his hand gripping my hip. “We’ve been seeing each other since I came to see you last winter.”
“You never said—” Laney waves a hand. “No. It’s okay, you don’t owe me an explanation.”
“Laney.” I reach for her hand and squeeze. “I had no idea Quade was even your brother until right this second. You don’t have the same last name and?—”
“What do you mean we don’t have the same last name?” Quade’s words cut mine off. “What the hell, Littlest?”
Laney sighs. “Can we go inside? I’ll explain how Hads could have been clueless about our connection until right now.”
Quade and I share a look. Neither of us appears to know what Laney is talking about. I might not know him very well but I can tell he’s a little pissed off with his sister. Shrugging, he turns us together and ushers me back toward the door.
It takes a few minutes to get us all inside and for Laney to open her mouth to explain.
“Short answer. I didn’t want the Sanderson name hanging over my head so I went by Gram’s maiden name.”
“Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Any reason why you didn’t tell us you were doing that?” Quade asks.
“Why would I?”
He puffs out a breath. “I guess you wouldn’t need to.”
“No, I wouldn’t. I didn’t keep you in the dark on purpose and after listening to all of you complaining about how people’s behavior changed when they heard the last name Sanderson I didn’t want that. Being a Bennett meant I got to spend my college years without people treating me differently because of the family I was born into. I got to be me. Laney. Not Delaney Ivy Sanderson.”
From our conversations so far, I think Quade will understand what his sister is saying if he takes some time to digest her explanation. I understand her reasoning. And while I’m a bit hurt she never revealed her secret to me, I get why she didn’t. “So, you’re Littlest?” I ask, breaking the tension filling Quade’s foyer and distracting us all.
I’m the focus of both their attentions for a second before Laney cracks up laughing.
I glance at Quade to see if he knows what his sister finds so funny but he appears as clueless as I am.
“Let me show you to the kitchen. I’ll get my stuff together so we can get on the road.”
Quade’s words have Laney swallowing her laughter and sucking in a deep breath. “Wait. That’s why I’m here.”
“Do not ask me to tell Mom and Gram you aren’t coming,” Quade growls.
“What? No! I need a ride up there.”
“What’s wrong with your car?”
“I, um…”
“Delaney.”
“Fine. I sold it. I have to drop it off on the way out of Charleston.”
“Sold it? But you love that crazy death trap.”
“It’s not a death trap and not that I need to explain my reasons for selling my car but my new job is in a city where a car is unnecessary.”
“You got the job?” I grab Laney’s hand. Excitement for my friend bubbles through me. At least one of us has an idea of what to do now college is over.
She grins. “Yes! I start next month.”
“You’re not staying the whole summer?” Quade asks.
“No. But I have six weeks before I have to fly to New York.” She turns to smile up at Quade. “Can I use your apartment until I find somewhere to live?”
“Of course.”
“Um…you live in New York?” I ask as my gaze moves around. “I thought this was your house.”
“It is. My company has an apartment in New York we use when we have business in the city.”
“Oh.” I know Quade has money, and now I know he’s Laney’s older brother, I know how much money.
He’s a billionaire. In his own right—outside the Sanderson billions—according to his sister.
Funny how she never talked about her family’s worth but she was forthcoming about her billionaire real estate mogul older brother.
“Come on, Little called and asked me to come up to Love Beach today instead of tomorrow. We need to get going if we’re going to get there before dark and be any help today.”
“Give me your keys, I’ll switch my bags from my car to yours.” Laney holds out her hand. “Then you can follow me to where I need to drop the car off before we leave Charleston.”
“Okay.” Quade digs his keys out of his pocket and tosses them to his sister. “Leave me enough space for two bags.”
Laney rolls her eyes. “I’m not the sister who travels with her whole wardrobe.”
“Thank God.”
“And I’m going to guess Hads doesn’t have that much either. Living as poor college students for the last few years has its benefits.”
After Laney closes the door behind her Quade looks down at me, a concerned furrow between his eyebrows. “Just how well do you know my sister?”
“Pretty well.”
“Is it going to be a problem?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. But my friendship with Laney makes our meeting more believable.”
“Oh? How so?”
“Well, you came to see her earlier this year after she returned from winter break.”
“Yes, I did. It was after our grandfather died. I wanted to make sure she was okay. She left right after his funeral.”
“I know.”
Quade arches an eyebrow.
“I was the friend she told you was staying with her.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“So we met then and kept in contact…”
I smile. “It looks that way. But we’ll need to come up with how I didn’t know who you were to her until now.”
“Come with me upstairs so we can get things lined up before Littlest comes back in.” He takes my hand and pulls me toward the staircase. “She won’t come into my room if we close the door. I hate lying to her but…”
“Me too. But if you want your family to believe we’re dating and we met naturally instead of through a help wanted ad then we have to.”
He doesn’t say anything else. He’s quiet until we reach the second floor and he ushers me through the double doors of his bedroom. It’s not a simple bedroom. It’s a whole suite.
There’s a lounge alcove right inside the doors that opens out to a larger space where a huge fourposter bed dominates. Two open doors on the side wall reveal a bathroom and walk-in closet, the latter has two suitcases on the floor half filled with clothes.
“Hadley.”
I bring my eyes back to Quade. “Yes.”
Before I realize his intentions, his lips are on mine. They’re warm and soft and the scent of mint hits my nose when I suck in a startled breath.
“We should at least get used to touching each other intimately before we have to do it in front of my sister,” he says when he pulls away.
“Hmm…” I blink up at him, my mind spinning, my body alight with need. All from a simple press of his lips on mine. “O-okay.”
My voice is breathy and a smug smile tilts Quade’s mouth. A mouth I want to pull back to mine.