Chapter Eight
What could only be described as an airstrike roared through the house and woke me up.
Scrambling for my phone on the nightstand, I was greeted with the bright screen and six a.m. glaring back at me.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I groaned, pulling my pillow over my face.
Another roar ripped through the house and had me out of bed and on my feet. Storming out of my room and racing down the stairs, the early morning chill nipped at my bare legs.
The front door was lying wide open.
Did I forget to lock it last night? No, I was confident that I triple-checked it before I went to sleep. I cursed myself for not ringing the security company to come out and check all the alarms.
“You have to let me have a go!” my brother’s gleeful voice sounded from outside. “I took lessons a few years back but never bothered getting the license. C’mon, just one time!”
“Not a chance,” Jaxon’s low assertive tone responded.
Flynn was standing outside the house, his face lit up brighter than a Christmas tree, as he surveyed the source of all the noise.
“Where did that come from?” I pointed to the motorbike Jaxon was straddling. “Are you actually crazy?! Turn it off!”
Both men turned in unison.
“Turn it off,” I seethed. “It’s six in the fucking morning and you’re waking up the whole neighborhood with that monstrosity. Turn it off before the cops show up.”
Jaxon gave the bike’s engine another go, the noise rumbling through the base of my feet and up into my spine.
What an asshole.
I stepped out onto the doorstep. “Turn. It. Off.”
The engine stopped. Quiet fell across the world once again.
Was Jaxon out of his goddamn mind? Who the hell does that sort of thing at such an ungodly time of the day? It was any wonder no one had called the police yet for noise disturbance.
“Good morning, douceur,” Jaxon drawled. “You’re looking refreshed.”
I flipped him off, unable to fight the sense of triumph I felt when he dipped his head and laughed. His laugh was like finding a rare jewel or witnessing a shooting star.
Something that was to be appreciated if gotten the chance to witness it.
“Evie.” Flynn’s lips turned downward. “You realize you’re, um… you’re not wearing any trousers.”
In my forcibly awoken state, I’d left the bedroom with nothing on but a jumper and my underwear. Not a nice pair, but the pair that was the most comfortable to sleep in and had as much sex appeal as a toothache.
Heat scorched my cheeks, especially as Jaxon’s gaze slowly trickled down my naked legs. His nostrils flared and jaw twitched.
Was that desire I spied in those whiskey stormed eyes? Impossible.
“What are you doing here at this time of the morning, anyway?” I asked.
“Saunders was dropping Poppy and Bell over. I thought I’d tag along,” Flynn said.
“Since when did you manage to drag yourself out of bed before lunchtime?” I crossed my arms. “I don’t think you’ve been awake this early since you were a baby.”
Flynn reluctantly pulled himself away from admiring the bike and made his way into the house. The faint stench of cheap perfume and vodka assaulted my senses. Up close, he was clammy and pale. His eyes were bloodshot and purple-ringed.
And sure as shit, there was a hickey blooming to life on the side of his throat.
He’d been out all night.
“You got any coffee? Or better yet, the stuff to make a Bloody Mary?” Flynn asked, already vanishing into the kitchen.
“Excusez-moi if I woke you,” Jaxon said. “The bike wasn’t due to arrive for another couple days.” He stopped in front of me, his aftershave chasing away the hints of my brother’s late night. “If you’d like, I can escort you back to your room. Maybe help you find some clothes?”
The heat of his gaze returned to my legs, my skin burning with each passing second. I resisted shying away from him.
“You do realize what time it is?” Why was I breathless all of a sudden? “People are trying to sleep.”
“It’s Friday morning. People have work to go to. Think of me as their personal alarm clock.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You are such a jackass.”
“I take it that you’re not a morning person, non?”
“Not when I’ve been awoken by some obnoxious moron.”
A hint of a smirk tugged on the corner of his lips.
“And where do you plan on keeping that thing?” I nodded to the bike. “You can’t just leave it out on the street, and there isn’t a hope in hell it’s coming into this house.”
“Why not? I was hoping we could go for a little ride together.” He picked an invisible piece of lint from his crisp black shirt. Two top buttons were open, revealing his toned inked chest. “The vibrations on a bike are known to work wonders on uptight women.”
“Are you calling me uptight?”
He said nothing, but his smirk spoke volumes.
I balled my hands into fists. Whatever it took to stop my knuckles colliding with his stupid-cocky-handsome face. Why was I letting him get under my skin so damn bad?
He chuckled lowly. “Don’t fret your pretty head. Someone will be coming to lift it and take it to a private garage this afternoon.”
I swore he inhaled sharply when I turned my back to him and stormed off to the kitchen. I didn’t have to look behind to know he prowled behind, his darkness creeping forward and threatening to wrap itself around me and pull me back to him.
In the kitchen, Poppy was busy unpacking bags of food. Flynn lounged at the table, nursing a cup of coffee, and appearing seconds away from falling asleep, sitting upright.
“Morning,” Poppy grinned. “You’re up extra early today. That’s not like you.”
I grumbled under my breath, grabbing the coffee out of my brother’s hand and taking a much-needed mouthful.
“Would you care for some coffee, Mr. Dade?” Poppy asked. “Or I can whip you up a morning smoothie. I brought strawberries, bananas, and kiwis. It’s one of Evie’s favorites.”
“What the hell is that?” Jaxon asked from the doorway.
“A smoothie?” I frowned. “You know fruit, milk, some ice, and then you blend it all together until it becomes one big liquid.”
His brow fell, his jaw clicking into place. “Merci, for your kind explanation. But I’m fully aware what a smoothie is, douceur. I meant, what the hell is that?” He pointed to Flynn stroking a bundle of purring gray fur.
“Oh, that’s Bell,” I said. “She’s my cat.”
“A cat,” he repeated in horror.
“It’s the opposite of a dog.” I smiled extra sweetly at him.
“She’s had the thing for years, pretty sure it’s nearly as old as me at this point.” Flynn yawned. “Didn’t she tell you she had a cat?”
Our eyes met.
You promised Jaxon, you promised to play along while we were in the presence of others.
“She did. I only thought that the creature was staying with you at your home.” He stared at Bell as if she were a mountain lion ready to pounce. “You know, with my allergies to animals, I thought we said it would be wise to keep it there.”
Not it. Her.
“Maybe it would be best if you took the cat back with you,” Jaxon said to Flynn.
I bit the inside of my mouth. “It’s not like she will be in bed sleeping with you. We will get you some antihistamines and you’ll be more than capable of living with a cat.”
His nostrils flared.
Right on cue, Bell jumped down from the kitchen table and made a beeline for the French scowling man. If only I had my phone handy, I would have snapped the sheer horror on Jaxon’s face as Bell rubbed herself along his ankles.
“What’s it doing?” Jaxon asked stiffly. “Why is it doing that?”
“Oh, how sweet,” Poppy smiled. “That just means she likes you.”
Jaxon’s spine was straighter than an arrow, his shoulders pushed back, and I feared his back teeth were at risk of shattering.
It was downright hilarious.
Not bothering to hide my delight, I scooped my fur baby into my arms and nuzzled my head against hers. “Who’s momma’s good girl? That’s right, you are.”
Poppy hummed around the kitchen, the faint scent of bread baking in the oven started to fill the room. A pang echoed through my chest. It smelt like home. Home with my dad.
Soon, there’d no longer be a home with him in it.
Holding onto Bell tighter, I tried to push the sorrow crawling its way up my throat by thinking of the weeks ahead. The party being the first thing that needed sorted, especially if Dad wanted to attend.
“Are you busy today?” I turned to Jaxon.
He’d finally breached the threshold of the doorway and was watching Poppy with bewildered fascination. She was blissfully unaware, twirling around the kitchen to her own beat, and acting as if she’d always been there.
“I have several meetings,” he said. “I’ll be here for most of the day doing them virtually, but there is one I have to be present for.”
I set Bell down. “You’re flying back to Canada?”
He shook his head. “My brother has graciously agreed to rearrange the meeting and have it here in New York.”
No amount of warmth could have melted through Jaxon’s icy tone when talking about his brother. I didn’t know a lot about the two brothers’ relationship. They never attended events together with Jaxon very much being in the background.
Was it his choice to let Frederic be the face of the company? Did he care that many people idolized his older brother over him?
Teeth skimmed my bottom lip. “We need to get booked in with an event organizer. I think I have secured a venue, but everything else will need to be arranged. Also, we need to sit down and look into ordering stuff for the house and hiring a housekeeper.”
Jaxon pulled out his wallet. “Take my card and order whatever you want.”
Was he joking?
I gritted my teeth behind a fake smile. “I don’t need your card.”
He put the Black Amex card on the kitchen island. “Book in with an event organizer and keep me posted with what’s happening. If there’s any issues, you know where to find me.”
Heat rolled up my neck. I could feel my brother’s eyes on me. “Send me your calendar so I can get an appointment that we can both attend.”
“Same goes for a housekeeper and furniture,” Jaxon continued, glossing over what I said. “Whatever you want and need, charge it to my card. I’ll order you your own card today between meetings.”
“I already said, I don’t need your card. I think I can manage perfectly fine without it.”
Jaxon cocked a brow. “What’s mine is yours, remember?”
I was half a second away from becoming a widow.
“You don’t want to have any input?” I tried to remain calm. “You realize this is your house, too, right? You should have a say before I go and decorate it top to bottom in neon pink and glitter. Or go and hire a housekeeper that will poison us with their bad cooking.”
“Do whatever you think is best.”
Poppy cleared her throat quietly. “Evie, dear, I might be able to help with the housekeeping. Your father said that he’d like me to come and be with you. He’s already got someone to fill in for me, just for a couple of months until we get everything sorted.”
“No, wait a second.” I shook my head. “You can’t just leave him there. Who’s going to be there to look after him? With me not being there, he’s going to need you. You can’t leave him alone.”
“What am I? Invisible?” Flynn muttered. “He still has me there.”
“Merci, Poppy.” Jaxon flashed her a tight-lipped smile. “There you go, Evelyn. That’s one problem already solved.” He grabbed a cup of coffee and headed back out the door. “The rest you can surely handle.”
I followed him, ignoring Flynn’s watchful gaze. Before Jaxon could disappear up the stairs, I grabbed his wrist. He flinched, but didn’t shake me off. “You can’t expect me to do all of this by myself, that’s not fair. I get this whole thing isn’t ideal, but I’d appreciate your help with at least the party.”
“It’s your father that wants to throw the party. Last time I checked, you’re the one who wants to pretend to the world that we’re in love. I am not trying to save face,” he said bluntly. “I have no qualms telling people exactly what this is. I live in the real world, where I was under no illusion that I’d marry for love. Arranged marriages happen all the time. It’s not my fault you lived your life in a dreamland.”
“No wonder you’re still single. Are you always this much of an asshole?”
He shrugged. “I’m a realist, Evelyn. You can continue to live in your little fantasy, slap on a big fake smile and pretend to the world, but I have other more pressing things to be doing with my day.”
“You said you would try and pretend,” I snapped. “You’re going back on your word.”
“In public, douceur. Not within the confines of this house.” In return, he wrapped his hand around my wrist, sending my heartbeat into overdrive. His tongue skimmed his bottom lip as he stroked along my quickening pulse. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have meetings to get to.”