Chapter 8
EIGHT
REMINGTON
The breakfast spread Maverick and his wife, Emerson, have put on the kitchen table for Christmas morning breakfast is impressive.
Unfortunately, I can’t enjoy any of it. Every time I take a bite, I’m afraid I’ll choke. Based on the glares I’m getting from my best friend, I’d guess Mav would be all too happy if that’s exactly what I did.
I’d also say this is one of the best Christmas mornings I’ve had since I was a kid. There’s really something special about waking up with the woman you love in your arms. It’s even more special when you wake her up with a kiss with the power to curl your toes.
Of course, spending Christmas morning with the woman you love would be even better if her brother wasn’t staring at you as if he hopes you’ll spontaneously burst into flames.
“Could you please pass the syrup?” Jade asks.
Mav blinks in surprise. “What?”
“I asked if you could please pass the syrup.”
“Oh.” He frowns and hands over the pitcher. “Here you go.”
“Thanks, brother.” She flashes a smile with those sweet lips of hers.
Those lips that can make me lose every thought in my head when I’m kissing them. Those lips that were well on their way to wrapping around my cock when Maverick nearly walked in on us.
A booted foot kicks my shin.
“Hey.” I hiss and glare across the table at Maverick. “What was that for?”
“What do you mean?” He has the nerve to look innocent.
So that’s how he wants to play it. I narrow my eyes even more. Well fine. I’m more than capable of playing this game.
Leaning back in my seat, I rest an arm along the back of Jade’s chair. She’s just taken a bite of pancakes, but she flashes me a bright, closed-mouth smile. I return it, giving myself permission to unleash the full magnitude of my feelings for her in the warmth of my stare.
I get another kick to the shin. This one is harder. I scowl at Maverick.
“Whoops. Damn.” He lifts his shoulder innocently. “I’m really clumsy today.”
“You’re really something today.”
His eyes flicker with anger. “Speaking of things being something. Isn’t it something that you just so happened to be at our doorstep first thing this morning?”
“Mav…” Emerson says in a warning tone.
“And.” His jaw clenches. “Isn’t it really something that I heard something that sounded exactly like your voice coming from my sister’s bedroom right before that happened?”
“Maverick,” Jade whispers now, all traces of her earlier good mood gone.
“Yeah,” I say, jaw clenched. “Isn’t that something?”
He practically growls. “I should?—”
“Mav,” Emerson says again, this time louder and brighter. “It must be pregnancy brain, but I completely forgot to get the meat for our dinner out of the freezer last night.”
He blinks in confusion. “Okay.”
She gives him a stern look. “Maybe you and Remington could go get it from the garage.”
He takes a deep breath through his nose. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s go to the garage.”
He pushes out of his chair and doesn’t wait for me to agree.
Wiping my mouth with the napkin in my lap, I set it on the table and rise. Jade grabs my arm to give me pause.
She’s staring up at me with wide eyes. “You don’t have to go with him.”
I look after Maverick and sigh. “Yeah, I think I do.”
“Okay.” She releases a breath. “Just… if he offers to show you his ax collection, say no.”
I give a short laugh and press a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll be on guard.”
Jade doesn’t look completely convinced. She also probably doesn’t understand. We’ve caught Maverick off guard. He’s not a guy who takes too well to being surprised.
Once he has time to get used to the idea that we’re seeing each other, I’m sure he’ll come around.
At least, that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself until he tries showing me that ax collection.
I’m barely in the garage before Maverick turns on his heel to confront me. “What the fuck are you doing seducing my sister?”
“That isn’t what’s going on here.”
“Oh, it’s not? Then, obviously, I didn’t find you in her bed.”
Technically he found me outside her bedroom window, but it hardly seems like the time to mince words.
“I like your sister.” I take a deep breath. “While I’m coming clean, I should admit, the reason I proposed the bet?—”
“The bet you’ve lost.”
“I mean, technically I don’t know if I’ve lost.”
His eyes narrow. “What?”
“I mean, technically I haven’t had sex with anyone. Well, not with my penis.” When his eyes narrow even more, I take a step back. “That’s not the point. The point is, I proposed the bet for a reason.”
“You proposed it for a reason?” he says the words slowly, as if that will somehow help him understand what’s going on better.
But, clearly, I still have more explaining to do. Because I need him to understand.
“That’s right.” I nod. “I thought it might be a way to show you that I wasn’t the sex crazed maniac you all think I am. I thought if I spent the next month being serious with work and being a good friend to you and Jade, then?—”
“Then I’d think you were good enough for my little sister?”
“I know.” I shake my head. “I know it was a stupid plan. I should have come clean from the start.”
“I don’t know. You’ve had dumber ideas.”
I give a short, humorless laugh. “I really intended to follow the bet. But then Jade seemed interested in me. One thing led to another and…”
“And it ended with my sister about to blow you in her bedroom.”
“Hey.” My hands ball into fists at my side. “Careful how you talk. She’s your sister.”
“Yeah. She is.” Maverick folds his arms against his chest and leans back against the dryer that I was leaning on only minutes ago.
Maverick clears his throat. “Okay, enough of that. What’s your new plan?”
Now it’s my turn to clear my throat. “What do you mean?”
“Clearly, you like my sister.”
“I do. I have. For years.”
“Crushing on my sister behind my back for years.” He shakes his head before giving me a pointed look. “Have you told her?”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you told her that you’re in love with her?”
My heart pitches at the way he casually throws that out. But, instead of panicking, it feels… nice. It’s good to finally have someone know what’s on my heart.
And, jeez, I really am in danger of turning into one of the lovesick saps the rest of the crew has become. Thinking phrases like that.
“Not yet,” I admit. “I’m trying not to rush things.”
“Yeah. It seemed like you were doing a good job of not rushing things when you were climbing out of my sister’s bedroom window.”
“Look, I said I was sorry. I?—”
He holds up his hand. “Forget it. You love my sister. Would I have liked to found out another way? Obviously. But you’re already like a brother to me. You might as well be a brother to me.”
I’m oddly touched by his words. “Thanks, brother.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. You still have to get my sister to fall in love with you.”
“About that.” I smirk. “I think I have a plan to help that along.”
“Oh, really?”
I nod. “Just give me a little time.”
“Want to make a bet?”
“No, I’m smart enough to know better than to bet on your sister.”
“Good man.” He extends his hand to shake mine. “Now, let’s see just how smooth you are. And, Remington?”
“Yeah?”
“You fuck this up?—”
“Don’t worry,” I interrupt. “If I fuck this up, I’ll kick my own ass.”
We’re both still chuckling when we re-enter the kitchen. Each of us carries a few types of meat, because neither of us remembered to ask Emerson which one she wanted.
Though, it’s also possible there was no mystery meat needing to be defrosted. I wouldn’t put it past her to send us out there just to make nice. That Emerson is a smart woman.
“Everything okay?” Jade asks worriedly as I slide into my seat.
“Everything is great.” I pick up my fork and spear a piece of sausage. “Before I forget, what are you doing New Year’s Eve?”
“This New Year’s Eve?”
“Preferably, yeah.” I take my time chewing my sausage. “Because, if you’re interested, the mayor is throwing a big party at the historic hotel downtown.”
“I’ve heard about it. A couple of my girlfriends are going.”
“Well, the mayor always offers the smokejumpers a few tickets. Want to go?”
A bright grin spreads slowly across her face. “I’d love to.”
“Great. Then it’s a date.”
A date that will end with me kissing her at midnight.
Tugging the tie around my neck, I lift my hand to knock on the door to the room Jade booked for the night at the hotel. When she first told me about her plan to get a room for New Year’s Eve, I told her it wasn’t necessary.
While our relationship may have gotten more physical, we still haven’t gone all the way. I don’t want her thinking I have any expectations of that just because we’re going to a fancy party.
But, she insisted that it would be more convenient. And when my woman puts her foot down about wanting to do something, well, far be it for me to tell her to forget it.
My fist is an inch from the door when I hear voices approaching.
Glancing over my shoulder, I look to see where they’re coming from when I recognize one of them as Jade’s and the other as Mabel’s. Jade mentioned that she and her best friend might primp together before the party. It looks like I arrived just a little ahead of schedule.
Grinning at my woman’s voice, I lower my hand and lean my back against the wall opposite the door, waiting for her to arrive.
“I don’t know what you’re so worried about,” Mabel says. “Clearly Remington is crazy about you.”
“I know, but… he doesn't know.”
“Doesn’t know…”
“He doesn’t know I’m a virgin.”
My jaw falls open in surprise, but I quickly clamp it shut. Okay. So Jade has never been with a man before. That’s… great. I squash the instant flame of possessiveness that flickers inside of me. It shouldn’t matter—it doesn’t matter—how many men she has or hasn’t been with.
But, now that I know, I’ll make damn certain to go at whatever pace she sets.
“Trust me,” Mabel says. “Most men don’t care.”
“Well, he might. Especially when he finds out all of this was about losing my virginity.”
It’s another shock to my system. Only, this one isn’t from surprise. It’s something else. Something that feels like it’s reached into my chest to squeeze my heart until it’s no longer beating.
Does that mean… is this only about sex to Jade?
Before I can consider any possible answer, the door to the room flies open. Both women freeze when they see me.
Both of their faces fall. They know. They know I’ve heard. God damn, I wish I hadn’t heard.
“Remington, I?—”
I shake my head. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I…” She turns to Mabel. “Could you give us the room?”
“Of course.” Mabel gives a tight-lipped smile to me as she walks past me. However this whole thing started, apparently I’ve at least done enough to garner some sympathy.
I follow Jade into the room and she closes the door behind me.
“Remington,” she says again, her voice choking on the word. “I hardly know where to start.”
“Maybe at the beginning.”
“Okay.” She nods. “I can do that.”
Taking a deep breath, she launches into a rushed, jumbled story. It involves cocktails and text threads. Only parts of it make sense.
But the gist I take away is that Jade is still a virgin. And when she came back to town and saw me, she decided I would be the perfect man to have take it. Because of my reputation.
“I see,” I say, my throat aching. “So, you just wanted a physical relationship.”
“Yes. No.”
“Which is it?”
“Yes, that’s how this all started. But that was before I got to know you.”
“And now that you know me?”
A tear slips down her cheek, breaking my already fragile heart. “Now, I want more. I want?—”
My phone rings the tone I have set especially for my boss. Swearing under my breath, I apologize to Jade. “I have to take this.”
I step aside and answer.
He doesn’t mince words. “Remington, it’s Calloway.”
“Hey, boss.” I dart a glance at Jade, who is still fighting back tears. Her pain is like a punch to my gut. “It’s not really a good time. Can I call you back in the new year?”
“Sorry. No can do. Swift Mountain Fire & Rescue called.”
That grabs my attention. “What’s going on?”
“There’s a situation developing on a property outside of town. They need our help.”