Chapter 16 #2
“I have never pretended to understand how a female’s mind works, but your rationale for this entire situation is more confusing than anything else I’ve encountered–and that’s saying something, since I’ve been surrounded by irrational women my entire life.”
“Irrational?”
“Come one, Cassia. Admit it. Your logic is a little off. You’re telling me you want me to be a dick to you so you can decide not to go through with this and . . .”
“So I can keep some space between us. The last thing I need is to let feelings and attraction get in the way of a lifelong decision!”
“Feelings and attraction are what relationships are made of,” Memphis said as he took a step closer.
He took another step. And then another. Suddenly he was inches away, and I had to tilt my head back to look up at him.
“And the little quirks and habits I’ve seen so far are adorable.
They make me want to dig deeper and find more.
As far as attraction goes, you know damn well that I think you’re sexy as hell and want nothing more than to get my hands and mouth on you. ”
“I do? You do? I mean . . .” I stepped back and scowled at him. “See? You’re doing it now!”
He stepped forward again, and I tried to retreat, but my foot hit a step behind me. I backed onto it–easily the worst idea possible. Now we were eye to eye.
“I haven’t known you long, Cassia, but I’ve been attracted to you since the first time I saw you.
Even as stressed and freaked out as I was that day, I noticed that you were fiery, independent, and stubborn.
As crazy as that makes me, all of that is sexy as hell.
When you add that voice of yours and those intense dark eyes and your silky hair falling all around your face, it’s no surprise that every time I’m around you my dick is hard enough to drive nails into concrete.
It takes every ounce of self-control I have not to pick you up and carry you somewhere private so I can explain how I’m feeling using my mouth without speaking a single word. ”
“You’re maddening, irritating, and . . . and . . . absolutely just . . . why are you so freaking difficult?”
“Do you feel it too?” Memphis asked.
“Indigestion? The beginnings of a migraine? Absolutely. I should go home and get in bed.”
“Only if I can bring you medicine and take care of you.”
“I’m a very dedicated individual, Memphis.”
“That’s a lot of syllables for the word stubborn.”
Let’s just add “smart” to his list of flaws, because his quick comments and dry sarcasm were a sign of higher intelligence and cognitive ability.
I knew that because I’d read it on the internet and then bragged to my family that I was the smartest person in the family because I was the biggest smartass.
Now I was going to use that interesting factoid to become even more irritated at Mr. Forrester, simply because his quick wit made him even sexier.
What an asshole.
Really, Cassia! Get your shit together. The man is horrible in a million different maddeningly sexy ways. So horrible that you should not become attached to him at all. Remember: business is business, and there is no room for emotion in the equation. None.
And then he swallowed, and the muscles in his neck flexed, and I forgot what I was thinking about.
Oh, right. His neck looked delicious but would look even better with a bite mark right where it met his delectable trapezius - which was not a body part I had ever considered delectable until this exact moment.
“Good grief, boy! What kind of Forrester are you? Kiss her and get it over with before we all die of old age and boredom!”
I jerked away so quickly I lost my balance, but Memphis caught me as we both turned toward the doorway leading to what had to be the garage. It had to be–no one should be coming in from any other room with their hands covered in grease. At least I hoped not.
“Kale, I have never wanted to swing on you more than I do right now,” Memphis growled.
“I welcome you to try, boy. Right now, the only thing standing between you and an ass-whooping is air and good judgement.”
“If you use another one of the children to break a piece of furniture, Summer’s gonna lose her shit, and you will be the one getting an ass-whoopin’!” the other man snapped. “Memphis, if you’re gonna make a bad decision, do it outside.”
“Yessir,” Memphis said with a grin. “Bird, Kale, I’d like to introduce you to the mother of my child and future children–Cassia.”
“As long as you’re not making those children in my house,” Bird said
I didn’t have time to react to that before Memphis continued, “Cassia, these are two of my many uncles. One is crazy and the other is nuts. Every day it’s a toss-up as to which one is which.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said, offering my hand when they got close enough. “I’ve heard so much about both of you, and I’ve even met some of your children.”
“Don’t hold any of that against us,” Kale said as he took my hand and bent to kiss my knuckles. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Cassia.”
“Stop that shit before your wife’s spidey senses alert her and she materializes in my living room and starts breaking shit over your head,” Bird growled before he shook my hand. “I’m Bird–the older and wiser Forrester.”
“You’ve had problems with your family breaking furniture?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“They have no respect for boundaries or good recliners,” Bird complained.
“You’re still whining about that?” Kale asked in outrage.
“That was years ago!” Memphis scoffed.
“You broke his recliner?” I asked Memphis as Bird glared at him.
“Dad and Uncle Kale helped me rig a ratchet system to his recliner that used an industrial spring. It wasn’t hard for him to lean back, but when he released it to stand up, it performed to new specifications,” Memphis said with a straight face.
“New specifications,” Bird repeated, shaking his head. He looked at me and explained, “It launched me into the coffee table, which I had to replace. Again.”
“His wife didn’t even get too angry about that one because it was fucking hilarious, and every time she thinks about the look on his face . . .”
“And the sound of him screaming like a bitch,” Memphis cut in.
Kale grinned. “She still laughs her ass off.”
Trying to redirect, Memphis said, “I brought Cassia over to check out the slides you had Bear make when the boys moved in with you. I want to install one for Ivy at my place, but I’m thinking a curly slide rather than a straight one.”
“How’s your shoulder?” Bird asked.
Memphis grimaced. “It still hurts when the weather changes.”
“What happened to your shoulder?” I asked.
Memphis motioned to the slide on our left.
“We used some wood we found in the shop to make an extension so this slide touched the other. Then we polished both slides–and the bridge–with some compound we found. Once it was buffed to a shine that could be seen from the space station, I drew the short straw and got to go first.”
“Go?”
“I took a running start from over there,” he said, pointing to the balcony over the front of the house, then traced the path with his hand.
“I flopped onto the slide, shot down across the bridge, and went most of the way up the other side before I took out the railing and fell down onto Bird’s desk. ”
“Oh my God!” I exclaimed in horror.
“Broke my collar bone and dislocated my shoulder.”
“How old were you?”
“I guess I was about ten. Maybe eleven.”
“The desk held up, though,” Bird said cheerfully. He pointed to a desk in the corner surrounded by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. “That’s where he landed.”
“You and your cousins learned from your mistakes, right? Ivy and the other children won’t be doing the same sort of thing, will they?”
“You haven’t met our grandsons yet, have you?” Kale asked with a grin.
Memphis shocked me even more when he said, “I’m waiting until I put a ring on it to introduce her to the rest of the family. I’m already having a hard time convincing her not to run, and those two won’t help my case.”
“Your Gamma used to tell us she hoped we had children who were just as wild and crazy as we were,” Bird said with a toothy, predatory smile. “She got her wish, and we’ve been hoping the same thing since the first time any of you pulled some stupid stunt that went off the rails.”
“And now it’s our turn to sit back and watch the fireworks,” Kale added.
“That’s just cruel,” Memphis muttered.
“I’m feeling a little lightheaded. I think I should go home,” I said weakly.
“Home to my house?”
Without thinking–and I was absolutely blaming it on the shock of imagining my daughter helping her cousins build something capable of launching a human anywhere–I said, “Your house is our home now.”
The smile on Memphis’s face told me that was exactly what he wanted to hear.