Chapter 11
CASH
We were down by the beach, chairs arranged in a loose circle, cold beers in hand.
The afternoon sun was just warm enough to fight back the cool breeze coming off the water.
It should have been relaxing. It was for the most part.
It was just making me anxious to feel relaxed.
Confusing, but I was not the type that chilled by the beach.
If I was by the beach, I usually had my laptop open or my phone glued to my ear while I negotiated million-dollar deals.
I didn’t know how to just not do something.
Finn was regaling us with some story about a disastrous date he had gone on in Los Angeles. Austin was laughing so hard he nearly spilled his beer. Kent sat slightly apart from us, baby Tiana cradled in his arms, making those small cooing sounds that babies made.
I was on my second beer, which was about my limit for daytime drinking. I rarely got drunk. Another fact to support my stick-in-the-mud personality.
“So then she tells me she’s actually married to the guy whose car we just keyed.”
“Wait, you keyed someone’s car?” I interrupted.
“She keyed it. I was just an innocent bystander.”
“That’s not how the law works,” I said.
Finn shrugged. “That’s not how your version of the law works. My version involves plausible deniability.”
Austin shook his head. “You’re going to end up in jail one day.”
“Probably.” Finn smiled. “But what a story it’ll be.”
Kent suddenly stood up. “I need to go warm up a bottle for Tiana,” he announced.
I didn’t understand why it required an announcement. Then, before I could process what was happening, he was walking toward me with the baby extended in his arms like an offering.
“What are you doing? Dude. What? No. Kent. No.”
“Just hold her for a minute.” He grinned like the devil. “I’ll be right back.”
“Kent!”
She was already in my arms and Kent was walking away with entirely too much satisfaction for someone who just committed baby abandonment.
I looked down at Tiana, who blinked up at me with big hazel eyes. She was wearing some kind of pink dress with enough fluff to hide the fact she was a tiny thing.
“This isn’t funny,” I called after Kent.
“It’s not supposed to be,” Austin said. “Just hold your damn niece.”
I stared at my brothers, looking for help. None was given.
Finn had his phone out, snapping pictures. “This is very funny. Oh man, wait until the family group chat sees this.”
“If you send those, I will destroy you.”
“Noted. Sending them anyway.”
I adjusted my grip on Tiana, trying to find a position that didn’t feel like I was about to drop her or snap her in half. I was holding her like one might hold a bomb, with her body nowhere near mine.
“Dude, relax,” Austin said. “Drop your shoulders from your ears and sit like a normal person. She’s a baby, not a venomous snake.”
“She’s very small.”
“Well, yeah. If she was a full-sized adult, it would be awkward.”
“What if I break her?” I asked.
“Just support her head and hold her against your chest,” Austin said. “Like a football but more gentle.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That sounds like terrible advice.”
He shrugged. “It’s the only advice I’ve got. I’ll be learning all of this soon enough.”
I finally managed to settle Tiana against my chest in what I hoped was a secure position. She made a small sound.
“Oh shit,” I murmured. “Did I do it wrong?”
One of her tiny hands grabbed onto my shirt.
“See?” Finn said. “You’re a natural.”
“I’m absolutely not.”
“She likes you. Look, she’s falling asleep.”
He was right. Tiana’s eyes were drifting closed.
Her little body had gone soft and heavy against me.
Her body squished down, ass out and head back.
There was something about the weight of her, the complete trust she had that I wouldn’t drop her.
I’d never held an infant. I had carried a few of my brothers’ toddlers but never a kid this tiny.
“This is weird,” I muttered.
“I can’t wait to hold my baby,” Austin said. “You two are going to love being fathers.”
“You’re not a father yet,” Finn pointed out.
“But I already feel it,” he said. “Do you know how weird it is to love a clump of cells with your entire soul? I haven’t stopped dreaming about what he or she will look like.”
I was about to respond when I heard voices from the house. Female voices. The women were back from the spa.
Kent strolled down the path looking entirely too pleased with himself. “Thanks for watching her. I knew I could count on you.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Watch your mouth,” he scolded.
“If you didn’t want her to hear bad words, maybe don’t dump her on the first guy you see.”
He took Tiana back, and I felt an unexpected sense of loss. Which was ridiculous. I had been holding her for maybe five minutes.
The women joined us on the beach. They all looked relaxed. Their skin was glowing and they looked like they’d had every knot and kink worked from their bodies.
Cleo looked beautiful. Her hair was down now, the purple streak catching the afternoon light. She was wearing black joggers with massive pink skulls on them. Her top featured a sparkly pink skull. I wasn’t sure how one could be goth and bubblegum sweet at the same time. But she pulled it off.
“How was golf?” Melody asked, settling onto Austin’s lap like she belonged there. His arm automatically wrapped around her with his face burrowing into the crook of her neck.
“You smell good,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“Cash beat us all,” Finn reported. “Because he’s insufferable and practices too much.”
“I practice an appropriate amount. I have to impress our business partners. I can’t be the asshole digging my ball out of a sand trap or landing in the water.”
“You have a putting green in your office.”
“It’s for stress relief,” I said.
Cleo laughed. I caught her eye and gestured to the empty chair beside me. She hesitated just for a second, but I noticed it. She thought about it for two seconds before she sat down.
“How was the spa?” I asked, keeping my voice low so it was just for her.
“Good. Relaxing. I drooled on myself during the massage, which was embarrassing. But otherwise good.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
She looked at me, and I saw something in her expression. Vulnerability. Sadness. The weight of something she wasn’t saying.
I didn’t push. I just reached over and put my hand on her knee. It was nothing more than a gesture of comfort. We both noticed it. The intimacy of the touch. The way it felt simultaneously natural and charged with meaning.
Her eyes met mine. I saw the sadness there. Something had happened but she wouldn’t tell me with everyone around us. Maybe she wouldn’t tell me at all unless she got buzzed again.
She casually moved her leg. “I should go rest,” she said and got to her feet. “I’ll meet you all for dinner.”
She was gone before I could respond, disappearing into the house like the hounds of hell were chasing her.
“What was that about?” Finn asked, watching her go.
“Don’t know.” I shrugged.
No one else appeared to notice. I vaguely listened to them all talk but I wasn’t really hearing them. I was concerned for Cleo. I couldn’t explain why. It was none of my business.
But I knew I was the only one that knew she was struggling with the Melody situation. Her world was getting flipped on its head and she didn’t know what to do about it.
I waited what I thought was a reasonable amount of time. Ten minutes, maybe fifteen. Long enough that my departure wouldn’t be immediately suspicious.
“I need to take care of some things. See you at dinner.”
I headed back to the house. Inside, it was quiet and cool. I climbed the stairs to the second floor, my footsteps soft on the hardwood. When I reached Cleo’s door, I paused. I could hear something on the other side. It was a sound that made my chest constrict.
She was crying.
I knocked softly. The crying stopped immediately. She was trying to hide it.
I knocked again. “Cleo, it’s me.”
Silence and then, “Come in.”
I opened the door and found her sitting on the bed, hands covering her face. Her shoulders were shaking with suppressed sobs. Seeing the woman who was usually all fire and confidence and sharp edges like this broke something in me.
I closed the door behind me and moved to sit beside her. I didn’t think too hard about it. I just pulled her into my arms. She resisted for about half a second, then collapsed against my chest. This was someone who had been holding it together for too long and finally couldn’t do it anymore.
I said nothing. I just held her, one hand running slowly up and down her back. My other one cradled her head against my shoulder. I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt, but I didn’t care.
Eventually, the sobs subsided into shaky breaths. She pulled back slightly, wiping at her face with the heels of her hands.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Nothing is wrong with you.”
“I’m a terrible friend. Hiding away like this while everyone else is happy and celebrating. What kind of person does that?”
“The human kind.” I tilted her chin up so she had to look at me.
“You’re not a terrible friend, Cleo. You’re the opposite.
I watched you all yesterday, anticipating Melody’s every need, making sure everything was perfect, putting her happiness above your own.
The last thing I’d call you is a bad friend. ”
“But—”
“A pain in the ass? Sure. That’s accurate. Opinionated? Definitely. But a bad friend? Never.”
A watery laugh escaped her. She shook her head. “You’re not supposed to make me laugh right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m having a moment. A proper emotional breakdown. You’re supposed to let me wallow.”
“I don’t do wallowing. It’s inefficient.”
She looked at me like I had just saved her from shark-infested waters. It was a look I had never seen before. She looked at me like I was worth more than my business sense. Like I was a man holding a woman.
Before I could process what was happening, she was kissing me.
It was passionate. Abrupt. And so fucking sexy that my brain short-circuited for a moment. Then instinct took over. I kissed her back. My hand reached up to cup her cheek while my other one slid to the back of her neck to hold her in place.
Her fingers slid into my hair. A soft moan filled the quiet. Her? Me?
I kissed her like I’d been wanting to since last night. I felt a want and a connection I didn’t know I was capable of feeling. Then, from downstairs, I heard voices. Laughter. The sound of the others coming back inside.
We broke apart, both of us breathless. We stared at each other in the fading light coming through her window.
Her lips were swollen from kissing. Her eyes were wide. My heart was pounding so hard it actually hurt.
“Come to Rome with me,” I blurted out. The words were out before I could second-guess them.
She blinked at me. “I’m sorry. Is that code for something sexual? Like you want to take me to Funky Town?”
I shook my head and didn’t break eye contact. “No, I mean Rome, Italy. In Europe. Come with me.”
The look on her face would have been funny if it wasn’t at my expense. I had screwed up. I had taken it too far. I jumped off the bed. “I need to, uh, make a call.”
“Cash, wait.”