Fire & Ice (The Locklaine Boys #1) (25 page)

Dex sat silent for a few seconds before his eyes grew wide. “Wait—are you dying?! Fuck me, man. What do you need? Name it, it’s yours. You need a kidney? I can donate blood. I heard them say something about me being a universal donor or whatever. Don’t know what the fuck that means, but it has to be a good thing, right? And I saw this thing on the Discovery Channel once that I can donate a lobe of my liver and it’ll grow into like, a full-sized liver! Is it your liver? ‘Cause I can totally do that, man.”

I dropped my head onto my desk and pounded it against the cheap Formica a few times before sucking in a calming breath. “I’m not dying,” I replied, sitting back up. “I’m not dying, I’m not in love with you, I don’t need a loan or whatever else that twisted head of yours can come up with.”

He looked skeptical. “Then what’s got you so worked up this morning?”

“I’m not worked up,” I lied. I was totally worked up, and the longer Dex and I continued down this mind-fuck of a conversation the worse it got. “I just want to get a couple beers after work!”

“Okay, all right,” he said pacifyingly. “I’m just gonna have to swing by the house first and run it by Wendy. She’s been going stir crazy, locked up in the house with Ivy. Gotta make sure she won’t get pissed if I’m out for a few hours. You cool with that?”

My shoulders slumped with a relieved breath. “Yeah, man. That’s fine. Hell, ask her if she wants to come. Y’all have that neighbor that babysits occasionally, right? Tell Wendy to ask her if she can watch Ivy and the three of us will do dinner or something.”

That was actually perfect. With Wendy there as a buffer, maybe Dex wouldn’t make a scene and do something crazy, like shoot me, in a public place. Wendy had always been a cheerleader for me settling down. Maybe once I explained how I felt about Pepper she’d actually be able to talk Dex around into seeing it as a good thing.

“You sure?” he asked with a raised brow.

“Absolutely.” I was a fucking genius. If it were physically possible, I’d have kissed myself for thinking up something so brilliant.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind of activity that left me beat by the time our shift ended. The only good thing about being so busy was that I hadn’t been able to freak out over what I needed to say and do something stupid, like randomly blurt out that I was sleeping with his little sister.

By the time we left the station and headed toward Dex and Wendy’s place, the nerves had returned and I began to worry that I might hurl. As Dex drove, I texted Pepper, telling her I’d be working late and that I wouldn’t be able to come by her place. I felt like an asshole lying to her, but on the chance that tonight went tits up I needed to brace for the fallout—meaning I needed to plan on cuffing Dex to me until he finally gave me his blessing. I wasn’t going to risk
anything
where that woman was concerned. I wasn’t going to let her brother’s disapproval hurt her in any way, but I also wasn’t willing to lose her. I’d do whatever it took to make everything right.

Even possible kidnapping.

“
OH GOOD, YOU’RE HERE
!” Wendy greeted. Ivy was balanced on her hip as she made her way to me, placing a friendly kiss on my cheek before turning to her husband whose kiss was much more passionate.

Her smiling face was practically glowing with what I could only assume was excitement to get out of the house as she said, “Sitter should be here soon, then we can head out. I made us reservations at The Tasting Room for seven-thirty. Hope that’s okay.”

“Babe, that’s a little fancy, don’t you think?” Dex asked Wendy, giving voice to the exact same thing I was thinking. “It’s just the three of us. I was thinking wings and beer, not those fancy-ass cheeses and wine.”

Wendy’s eyes narrowed on Dex. “It’s not just wine and
fancy-ass
cheese, Dex. They have beer too, and a full menu. And it’s not just the three of us”

My stomach plummeted. “Wait. What?”

I felt the tiny hairs on my arms begin to stand on end as Wendy’s expression grew guilty. What she said next just confirmed it. “Okay, don’t be mad…” that was
never
a good way to start a sentence, “…but I have this friend—”

“Are you kidding me?!” I snapped at the same time Dex said, “Wendy, we’ve talked about this.”

“I know, I know! But she’s really sweet, Griffin, I really think you’ll like her.”

I opened my mouth to argue that I really,
really
wouldn’t only to be cut off when a tall blonde in a skin- tight blue dress came out of the living room and into the foyer.

“You must be Griffin,” she exclaimed as she walked over to me. Actually, it wasn’t a walk as much as a strut. Her hips swayed exaggeratedly with each step she took. The overstated walk combined with the slinky dress and sky high hooker heels said enough, but that, combined with the laser-like focus in her eyes as she honed in on me was what sent the red flags soaring and the warning bells blaring. The look on her face screamed that she was a woman used to getting what she wanted.

And unfortunately, at that very moment, it appeared that what she wanted was me.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she purred—that’s right, fucking
purred
, the woman really laid it on way too thick—as she held out her hand for a limp wristed shake. “I’m Kat. Wendy’s told me so much about you, and I’ve just been
dying
to meet you.”

“I’ll bet,” I said dryly as I shot a withering look at Dex. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but I needed
someone
to blame for the shit storm I currently found myself in. “Look, there’s been a mistake. I actually wanted to talk to you guys—” I began to explain, but
Kat
interrupted.

“Wendy, you were right. He’s totally gorgeous,” she giggled, linking her arm through mine and pressing her tits against me.

“Uh… thanks,” I mumbled, trying and failing to step out of her hold. “That’s nice of you, but—” she cut me off… again.

“I mean, look at us together! Aren’t we so cute! Can you imagine what our babies would look like?”

What in the name of sweet, holy fuck
?! I’d just opened my mouth to inform all present parties that there was no way in hell there would be any babies between me and the psychopath who’d suction cupped herself to my side when the doorbell chimed.

“Great!” Wendy shifted Ivy in her arms, either oblivious to or intentionally ignoring the tension in the air. “Now that Pepper’s here we can go. I’m starving!”

You know that moment, right before your entire world is about to cave in, where time just seems to start moving in slow motion and you’re stuck watching the fallout take place right before your very eyes, with no chance of stopping it? Yeah, I was in that very same hell.

I watched in frozen shock as Wendy pulled the front door open, revealing a smiling Pepper standing there, her eyes on her niece, completely oblivious to what she was about to walk in to. I frantically pulled at my arm and tried to move away, but the damn woman was like a leech.

Yep. The shit was about to hit the fan.

And there I was without a goddamned umbrella.

GRIFFIN: WORKING LATE. WON’T
be able to come by 2nite. Talk tmro, sweetness.

I wasn’t going to lie, the text I’d gotten from Griffin earlier that evening had me a little unsettled. It wasn’t that I
expected
him to be with me every single night; I wasn’t a needy, clingy woman who needed to spend every waking moment with the man in her life. It was more the fact that it had been Griffin himself who’d insisted on sleeping in the same bed as me since we started this whole thing.

I kept telling myself that I was being ridiculous, and with his job it wasn’t uncommon for late hours or mental and physical exhaustion. I knew that from experience, seeing Dex deal with the same things. If I wanted our relationship to work and actually last, I needed to be supportive.

The call from Wendy asking if I could babysit Ivy couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. Not only would it take my mind off the text from Griffin, but it would also keep me from stressing about the impending talk he planned on having with my brother. Also, I jumped at any chance to spend time with my beautiful little butterball of a niece. Wendy had been so excited when she called there was no way I could tell her no. She needed a night out more than anyone I knew; I could hear it in her voice.

I knocked on the front door and waited for someone to answer. The moment Wendy pulled it open, a huge smile stretched across my face at the sight of a grinning, cooing Ivy.

“Pe Pe!” She shouted gleefully, which I knew was how she said Pep Pep.

“There’s my little turkey!” I exclaimed, holding out my arms when she leaned out of her mom’s hold to get to me. “How’s my baby, huh? How’s my baby?” I cooed, propping her plump little body on my hip.

“Thank you so much for coming,” Wendy told me. “Our regular sitter couldn’t watch Ivy on such short notice.”

“No problem,” I smiled. Just like that, all the anxieties I’d been feeling melted away thanks to the happy little girl in my arms. That was, until I turned my attention from the baby to the rest of the people standing in the entryway.

The sight before me, a tall, scantily dressed blonde with long thick hair and stripper heels clinging to Griffin’s side like saran wrap made my blood run cold. My heart plummeted from my chest as I met Griffin’s startled, ice colored eyes.

“What’s this?” I asked, my voice sounding surprisingly calm considering the frigid chill holding my body captive.

Unaware of the arctic shift in the room, Wendy went on to give introductions. “Pepper, this is Kat, a friend from my Pilates class.”

“Lovely to meet you.” I smiled sardonically as my attention bounced between her and Griffin. The woman eyed me up and down, taking in my comfortable ensemble of high-waisted boyfriend jeans, white button-down shirt that I wore tied in a knot at the front, and tan suede high-heeled booties. It was obvious she found me lacking by the faint curl of her lip, only noticeable to someone paying close attention.

“Uh, is everything okay here?” Dex asked, his voice holding a note of bewildered uncertainty at my strange demeanor. I had no clue how to act, how to feel. On one hand, it felt like my chest was ripping apart. It was like I’d fallen back in time four years, only this time the pain hurt
so
much worse. But on the other I was so furious: at Griffin for making me love him, for lying and giving me hope, for hurting me again, but also at myself for being so weak I allowed him to play his stupid games with me again. I wanted so badly to hate him at that very moment, but the heartbreak was just too strong.

“Yeah!” I answered with false brightness, turning away from the man who was currently ripping me apart inside to face my brother. I didn’t want to give him the pleasure of seeing me crack. “Yeah, it’s all good. You go, enjoy your double date.” Those two words tasted like acid in my mouth, causing my stomach to lurch and churn.

“Pepper…” Griffin’s gruff, low voice was almost enough to send me over the edge. I blinked rapidly, fighting against the tears burning the backs of my eyes. There was no way in hell I was going to cry in front of him.

“You guys should go!” The smile I pasted on my face was so bright it actually hurt. “You don’t want to miss your reservation.”