First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

He’d heard there was a lot of bad blood between Kayla and Lexi. Now he understood the worry on his father’s face and his request to keep Kayla in check. Given the chance, she’d cause a scene. Kayla loved to have the starring role in a good drama.

Kieran stepped to the side and all of the air whooshed out of Ian’s lungs in one swoop at the sight of the familiar figure. The long, shimmering hair. The big, amber eyes. The full, womanly curves. God help him.

Alexis Kattapoulos was Lexi O’Connell.

He’d spent the night having sex with his brother’s childhood best friend the night before she had to bury her father. His stomach roiled uncomfortably, and he was suddenly glad he hadn’t had time for breakfast.

Misinterpreting his reaction, Kayla smiled cruelly. “I know. Ugly little bitch, isn’t she?”

Irrational rage surged in his chest. Had Kayla been a man, Ian would have broken her jaw right then and there. He fought to regain his composure.

Alexis – Lexi – God, how could he have missed that? She looked like an angel, standing before the glass in the far back corner, the light from the window forming a nimbus around her hair, now smoothed and shiny, clasped loosely at the base of her neck with an antique-looking silver clip. She smiled at something Kieran said, but it was a sad smile. Kieran reached down and grabbed her hand, in friendship, Ian knew, but still a tightness formed in his chest. Against all reason, he wanted to be the one with her, even though he knew just how wrong that would be.

As if sensing his gaze, she turned to him then. It only lasted a moment or two, but the look on her face was locked in his mind forever. Now you know, it said quietly, as if he could hear her speaking the words in his head.

Like pieces of a puzzle, it all started coming together. Her initial attempts to keep her face and eyes hidden, afraid that he would recognize her. Her reluctance to go out to dinner with him. The look on her face when he offered to show her around.

It hadn’t been disappointment he’d seen in her eyes; it was hurt. Because he didn’t remember her. Because to him, she was just a girl he was trying to hook up with. God, he was such an idiot! How could he not have seen it?

But the most amazing thing of all? She’d spent the night with him anyway, giving him more pleasure than he ever could have imagined.

Lexi turned away as Jack Callaghan took her arm and began to lead her toward the back exit, away from the masses gathering for the exodus to the church. Kayla grabbed his arm again as they were shuffled toward the limos. He caught a brief glimpse of gold silk getting into his father’s Infinity before the door closed and they were whisked away.

Hell, he’d give anything to be in that car with her right now. To know what she was thinking. Did she hate him? Hate herself? If he could only talk to her, get her alone for a few minutes. Instead, he’d been relegated to –

“... if she thinks for one second that she’s going to sit in the front pew with -“

“Kayla, enough,” Ian said firmly. Kayla looked stunned, unused to Ian speaking to her that way. “Don’t cause a scene. This is neither the time nor the place.”

Kayla narrowed her eyes for a few moments, then licked her lips. “You’re right, of course. It would make me look like the baddie, wouldn’t it?”

Ian mentally rolled his eyes. He’d known Kayla was cold and self-centered, but even he was shocked by her total lack of propriety. “Yes,” he agreed quietly. “It would.”

––––––––

At the Mass, Ian sat behind Kayla and her mother in the first pew. Lexi sat on the opposite side, toward the back of the church, between his father and Kieran. He was grateful that they were there for her, but he couldn’t help the simmering resentment that it was them and not him. Then again, maybe this was how she wanted it. He certainly couldn’t blame her.

How could he have not known it was her? Had he been that blinded by lust?

The answer was a resounding yes, he had been. It had hit him hard and fast, and from the moment his eyes had found her on that bus, he had to have her.

The lust was still there, and in spades, but no longer blinding, reduced to just a torturous ache. Now that he knew, he could see the familiarity. She was still below average in height (Kieran always teased her about being “fun-sized”), she still had the same delicate, slightly exotic features, and the quiet, almost-stoic air. But in his defense, her slim girl’s body now held the lush, full curves of a woman. Her hair was much longer, an intricate palette of fiery color. And her eyes, once rarely seen because they were usually downcast in shy reserve, were golden amber depths of passion.