He didn’t seem as entertained by this as I was. “Stay here.”
“Oh, like I have every intention of wandering out there naked in front of your little brother.”
He scowled at the thought before turning his back on me to get a T-shirt out of his built-in wardrobe. When he opened the bedroom door, it was just enough so he could slip out and his brother wouldn’t be able to see in. Once it was closed, I tiptoed over to it, but I couldn’t make out their conversation, just the sound of their voices.
Then Caleb returned, the door forcing me back into the room. He handed me my jeans, underwear, and shoes, appearing almost grim faced.
“I take it he had something to say about these.” I tried not to snicker as I pulled on my clothes.
“He’s a cheeky arse, that’s what he is.”
Chuckling, I stepped into my heels and gestured to myself. “All good?” I strolled over to him, where he was still blocking the door. “Are you going to let me out of this room?”
He scowled at my head. “You have sex hair.”
“That’s because we just had sex.”
“You’re in a good mood.”
“Because of the aforementioned pleasurable physical activity.”
When he still didn’t move, I sighed. “Do you not want me to meet your brother or something?”
He made a face at me like what I’d said was ridiculous and finally opened the door to let me out.
The man who switched the TV to mute and got up off the couch at my appearance made me draw to an abrupt halt, causing Caleb to collide into the back of me. He gripped my arms to stop me stumbling forward.
Oh my goodness.
There were two of them.
Ice blue eyes traveled over me with an intensity that felt unsettlingly familiar. The eyes belonged to a younger version of Caleb.
“Ava, this is Jamie. Jamie, this is Ava,” Caleb introduced us.
At first I was too busy cataloging the brothers’ similarities to notice Jamie’s countenance. All I saw was the same dark blond hair, the same scruff, and the same taste in clothing. Then I saw that his features were slightly softer than Caleb’s, more handsome in a traditional sense, and although he was extremely tall—a good two inches taller than Caleb at least—he was of a slimmer build. He was still muscular, but lean.
He also didn’t have any tattoos that I could see.
And finally, as I stopped my appraisal and looked into his face to smile a greeting, I caught the way he was looking at me.
Perturbed was a nice way of putting it.
Unimpressed was more accurate.
Jamie’s gaze flew over my head to his brother. “Thought you learnt that lesson.” He gestured rudely to me.
As I flinched in confusion, I felt Caleb tense behind me. “Watch it,” he warned dangerously.
His tension leaked into me and I stepped aside, glancing from brother to brother, wondering what the hell was being said between them in their silent glaring match. And why did Jamie seem pissed off by the mere sight of me when he didn’t even know me?
After what felt like a really long time but was probably only seconds, Jamie sighed and turned to me. He appeared defeated. “Nice tae meet you, Ava.” But it didn’t sound like it was nice to meet me at all, and I had no idea why.
“Um … you too?”
My response made him snort.
“Bedroom. Now.” Caleb pointed to the guest room.
Jamie rolled his eyes but did as his brother commanded. Caleb cut me a look. “Stay.”
As he followed his brother into the room, I replied, “Would you like a ‘sit’ or a ‘roll over’ with that?”
He threw me an amused smile over his shoulder but didn’t respond. The door closed behind him and his brother, and I silently crept over to eavesdrop.
I know, I know! Not cool. But I was so confused! I needed answers and I knew Caleb, Mr. Stoic and Brooding, would not provide them for me.
“… aye, but you have tae admit she’s like a short version of Carissa,” I heard Jamie say.
Who was Carissa? And I wasn’t that short!
Okay, I was that short, but still. I frowned at my legs. No need to point it out like it was a bad thing.
“She is not,” Caleb snapped. “They look nothing alike. They are nothing alike.”
“Coloring, aye, different. But … they’ve both got that shiny, immaculate, fresh-coat-of-paint look about them. You know, the high-maintenance type that’s only after one thing. Carissa should have taught you that lesson. We all thought it did.”
Who the hell was Carissa and what did she do?!
“Ava is definitely not Carrie. And what I’m doing with her is definitely not your business, but I’m going tae tell you anyway so you’ll shut up. Ava and I are just friends. Neither of us is looking for anything serious.”
I scowled at the doorway, wondering why that pissed me off when only a few short weeks ago it had reassured me.
“A woman like that is always looking for something serious. As in serious money.”
“You don’t know the first thing about her and what’s she been through. Trust me, she doesn’t do serious. As for money, she has her own and plenty of it.”
My irritation with his brother was eased by Caleb’s defense of me. Although the altercation only drove home the similarities between the two of them, because hadn’t Caleb treated me with the same condescension at first? He judged me before he knew me. Apparently the brothers were very alike.
“Okay,” Jamie finally said. “I just dinnae want you making the same mistake twice.”
What mistake?
“Learned that lesson the hard way, brother.”
What lesson? WHAT LESSON?!
I hurried silently over to the other side of the room and was pretending to peruse his bookshelves again when the brothers emerged. I turned on my heel, keeping my eyes on Caleb, since I wasn’t comfortable with his judgy little brother. “Is the powwow over? Did you decide on nail polish color and which unfortunate hanger-on gets to run your errands tomorrow at school?”
Caleb smirked at me. “Funny.”
“That was semi-amusing.” Jamie shot me a perplexed look as he wandered by me heading for the kitchen.
“Semi-amusing, pfft. I’m funny,” I called after him, and added pointedly, “I’m freaking awesome.”
Caleb startled me, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist so he could nuzzle my neck. “Fancy ordering some takeout?”
I looked up at him. “I should probably get home.”
He squeezed me. “Stay. I’m not finished with you yet.”
Unbelievably, I felt my body tingle to life at the thought of a round three. “Okay,” I answered immediately. “Do you have an extra toothbrush?”
“Aye.”
I cocked my head to the side in thought. “Did you buy it just for me?”
He shook his head, smiling. “I’ll never tell.”
I grinned at his playfulness, about to say something when I thought I heard Jamie mutter as he passed us with a beer, “Just friends, my arse.”
There was a possibility I heard right because Caleb growled at him. “Shut it or I’ll shut it for you.”
Unperturbed, Jamie settled onto the couch and switched the mute button off the television, the sound of The Big Bang Theory filling the apartment.
“You have a TV in your room,” Caleb said, still holding on to me.
“Aye, so do you,” his brother said, as if to say, Your point being?
Instead of arguing with him over the television, Caleb grabbed my hand and led me back into his bedroom.
I didn’t see Jamie again that night because his big brother kept me all to himself. I was okay with that. Things were confusing enough without having to deal with his judgmental not-so-little brother.
Around one o’clock in the morning, after Thai takeout, some television, and a round of playful sex, Caleb spooned me.
I felt him start to drift to sleep, but my mind refused to shut down. All I could hear was Jamie saying the name Carissa over and over again. Who the hell was she? And why was she a lesson Caleb had to learn from? It didn’t make sense that there could be a woman of that kind of importance in Caleb’s life, because he’d told me he’d never gotten serious with a woman. And Caleb never lied to me … right?
“Caleb?” I whispered.