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“Umm… hi!”
He put his arms out and I fell into them.
“What’s up, Dakota?” he smiled. “How’s things?”
“Hectic.”
With my face momentarily shielded from the rest of my family, I closed my eyes and inhaled the Green Beret’s musky, masculine scent. My body recognized and reacted to it instantly. So did a few other… parts.
“I heard the two of you were in Honolulu together!” my mother exclaimed. “I still can’t believe you missed the chance at hooking up.”
Hooking up.Yes, that’s what she said. Jace looked down at me and winced.
“I really wish I hadn’t been so busy,” he called over his shoulder, “or I would’ve taken her out for sure. It would’ve been so great to catch up on things. Dakota and I could’ve had the best time over there.”
Still facing away from my family, his smile widened into a shit-eating grin. My stomach dropped as I couldn’t return it.
“Ah well,” my father said. “You’re here now and that’s what matters.”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe the two of you could get together while you’re here in town,” my mother offered. “And catch up then.”
“Yeah,” Jace said, looking down at me. “Maybe.”
He was still holding me. A little too long for Tyler’s liking, too.
“My sister and my best friend going out together?” he chided. “Not a chance.” Clapping Jace on the back, he spun him away. “No one’s going anywhere withoutme.”
My brother pulled his friend into the working part of the kitchen, where he would invariably be given a half-dozen tasks. Tyler had seen Jace intermittently throughout the years, but my parents hadn’t seen him in God only knew how long. They had a thousand questions for him, which would probably be asked as he was cutting up onions.
Jace.
All of a sudden my mouth was dry as a desert. I looked around for my wine glass, which I’d set down before I started prepping appetizers.
Here.
Tyler’s friend hadn’t showed up in so many years, since just after being enlisted. And now here he was, standing in my kitchen. Telling my father how good his cornbread was, while my mother tied an apron around his trim, beautiful waist.
This can’t be a coincidence.
Suddenly I regretted not keeping in touch after Hawaii. Memories of my impromptu vacation came rushing back — all the same feelings and butterflies and gut-churning desires. Jace’s lusty, heartfelt laughter boomed through my parent’s kitchen, as he licked icing off his finger and stole a sly glance over his shoulder at me. My father was talking a mile a minute, asking a billion questions. My mother kept feeding him from various trays, as my brother uncapped a fresh round of beers.
In many ways it was like he never left. Like Jace was always a part of our family; a second brother maybe, all fun-loving and jovial and making everyone’s holiday better just by being there.
Yet all I wanted to do was steal him away.
Nobody noticed me uncorking a new bottle of wine, knowing I’d need several glasses to deal with this incredible new development.
By the same token, not one of them noticed me pouring all the heavy cream straight down the drain.
