Questing (Cosmis Connections, Book One) (19 page)

He slid in next to her. “Kiley, I am going to get even for that remark. You knew damn well this would happen when you said you were going to touch yourself.”

“So did you, so stop complaining. If it’ll make you feel better, I’m wet again too.”

Jordan groaned. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“Sure, now you know that I want you again too.”

“I don’t think it’s again. Even though we just did that together, it doesn’t count.”

“I guess you’re right.” She snuggled closer when he slid an arm under her head.

“’Night, Jordan. Thanks again for rescuing me.”

“’Night, Kiley. Thanks for letting me watch you come.” He chuckled at her gasp.

Chapter Fourteen

“All right, all right, don’t knock down the door. I’m coming.” Brett couldn’t imagine who would be pounding so impatiently on his door at nine a.m. on a Friday when he had the day off. The only person who would dare show up on such an occasion was Jordan and Brett was positive it wasn’t him. No, he wouldn’t hammer away anyway. Jordan would use his key and startle Brett out of his sound sleep. Not that his sleep had been all that sound the night before. Despite Jordan’s confidence, Brett was still afraid that he’d made a mess of everything.

“This better be important,” Brett growled, yanking the door open. “I should have known,” he muttered when he discovered the intruder was Shane. Still grumbling, he turned and stalked to the kitchen, leaving the door open, not caring if Shane followed.

“Morning to you too, sunshine,” Shane greeted him cheerfully which earned another scowl.

“Bite me, Shane. Or beat me to a pulp since there aren’t any witnesses here. Anything else will have to wait until after coffee.”

“Here.” Shane handed Brett a Starbucks cup. “Double shot espresso. It’ll hold you over until yours is brewed. Sit.” Shane pushed the stunned man toward a chair and took over the coffee preparations.

Brett took a large swig. “You’re scaring me. What are you doing here?”

“What’s it look like to you?” Shane sat across from him. “I thought about what you said last night and have to admit you’re right. I wish you’d said all of it years ago. But I do have something to say in my defense, not that it excuses my behavior, if you’d care to listen.”

“You’re here to talk?” Brett was still confused.

“If you let me.”

Brett drained his cup. This was the last thing he expected. “I think I’m ready now.”

“First, I’d like to say how glad I am that you and Jordan have been friends all these years. I’ve always envied the closeness you share. For a long time I was actually jealous of you. Until I realized how that was dumb. My brother has a big heart so there’s room for both of us. Then I started thinking of you as my other little brother. I imagine that the two of you are what it’d be like to be in a family with twins. You know why I went out of my way to find fault with Jordan? To give him some doubts.”

“What the fuck? Why would you do that?” Brett was furious.

“Because my little brother scared the hell out of me. Still does.”

“Yeah. Right. You expect me to believe that you, big-shot jock, class president, top of your class, Mr. Personality was scared of your kid brother?”

“Yep. His best friend too.” Shane paused and got them coffee while his words sank in. “Maybe I was all that but it took a lot of effort. I worked out constantly, practiced hard, studied harder and was always sure I’d trip and fall, spilling something on my date. But for you guys, it just came naturally. It was easy to see that everything I worked so hard to accomplish was nothing compared to what you two could do if you decided to.

“The day you took that car I heard about it from the girl who I’d been trying to impress. She was so enthralled with the way you got teachers to hand over their keys and drove the car out to the lake in the middle of the day when you were only fifteen that she completely forgot about me. Yeah, I was mad at how stupid you were to pull something like that. But I still have to admit it was also the coolest thing ever. And after that you could have been unstoppable. Why were you content to live on the legend when you could have done so much more?”

Brett was amazed. “We only did it to try to impress you. I really thought you were going to talk them into having us arrested.”

“I was mad enough at first to want that. You two weren’t the only ones to learn from our teachers that summer. Anyway, I guess it got to be habit, Jordan tormenting me with your help and me trying to keep you in line. Did you really come here because of me?”

“Yes. Jordan never gave up hope that you’d see him as a man someday, a friend instead of just your rebellious little brother. He knew the job he took would suck. We both had better offers but when he came here I had to too. I knew nothing would be different, not really. So what if we were grown men with real jobs? You were still the overbearing big brother and Jordan was still the impulsive, unthinking kid with me for his sidekick.

“Shane, all he’s ever wanted is your approval, for you to be proud of something he’s done. When he went out on his own, your parents accepted his decision instantly. They’ve always supported both of you unquestioningly. But you had to go and tear him down again with those audits. You have no idea how well respected he is, do you?

“I have my job, thanks to Jordan. The owner of the agency was busting a nut to be his client so Jordan told him that the only way he would accept him was if he gave me a six-month trial. I knew I could do the job but I was an unknown kid and he wasn’t interested. Jordan was almost out the door before my boss called him back.”

“You obviously proved yourself. I’ve heard that you’re the hottest thing in advertising these days.”

“That’s not the point, Shane.”

“I know. The point is the rest of the world accepts my brother for the genius he is but I’m too stupid to do the same.”

“Not stupid, just stubborn.”

“Which brings me back to my original statement. Jordan intimidates me. He can do anything and make it look easy. He can be tough or cool when he needs to be. He’s comfortable no matter where he goes or who he’s with. And rumor has it that he’s made himself quite wealthy. He’s brilliant and widely recognized as the best. But in spite of all that, he’s managed to stay the good-natured, steady, unpretentious guy he’s always been.

“Look at me, Brett. I’m just a cop. Granted a good cop but that’s it. I didn’t have the courage to try to make it into the FBI so I’m stuck doing the next best thing. You and Jordan blow into town and, within a year, have it by the balls. Hell yes, I’m proud of him, of both of you. You’re still quite the duo, the silver-tongued devil and his demon scriptwriter. You’ll never cease to amaze me even though you both intimidate me.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell him, Shane? And you’re wrong by the way. Jordan is the brains behind us. I’m just the one with the pretty words, not that he couldn’t come up with them himself. I wouldn’t have made it through some of my classes without him. You know, most of the time I thought you hated me. Wait, that’s too harsh. Let’s say didn’t approve of me. I had to stick with Jordan. He’s the best friend there is and I was afraid he’d get into real trouble, trying to get your attention.

“I guess I see your point but why couldn’t you have just once talked to Jordan like this? We always thought you were so tough, so confident, so in control of everything around you with your take-charge, don’t-mess-with-me attitude. If you’d ever let us see just a little bit of uncertainty…”

“Thanks to you I understand that now. Jordan always stopped you from saying anything.”

Brett nodded.

“This Kiley, she’s the one?”

“Absolutely. Get to know her. They’ve been circling each other for months. I wasn’t totally convinced at first so I decided to wait and see. Dee, Kiley’s friend from the restaurant, told me that Jordan is the only guy who’s ever made her blush. Two words from him and her composure flies right out the window. I think, if she gives him a chance, they really will be perfect together.”

“I’m glad to hear that. She must be completely the opposite of her cousin.”

“Yeah what’s the story there? Last night, you seemed to honestly dislike her.”

“I wouldn’t say that. She’s just aggravating. The woman has no common sense when it comes to that damn camera of hers. Care to tell me what she’s doing next so I can make sure I’m somewhere else?”

“Now that I’m not blowing off steam, I remember that it’s not my place. But what I can tell you is that it’s out of town so you don’t have to worry.”

“For now. If Jordan and Kiley do get married we’re going to cross paths more than I want to.”

“Hmm, you seem awfully annoyed at the prospect of being in the company of a very hot female.” Brett eyed him speculatively.

“I am annoyed. Every time I see her it gets worse. There’s no reason for it really.”

“Well you’d better figure it out and get over it. Your brother is on his way to claiming Kiley for the whole nine yards and there’s no way in hell I’m letting you be a black cloud.”

“Calm down, Brett. You showed me how wrong I was so I’m going to do better in the future. And I’m sure you’ll give me a nudge if I step out of line again.” Shane glanced at the clock. “By the way, you might want to get dressed. Alyssa’ll be here soon. We thought we could go over to Jordan’s together. Things haven’t changed just because you finally spoke your mind. If Jordan heard that you said you’d leave the morning open for family and wait to stop by in the afternoon, he’d be very hurt.”

“Why? Jordan knows that I think you treat me like I’m intruding where I don’t belong. He’s always insisted that I’m wrong though. I guess I am.” He stood. “Shane, it means a lot that you came over and said all that. I hope you’re planning to do the same with Jordan.”

“There’s a lot I need to make up for.”

“He won’t see it like that. Say what you have to say and then do better in the future. Now I’m going to go grab a quick shower. Can I trust you to be cordial if Alyssa shows up before I’m back?”

Chapter Fifteen

“Are you sure these jeans look okay? Not too tight?” Kiley asked as she handed Jordan the last of their breakfast dishes.

“Do they feel tight?” Jordan thought they were perfect.

“No. I guess I’m not used to them anymore. I don’t really wear jeans since I stopped dressing like I was in middle school for my mom.”

“Maybe it’s time you started again. Like when you know I’ll be around since I don’t mind admitting how much trouble I’m having keeping my hands off that fine ass of yours.” He grinned wickedly.

Grinning in return, she stated, “No one said you had to.”

“Stop tormenting me. The inquisition will be here too soon for us to get into that one now. Shane will kick down the door if we don’t answer immediately.” His hand brushed her denim-clad cheek. “Why don’t you come downstairs and let me show you my office? You can think of me there while you’re working.”

“Jordan! Oh no! I’ve got to go! I’m late and I forgot—” She was frantic.

“Kiley, calm down. I called Henry last night to tell him that Alyssa was fine and it was all a misunderstanding. I also said that something you ate disagreed with you and we were missing the game. He made me promise to take care of you and decided that you’re off today. He said if you showed up he’d send you right back home.” When she gave him a questioning look, he added, “When I spoke to him I had no way of knowing how you’d feel this morning. Besides, we both know Shane and Alyssa wouldn’t let you being at work keep them from questioning us. I figured it was better all around to stay put today.”

“You’re a nice man, Jordan McKade.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ll call him later and let him know I’m okay.” She followed him downstairs. “So this is where you do all your money magic.”

“Hardly magic.” He waited until she noticed her picture. “Dee gave me that about a month after we met when she invited me over for dinner to meet Will. Once I noticed it in the living room, I kept sneaking out of the kitchen to look at it. Is it okay that I have it?”

She nodded and continued to look around. “Five computer screens and three phones?”

“Yep, just technology not magic. It’s really not all necessary but I get too annoyed if it takes too long to switch screens. And the phone behind my desk is a personal extension so I don’t have to remember to carry the cordless back and forth with me.”

“Still it must be very exciting when everything’s turned on.”

“Honestly, no. It’s a job, Kiley. I’m good at it and some days it’s interesting. Most of the time it’s just tedious.”

“But you control all that money. Isn’t it thrilling to see it grow, knowing that you did it?”

“I guess so. The best part is the small, personal accounts. Telling parents that they can afford to send their kids to college is better than moving millions for faceless corporate lackeys. Those are the ones who take life too seriously for all the wrong reasons.”

“It sounds like you’re not particularly happy with what you do.”

“I guess I’m happy overall. It’s not like this is all I’m ever going to do with my life.”

“Oh? What else do you have planned?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Brett and I will buy a radio station one of these days and I’ll have my own talk show.”