The Girl in the Mirror (Sand & Fog #3) (14 page)

“I am not wearing that. Especially not that. It’s hideous. Kaley got it for me.”

Madison’s eyes go wide. “Ah, no. Not hideous. Those shorts you wore on the beach were hideous.” She picks up the skintight sundress. “This is definitely fabulous. Try it on.”

“I’m not wearing that. Not ever.”

I look for my sunglasses.

“Krystal,” she wheedles, making the outfit dance against her body as she closes in on me. “Try it on. For me. I bet you’ll look sensational in it.”

“I don’t have enough boob for it and it’s way too short. It’s like Kaley shopped for herself, ended up with the wrong size, and said ‘I’ll gift it to Krystal.’ That wasn’t picked out for me.”

She rolls her eyes. “That’s way harsh and not true. Your sister wouldn’t do that. That’s absolutely the right look for you.”

I shove my feet into my shoes. “I’m not changing.”

She sits on the bed beside me. “What’s wrong, Krystal? Did you and Jake have another fight?”

“No fight. We don’t fight.”

Her face scrunches up. “Yeah, right. Crackling tension every time the two of you are together says couple fighting all the time because they’re not sleeping together yet.”

My face covers with a burn.

How does she know that?

“That’s not true.”

She arches a brow, sharply knowing. “This is your last weekend home. You must have kicked Daryl to the curb for a reason. Maybe so you wouldn’t be a hillbilly harlot”—
Well, that was dorky. Trite line from a movie. Crud, she is unmistakably my mother’s sister
—“when you seal the deal with Jake. If you’re going to do it, you better do it fast. You wait too long you’ll be in New York.”

“It’s not like that.”

She makes her irritating teeth-on-lip sucking sound. “Then explain to me what’s really going on.”

I climb from the bed, pretending to look for something so she can’t see the flush on my cheeks.

“Stay out of it.”

“If you used Jake as a way to break up with Daryl, that’s not cool, Krystal.”

I whirl on her. “How could you think that? I wouldn’t do something like that, Maddy.”

Her head tilts to the side as her eyes drill into me.

“I didn’t,” I repeated more heatedly.

She points at the bed. “Wear that, Krystal. If you want a guy, you have to let him know it. And what happens in Malibu stays in Malibu. Cut loose for once in your life. Wasn’t that the point of this weekend? Instead it’s been nothing but weirdness. Daryl out, Jake in, and Nick and I trying to roll with your craziness, but you two are a mess. If you’re into Jake, start acting like it, but if you’re not into him, tell him because Sierra is ready to step in any time. But what you’re doing, Krystal, isn’t good. I don’t need to know the details to know how you’re treating Jake is wrong.”

A dozen sharp, defensive retorts fill my head, but for some reason I can’t say them. Maybe because there’s enough truth inside the speculation that even I don’t have the nerve. Or maybe it’s because that part about Sierra really pisses me off. Or maybe because…

I snatch the dress from the bed. “Fine, Maddy. I’ll wear my hideous gift from Kaley. Happy? Can you stop picking on me now?”

I don’t wait for her answer. I hurry into the bathroom.

“Jacob”

Can I be any more of an idiot?

I pace the concrete in circles. No, not helping. Caged in with a girl I’m not even supposed to talk to, keyed up head to toe over her, and out of my fucking mind in less than twelve hours.

This isn’t going to end well and I’ve screwed up big time. Nothing says
loser
like a random kiss. She’s probably thinking I’m some asshole taking advantage of the situation. Wrong, but fuck, I wouldn’t blame her if that’s what she thought. I’d think that if some guy I don’t know made a move on me out of nowhere.

Why did I have to haul off and kiss her?

Right feeling—how she felt in my arms floods my veins. Oh, better than right feeling—but wrong move. I fucked up. We were all clear and good to go at
don’t be mad at me, Krystal,
and I didn’t have to take it one step further.

Krystal makes me crazy.

She always has.

All the guys on the team fall all over themselves for Chrissie and Kaley, but for me, it’s been Krystal from day one.

The quiet sparkle in that world of blazing lights.

She gets me tangled up over her without even trying. She’s not in the slightest bit flirty, and she’s never in a guy’s face in that way it seems every girl is every second of the day in So Cal. Krystal never puts out the signal or rubs up against me like Sierra did all morning, but she holds my balls in a vise grip without even wanting them.

I sink down to the ground with my back against the wall. The way she stared at me in the bedroom. Nervous and—I shake my head—in that way where a girl’s trying to be the bigger person after a guy’s messed up.

Yep, that’s what was going down in the bedroom.

She was trying to fix my jerk move out on the beach.

No, I didn’t need to hear whatever she was going to say about that. It would have been something that left me feeling more of a jerk. That’s how things that start
you’re a nice guy
always end.

It was good I cut that short.

Christ, what am I going to do?

That caged feeling intensifies. It’s not possible to be around her, not like this, and not do something dumb again. She makes my wires get all crossed.

I need to figure out a way out of this situation. She’s a job. Not a girl.

I can’t forget that again.

She’s Alan Manzone’s daughter. You had better not forget that again.

I grab my cell from my pocket and switch it on. Notifications appear and I rapidly scroll through them. Fuck you, Brayden. Not answering that. How do you think it’s going? I’m in deep shit here.

Janie.

Janie.

I need to call her. Later. She’ll know something’s up with me if I call her now.

Crap, Jared. Schedule change. Why the hell am I suddenly working Monday? It’s my day off. The last one before I change assignments. I thumb through the text. Not going to answer, not yet. I need to talk to Brayden, get a heads-up on what kind of problem is coming my way this time.

My eyes lock on the screen.

Oh shit.

My insides go numb.

CP: Christian Parker.

Six months and she hasn’t texted me once. Oh, this can’t be good. I tap it and read. Wants to talk to me before I leave for New York with Krystal.

Brayden, you fucking asshat. You better not be flapping your gums. I search through the texts and hit the return call button for him.

“Is everything OK?”

I look up.

Madison is standing above me.

I switch off my phone and shove it back into my pocket. “A lot of work messages.”

She crinkles her nose. “They text you even on your day off?”

“Sometimes.”

Madison sinks down on the pavement beside me. “It must be hard working for Krystal’s family.”

I shrug. “Not hard. They’re nice people.”

She gives me an amused look. “That’s not what I meant. I’m talking about you and Krystal being involved. And I know my bro-in-law. Alan must be up your ass every second you’re at the house. No one is ever good enough for the princesses. Not according to him. I’m amazed Krystal even manages to date. It must be rough.”

She’s suspicious again. “No, Alan’s not like that. He’s very down to earth. And a man should be protective of his daughters. Someone has to be in this fucked-up world. I have nothing but respect for Alan.”

She smiles. “You’re a pretty cool guy, Jake.”

“You’re pretty cool, too.”

“I’m hungry. You ready to go?”

I spot Nick standing in the open front door, alone.

“Where’s Krystal?”

Madison lets out a slow, annoyed breath. “She’s changing her clothes. What’s up with her this weekend? One comment and she flips out. It’s like every little thing I say pisses her off.” She studies me then frowns. “You get into another fight with her?”

My face warms. “No.”

Her brows slowly move upward as she tilts her head.

“Well, not that I know of.”

Nick laughs. “I think he’s telling the truth here, Legs. Can you back off now and stay out of it?”

“Fine, Nick. Consider me backing.”

I spring to my feet. “Let me get her so we can head out.”

I go into the house, down the hall, and stop outside the open bedroom door, taking in a breath to brace for more minutes with Krystal. Just let me get through something without jacking it up. Is that too much to ask?

I knock on the frame. “Is it OK to come in?”

“A little late to ask that, don’t you think?” she jeers.

Why did she have to remind me of that? My seeing her tied to the bed nude, and her seeing all of me after my shower. Can’t she cut me a break?

“I’ve already told you, I’m sorry—”

I step into the room and my legs stop working.

Oh. Fuck. Me.

Krystal always looks beautiful, but no, never like this. Loose curls messy around her face. Low neckline. Hem up to her ass. Heels instead of flats, making that tight backside pop. Everything showing enough to tease me and in exactly the right way.

I can’t breathe. She never dresses like this at the main house. But what do I know? Maybe this is how she dresses for Daryl the idiot when she goes out with him.

No, don’t want to think about that. Brain and body are too honed in on her as it is. I need to kill that insta-stiff in my shorts, but if it wasn’t Krystal I’d think she was trying to get me heated up and interested in her.

“What’s wrong?”

I shift my gaze to find her watching me.

“Nothing. Madison wants to head out. Are you ready to go?”

“Well, that’s not very flattering,” she taunts and then laughs. “Can’t you tell?”

Somehow I manage to nod. “Sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

She moves ahead of me to the door. My eyes lock on how her backside shimmies. Heels. Oh, she should definitely wear heels more often.

We go to the foyer, and I open the front door and try not to watch her as she steps out. She’s a job, not a girl. A job, not a girl. Don’t mess this up, Jake.

She stops and leans over to adjust a shoe strap.

My gaze follows the slow rise of her hem.

I break out in a cold sweat

Just like that, the rational voice in my head is obliterated.

“We’ve lost them. Madison drives like a maniac. You’re going to have to tell me where we’re going.”

Krystal laughs. “Maybe I should have driven. But this is PCH, Jacob. Not complicated. It’s a few miles up the highway on the beach side.”

Both the laughter and the taunt make me want to look at her, but no, don’t do it. Why is she curled in the seat that way? Close to me, like this really is a date. And her dress, what there is of it, barely covers any of her legs when she sits.

Who’d have thought she had legs like those under all the unflattering clothes? Long, muscled, creamy flesh and torture. I didn’t notice how epic they were this morning on the beach, but then she’d been hiding them in those too long, too baggy shorts.

She’s not hiding them now.

My gaze runs her petite form. Another thing I have to stop doing—checking her out—but the more I look, the more I want to look again.

I’ve got to stop torturing myself. It’s not like I didn’t know she had a good bod. She’s a ballerina. What did I expect? Cankles and thunder thighs? Every day I watch her in the studio. But in the studio her body is covered in layers of dance clothes. It makes her look so innocent and sweet, but with bare flesh, there’s nothing to hide from me how beautiful every inch of her is.

I lock my eyes on the road. I have to get over it. Every time I look at her I feel it in my dick. Not good.

I adjust how I’m sitting.

“Why do people in Southern California have leather seats? They get too hot too fast.”

Damn.

Hot in my pants.

Good one, Jake.

She chokes back laughter as she hits a button. “You forgot to turn on the AC. Seat coolers.”

“Thanks,” I say, smiling fast at her before looking back at the road.

“No problem. I should have probably driven. It’s just it seemed more of a couple thing to let you drive even though it’s my car. It’s what Madison expects. That’s how it worked with Daryl—”

She breaks off, sinking her teeth into her lower lip, and eases back from me.

Daryl.

Fuck, why’d she have to mention him?

It’s changed the vibe in the car, though I should probably welcome it because the woody’s softened a bit.

I study her for a moment. “He’s not bothering you, is he?”

Happy sparkle gone.

She looks pensive and sad.

Guilt blends with the other uncomfortable things I’m feeling. Daryl the idiot was her boyfriend. He must mean something to her, and I jumped in and ended that for her.

She shrugs. “No, he’s not bothering me. Not really. One call. One text. But that’s it.”

She looks disappointed.

“You’re better off without him.”

Her eyes flash. “You don’t know anything about Daryl and me.”

The dude ties her to a bed. What more do I need to know? Not a guy you should cry a river over.

My jaw clenches. “I know enough to know you shouldn’t be with a jerk like that.”

She shakes her head and exhales in exasperation. “He’s not a jerk.”

Why is she sticking up for him?

There, the restaurant.

I turn into the lot, telling myself to let that last comment go.

My fingers tighten on the steering wheel. “If he wasn’t a jerk he wouldn’t have punked out when I got in his face. Guys like Daryl are all the same. Manipulative assholes with girls when there isn’t someone around to put them in their place.”

Her crystal-blue eyes grow more incensed. “Oh, so you’re the better guy because you know how to use your fists and a gun?”

We’re parked and I turn in my seat to lean into her. “No, I’m the better guy because I would never disrespect you that way.”

Her eyes go wide and then her smile lights up her face. “You better stop it, Jacob. I might start thinking you really like me.”