Page 98 of Tulips and Lost Time

29

LUC

THE BEGINNING OF THE BEGINNING

“And thus,” Jess sighs. “The start of a secret love affair that went on for, what? A whole year before Marc found out? Two?”

“Thereabouts.” I push up from my seat at the table, holding Billy in just one arm, and circle around to slide my chair back in. “A year or two of sneaking around. A year or two, where Britt was dating Jack, and Laine was dating Graham.”

Kane snarls. “Fucking prick.”

“Marc was with Meg, and Scotch had Sammy back. Alex was readying to marry Jules, and Oz was finally settling down with Lindsi and the kids. Everyone was pairing off. But Marcus, even with Meg and the baby on the way, was still watching over Kari like his life depended on it. She and I were still figuring out who we were and what we could be as a couple, and Marcus was living what was probably the most stressful year of his life. So instead of adding to that, Kari wanted to sneak around instead.”

“She didn’t even tell us,” Jess murmurs with a small, soft smile. “We knew she was with someone, considering she wasn’t always at the apartment. She was spending the night somewhere, and she wasn’t denying it when we suggested she was with a man. But no one could have guessed who the hell she was with.” She perches on Kane’s knee and watches as I prepare one last bottle for Billy before we head back to the hospital.

We have people to see. Arrangements to make. A life together to plan.

“Not once, in all my wildest guesses, did I consider she was banging my brother.”

“Which is how they got away with it,” Kane concludes. “A whole emergency room sees them sneak into a storage closet together, yet everyone believed they were actually getting supplies.”

“Because that’s who we were,” I finish. “Back in school, when Marc wasn’t watching her back, I was. When he couldn’t give her a ride, I did. When she needed an escort and he was working, I was next up to bat. He trusted me to take care of her. To treat her like a sister. Seeing us together was as normal as seeing the big old tree in the park in the middle of town. It just… was. The fact that I was working, essentially, at the same place she was, only made it easier to sneak. A guy turning up to her workplace and offering her a ride at the end of shift? People are gonna ask questions. Me being there at the end of shift? Totally normal.”

“A whole year?” Jess sighs. “That’s a long time.”

“I mean, I reckon it was closer to two,” I shrug. “But sneaking around can be kinda fun, too.” Then I look past Jess and sneer at Kane. “You two would know.”

“My sneaking around was not fun!” Jess inserts. “It was the most stressful time of my life. I was dating a criminal,” she mock-whispers. “A wanted felon. Alex wanted to toss him into prison, and Jules was riding my desk daily, checking in on my progress at the office. I learned how to shoot a friggin’ gun. I met some really scary people. I stopped a home invasion!”

“You shot at Cap,” Kane chuckles.

“I shot at you, actually.” She twists to meet his eyes. “Eric just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That was his own fault.”

“So while you were sneaking around with criminals and learning to defend your life,” I mutter, “Kari was sneaking around with me, learning how to ride a motorcycle and finally, how to do a 360 ollie heelflip without Marcus nagging her to be careful.”

“Practically the same life experiences,” Kane sniggers. “And from what I hear, you ended up way worse for wear than I ever did.”

“Marcus damn near killed me when he found out.” I drop powder into water one-handed, then place the nipple onto the bottle and carefully twist to fasten it. “But you’re skipping ahead. I don’t get my ass kicked for a little while yet.”

“And he hurt you so bad,” Jess mumbles. “So friggin’ bad.”

“Luckily I had my own nurse by that point.” I flash a playful grin and turn back with Billy’s bottle while Luna and Rose dash through the kitchen. “So I got her to kiss me inside that storeroom that one time. That was the beginning.”

“Should I leave now?” Jess pushes off Kane’s knee and drops her hand to the top of his head. It’s a gentle massage. A scratch of his scalp that instantly turns the man to jelly. “I suspect we’re heading toward the, Kari is no longer a virgin, portion of this story. And while I’m here to celebrate her, I’m not really interested in hearing about my brother’s role in all that.”

“I won’t tell that part of the story,” I snicker. “It would be disrespectful to the woman who craves privacy.”

“Dammit, Jessica!” Kane turns to his wife and play-snarls. “I wanted to hear the sex, too! Why the hell would I stick around for the romance if I don’t get to see the rest?”

“You’re still a pig.” She drops a kiss to the top of his head and gives the side of his face a little tap… I swear it verges on a slap. “Never change, babe. Girls?” She turns on her heels and starts in the direction her twins went. “Mommy wants to play with you now. She’s done talking to Uncle Luc.”

Kane watches her leave, grinning like he thinks he’s the luckiest motherfucker on the planet. Then when she’s gone, he swings back around and meets my eyes. “Tell me the sex stuff.”

30

LUC

THE SEX STUFF

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