Page 21 of Inviting Trouble
“Can’t help it,” Jake said, putting her in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles across her head. “You’re just cute as a little Chihuahua.”
She could have him flat on his back in an instant, but didn’t want to damage the groom. Instead she gave him a sharp jab to the kidneys, and he released his hold with a soft “oof.” He rubbed his side.
“Hey, hey,” Claire said, putting up a hand. “I need to get him to the altar tomorrow. You two can kick each other’s butt the day after that.”
“The perfect Christmas present,” Mad replied.
Claire went to greet the rest of their friends. Mad wandered further into the room. Her dad introduced her to Claire’s parents and her brother. Nice people. A few moments later, she found her brothers over in the dining room, chowing down on a bunch of cold appetizers. An archway to her left led to a large formal living room with wood paneling, several high-back chairs and a couple of dark blue patterned sofas arranged around a fireplace. She peeked into the huge kitchen to her right and saw staff in there preparing hot food. Then Ty shifted out of the way and her gaze landed on Park looking hot as hell in a black leather jacket over a blue button-down shirt. He met her eyes and quickly turned back to Ty.
Nerves ran through her. She couldn’t believe she’d nearly confided she was in love with him over breakfast. All the confiding in her friends had made her nearly blurt everything. Even she knew you couldn’t open with the L word. The fact that he’d immediately morphed into avenging protector mode told her she had a long road ahead from little twerp to sexy potential girlfriend. Unfortunately, patience was not her strong suit.
She moved to stand next to Josh in the corner of the room, the most laid-back of her brothers, which made him the easiest to hang out with.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey yourself,” Josh said, taking a shrimp and dipping it into cocktail sauce. Josh was the casual version of his identical twin, Jake. He let his thick brown hair grow long enough to curl a bit at the nape of his neck, his jaw was nearly always stubbled with a couple days’ growth, and, unlike Jake’s designer style, Josh favored flannel shirts, faded tees, and ripped jeans. Tonight he’d dressed up a bit in a white button-down shirt with black jeans.
“How’d your finals go?” Josh asked.
“Good, I think.” She grabbed a small plate and piled it with veggies.
He stopped eating, his dark brown eyes direct. “You study hard?”
“Yes, I studied,” she said tightly. “I’m paying half the tuition, I’m not going to blow it off.”
Josh said nothing, just kept eating, but she knew she was in the wrong, taking out her aggravation with Park on him.
“Sorry,” she said. “I’m still a little wound up from a week of exams. You know I appreciate your contribution.”
Josh had covered what she couldn’t in the cost of tuition. Her dad didn’t have the funds after helping out all of her older siblings. Sometimes being the youngest meant you got the leftovers. Josh had dipped into his savings, postponing his own dream of opening a bar, to help her out. She hadn’t even asked him to. They’d sat down together, figured out what she’d need to get her bachelor’s degree, he saw where she was short and simply said he’d cover it and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She’d argued that Jake was better funded and she’d ask him, but Josh got pissed off at being passed over for his rich twin, so she shut up.
“I expect a complete marketing campaign for my bar,” Josh said, pointing a shrimp at her. “This ain’t no free ride.”
“You got it,” she said. “You’ll be my first client. As soon as I graduate, you get your bar, and I’ll set you up.”
“I made an offer on Garner’s,” Josh said.
“You did?”
“Yeah. Clive said he’d think about it. He’s on the fence about retirement.” Clive Garner, owner of the bar, was a spry seventy-three. His wife and co-owner, Heather, was sixty-five and anxious for them to retire and travel. The couple had promoted Josh to manager last May when they decided to cut back their hours.
Josh took a sip of water and went on. “I figure it’s more affordable to take over Garner’s than build something new.”
“Wow. I didn’t know you had enough saved to make an offer.”
“I live pretty frugally.” He took another shrimp, chewed, and swallowed. “If I save more, I can afford to expand it. Add on a back room with a dance floor, jukeboxes, a couple pool tables.”
“Cool.”
He smiled. “Yeah, we’ll see. He’s not taking offers from anyone else. It’s either me or he hangs onto it a little longer.”
She inclined her head. She could totally see Josh taking over Garner’s and making it his own. He’d worked there for eight years now. “Would you change the name?”
He nodded, a small smile playing over his lips.
“To what?”
“You’ll see.”
