Page 15 of Smooth Moves
He grinned and accepted it. Unfortunately their fingers touched, and she hurriedly dragged her hand back, ignoring the spark of heat that followed the slight contact.
His grin faded, but he made no mention of the exchange. Probably didn’t feel it the way she had, but whatever. She needed his help, not his unwanted attention.Unwanted? Liar.
She grabbed a beer for herself, opened it, and took a long drag. When she finished, she saw him staring at her. “What?”
He looked flushed, which was weird, and took a sip of his own. “Nothing.”
She nodded to the table, and they sat across from each other. With Rafi, the table seemed plenty large with the leaf in it. With Cash, she felt too close to the man.Time to stop dwelling on his looks and get to the point.“I need your help.”
He held up a hand. “Before you start, this ‘I owe you a favor’ bullshit isn’t working for me. You want my help? You gotta give me something back.”
“I’m giving you dinner right now.” She eyed him with suspicion, and he laughed. “What’s so funny?”
“The look on your face.” He took another sip of beer, looking full-out relaxed. “The dinner’s a start, but it’s not what I need. Now hold on. I’m not after your virginity, sweetcakes.” He chuckled at the second finger she shot him. “I need your help packing up my mom’s place.”
She knew his mother had passed away not long ago. “Oh, sure.” That had to be tough.
He frowned.
“Now what?”
“That was awfully easy. What exactly do you want me to do with your brother?”
Jordan sighed. “I need your help getting him to see his mistakes, and I can’t think of who else to ask.”
His expression grew serious. “What do you need?”
She’d expected a few wisecracks, some dig about her being unable to handle the male mind. But he didn’t do either.
“Rafi’s become a real—”
“Wait. Rafi? He’s your brother?”
She didn’t understand. “Who else am I talking about? I only have one brother.”
Cash relaxed even more. “Sorry. Go on.”
She explained about the teenager’s recent failure at school, his rebellious attitude, and him falling in with the wrong crowd. And about her parents dumping everything in her lap. “I know he’s young. Hell, I went through the same things at his age. Though to be honest, I at least knew to get through high school. Rafi’s a lot more aggressive than I was back then. Must be all that testosterone going through his pubescent body.” Just thinking that made her ill. Puberty. What a crappy time of life.
“He hasn’t hurt you, has he?” Cash asked, his voice quiet.
“What? Hurt me? Hell no. He’d wouldn’t eventhinkabout hitting me.” She paused, smirking. “Not that I’d ever let him—or anyone—try.”
“Good.” Cash finished off his beer. When she stood to get him another one, he waved her to sit.
“I’ll get it.” When he rejoined her, he asked, “So what do you want me to do?”
God, he looked good. No, no. She had to stop staring at the strong line of his throat and square jaw, to ignore the overwhelming masculinity in that body. Jordan had never been bowled over by a man before. But something about Cash called to her.
“I, um…” She coughed to gather her thoughts and sound halfway intelligent. Cash had women falling all over themselves for him at any given time. She’d be damned if she’d be one of them. “I’ve heard you and Reid talk about what a pain you were growing up.” She continued over his scowl, “And I thought you could help Rafi, talk to him man-to-man about getting through the teenage years. I don’t know if he’s ignoring me because I’m a girl or because I’m his sister, but I’m really worried about him.”
“Is the crowd he’s hanging with all that bad?”
“I don’t know. They seem mostly harmless, though there’s one kid who’s not that great. Juan something. It’s nothing terrible, really. Mostly minor, rebellious things. Bad grades, talking back. Though the prank putting firecrackers in the boys’ bathroom was inspired,” she said drily. “I don’t think he’d have done it on his own, but he refused to rat anyone out, taking the full blame himself.”
“Good kid.”
She’d thought so too, even if being silent hadn’t helped him. Jordan praised loyalty, but Rafi should know better than to damage school property. “He seems to have no drive, just a need to lose himself in video games. He needs a hobby. Real friends. Something.”
