Dacey was bouncing on her heels, waiting her turn to greet her archenemy, and in her typical exuberant style, she launched herself into his arms to say hello. Dare smiled at her sister, and that was when things got fuzzy.
The primitive part of her brain still functioned so she could only process the basics, like muscles, spiky hair, tan skin… and luscious lips placed in the middle of the most masculine and intense face she’d ever seen. The passing years had made him harder,
firmer.
He definitely wasn’t pretty. He was all man.
Yup. Time had been very,
very
good to Dare.
He rumpled Dacey’s hair, and she playfully punched him on the arm. “What are you doing here, Dare?”
“I’ve been helping out, just taking care of some stuff around the school.”
“How long have you been doing that?”
“Years,” he said on a low laugh. “I always ended up here for one reason or another and didn’t see a reason to stop.”
“That’s so
sweet.”
Dacey practically yelled over her shoulder, in a sickeningly saccharine tone, directing the comment toward Caelen on the stairway.
“So what brings you guys back?” Dare said with a smile, not having caught sight of Caelen yet.
“Secret meeting. I could tell you,
buuut…”
Dacey said with a twinkle in her eye.
He raised his hands in the air. “You’d have to kill me? Got it. Top secret. I can take a hint.”
Oh, dear God. Were those dimples under his stubble? Had he always had dimples? Maybe she’d never noticed them under his acne. Huh. Crooked smile, muscles, an ass you’d slap your best friend just to touch, and now
dimples?
She felt faint. She gripped the railing, not ready to make an entrance.
“Do you live in Sierra Madre?” Dacey asked.
“Yeah, I—” He finally looked her way and Caelen couldn’t remember if he’d finished answering her sister’s question. There could have been a tornado surrounding them, but all Caelen could focus on was him. The rest of the room, the school, the
planet,
faded away and she got lost in the intensity of his eyes. The dark brown seemed to be lit by a flame, giving them a golden cast, and she felt him studying every inch of her without moving his gaze. It was like she was being eaten alive, and, dear God, she loved it.
Damn, if patterns didn’t repeat themselves. Even now, in the first moments of seeing each other, after ten years, they started things with a battle. Who was going to break eye contact first? Her hands began to tremble, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before her legs followed.
I don’t have time for this.
She wussed out and broke first. The weight of having lost battle #1 was enough to snap her out of her stupor. Not that there’d be battle #2.
Nope
. She was going to make sure of it.
Plastering on her fakest smile, she picked up steam and attempted to blow past Dare. “Am I late?”
“Caelen.” His deep voice made her name sound like a long, drawn out breath on his lips. “It’s good to see you.”
It took everything in her to just keep smiling and avoid eye contact. No chitchat necessary, just a quick retreat.
“Hello?” His smooth tones now became a bit rougher.
She tried an indirect route toward the den. “Dacey, is Mr. Brown here, yet? The meeting’s supposed to start any minute.”
Hint, hint.
Hopefully that would get him the hell out of her way.
Dacey’s eyes got wide. Brynn and Athena were already waiting in the den, so it was just the three of them in Ms. Belle’s opulent foyer. “Yeah, he’s here.”
“So, what? You’re just going to ignore me?” Now his hands were in his pockets. He waited.
Ah, yes. I’m going to do exactly that.
She got a few steps closer, but he was still planted in front of the door.
“Aw, come on. You can’t still be mad because I used to tease you when we were kids?”
Teased? He’d
tortured
her. Well, sort of. The torture might have been mutual. The better description would be that they couldn’t stand each other. People changed, but she saw no reason to think things might be any better now.
Except for the fact that he’s friggin’ hot.
So she gave him her patented smile: vapid, vacant, and meaningless. It was the way she’d learned to “manage” men, by playing dumb. “Oh, hello. I didn’t see you there.”
“How could you have missed me? We’re two feet apart.”
“Well, I try and focus on the important things in life. Excuse me.” She knew she shouldn’t engage him, but he
wouldn’t move out of the way.
“This is going downhill fast,” Dacey muttered aloud.
He let out a breath and hooked a thumb in his belt loop. “Just admit it. You’re still mad.”
“Mad? What do you mean?”
Oh, I know
exactly
what you mean.
His smile faltered. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”
“He means the verbal smack downs you used to give each other when we were kids.” Dacey piped in.
Caelen shot Baby D a “shut the hell up” look and tried to keep from rubbing her temples. She just didn’t have the energy to combat Dare today. “Smack downs, really? Did we fight? It was so long ago, I must have forgotten. Excuse me.” She tried to brush past him into the front office.
“Forgotten?”
“Yes
, you.
She’s trying to say she forgot all about you. Sheesh,” Dacey said.
Caelen swore she heard him mutter,
“You forgot about me?”
Gone was the stunned look, and a full-fledged frown sat between his dark brows. He actually took a few steps away from the door, and Caelen took full advantage of the opening.
It made her want to shout in victory. God, she still loved getting under his skin. Right before she hit the door, mere inches from the den, she couldn’t resist getting in one parting shot. “I mean, we hardly knew each other, right?”
Her youngest sister groaned aloud and Caelen stepped back as Dare took one, then two, deliberate strides toward her. His face looked like a thunder cloud. She had been so close to escape; why’d she have to throw in that last dig? And why was she now shaking in anticipation? “I don’t know, Betty. I’m a little worried about your memory.”
“Well, don’t be.” She
just
held on to her vapid smile.
He blocked the door, leaning casually against the frame with his arms crossed. Now he had a quizzical look on his face, as if he couldn’t quite figure her out.
Good.
“Oh, but I am. Worried, that is. No problem. Maybe I should remind you about how well we knew each other? And
all
the ways I used to tease you.”
“No, you don’t have to—”
“Maybe some of the nicknames I called you might jog your memory. My favorite is Betty but let’s see… There was Half-Pint, ’cuz you were such a shrimp. What else? That’s right, Goggles. I mean, those Coke bottles you wore were crazy thick. Another favorite was Pippi, but that had more to do with a personal fantasy I had.”
Caelen winced, just waiting for the deathblow. He still hadn’t used the one name she’d hated most of all, and the idea of it was so painful she really didn’t have a comeback.
“Hmm. None of it coming back, huh? I know what might jog your memory. How about the time we played Seven Minutes in Heaven, when I got a taste of your soft, wet …”
Ooh! Already her blood started to boil, but a tiny part of her was relieved. He hadn’t used the dreaded nickname, yet. “Cut it out.”
“Not until you admit you remember me…
well.”
“I’m a grown woman; I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.” She used her airiest and most nonchalant tone.
“You do if you want to get in this room. Now I’m gonna get started on all the names you used to call me, like Pizza Face, Street Rat,
Goldie
. Hated that one,” he muttered just loud enough for her to hear.
“Come on, Caelen. Mr. Brown is waiting.” Oh,
now
her sister decided to jump in. Where was the interjection back when she was trying to ignore him?
“Nothing yet? Back to you, then.”
Her heart stopped.
“Oh yeah, wasn’t there something about a Care Bear? Sunshine Bear? No, I remember! Grumpy Bear, because—”
That. Was. It
. It wasn’t the worst she’d been called, but she’d had enough. “Now, I remember why I didn’t remember you.”
That sounded so much better in my head.
“I must have repressed you like a bad memory. You were a jerk then and you’re a jerk now. Who brings up past nicknames? It’s so juvenile.” She poked him hard against the chest, hoping to move him out of her personal space.
He grabbed her small hand in his large palm and pressed it against his chest. “Aw, see? It’s all coming back to you. That’s good enough for me. For now.”
“Nothing has changed between you two,” Dacey said dramatically before entering the office.
“Puh-leeze
. Get out of my way,
Goldie.”
Dare had been in the Golden Globes Junior Tournament back in the day. He’d been an amateur boxer heading for the pros, but instead of being proud of the accomplishment, he’d never wanted to talk about it. She’d seized on his weakness and had used the moniker at every opportunity when they were younger.
Caelen tried to tug her hand free from his chest, fighting the urge to shake away the heat that had seeped through her skin, a warmth that had somehow moved through her veins, igniting tiny fires under her skin. Her cheeks, her palms, all felt tingly and… awake.
He moved back slowly and relinquished her palm, reluctantly. He looked down at the floor and then peeked up, his rough hands shoved in his pockets. “I was going to play nice, Betty. Tell you how much I missed you, but seems like old habits die hard.”
Her heart jumped.
Missed me
.
He’d missed me?
“As usual, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She yanked up the front of her sleeveless jumpsuit.
“I think you do.”
“Just… go away. I don’t have time for this.” With those last words, she finally crossed the threshold.
Safe.
For good measure, she asked Athena to shut the door. Just before it clicked shut, Dare called out. “By the way, why’s all the stuff rammed in the white Toyota out back? Is somebody moving in?”
Athena spun around and glared accusingly at Caelen. “Toyota? You’re moving in?”
Busted
. He’d ratted her out!
The bloodhounds were released
. As she picked her jaw up from the floor and took her seat, she swore she heard Dare’s soft laughter on the other side of the door.
Chapter 4
‡
“I
GOT FIRED,
okay?” Caelen kept her face as nonchalant as she could muster.
“What?”
Athena, half-whispered, half-shouted as she glanced briefly at the attorney, Mr. Brown, who sat in front of them. “Again? I thought you really liked this job.”
No, I really liked my married boss.
Caelen shrugged and pasted what she hoped was a carefree smile on her face. “It just wasn’t for me.”
“What wasn’t for you? The job or just working in general?”
The barb stung. She might not have found her passion in life, like most of her sisters, but she’d never been lazy. Not that she should have to explain that to her own sister. “Well, you know me. If I don’t like it—I’m out.”
“Caelen.”
“Just leave it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Especially to you.
“Besides, this is hardly the time or the place.” Caelen tried to adopt the pinched, disapproving look her sister was famous for, but her face just didn’t crinkle that way.
“This discussion isn’t over,” Athena said.
Of course it wasn’t. When did Baby A
ever
let anything go? God, she could shoot somebody for a glass of wine right now. Maybe she could pass the time by thinking about all the ways she’d like to make Dare pay.
Ants in his bed, tickle torture, whips, chains, hot wax—Oh my! Her revenge fantasies had taken a decidedly “bodice ripper” turn. The images made her squirm in her seat.
Focus.
Caelen looked around what they all affectionately referred to as Mr. Brown’s office. It was Ms. Belle’s Charm School, but the elderly attorney had set up shop years before the Quads were even born. It had always been that way.
All four sisters were strategically placed in the solid oak chairs placed in a semicircle around Mr. Brown’s equally thick and woody desk. In fact, Ms. Belle must have been quite enamored with his surname, because the office was made exclusively of wood.
Brown
wood. The desk, the chairs, the walls,
the floors.
It was endless. Caelen’s nose twitched from the rich scent of “old people furniture.”
Now quite kyphotic after years of perusing paperwork, Mr. Brown could hardly lift his head as he addressed the girls. He cleared his voice and shuffled the papers clutched tightly in his hands. Caelen could just make out his bushy eyebrows above the stack. Back when they were kids, Caelen and her sisters had wondered if he’d made it past his 100
th
birthday, and that was over fifteen years ago. “Hello, Ms. Athena. How are you today?
Athena responded with a kind smile. “Fine, Mr. Brown. And how are you today?”
“I’m fine, fine. Thank you for asking. And how is your mother doing?”
Dear God! Was he going to go through his polite greeting with all four of them? Just wait until Dacey got to talking. They’d be here for
months.
Bzzz
.
Bzzz
.
The vintage, red and green carpet bag that sat in Caelen’s lap vibrated slightly. It was her latest and most fan-friggin’-tastic find ever to be purchased, at least for now. She might love her bag even more than her shoes.
Might
. And she’d paid for it all by her little lonesome, which explained why she was currently homeless. Her married-but-swore-he-was-separated boss had definitely put a crimp in her buying ability, a situation she hoped to remedy quickly.