“Have no fear, Baby C. I think the answer to your problem might be closer than you think.”
“Oh God. What now?” Caelen looked over at Brynn and the small smile on her face didn’t make her feel any better.
“You have a drop-dead gorgeous man making his way toward the bar, and he only has eyes for you.”
Her prayers had been answered. “Heading my way? Sounds like this gorgeous man has exquisite taste.”
“You might want to look over before you say any more.” Her sister nudged her with her shoulder and Caelen spun around on her barstool.
Halfway across the room strode a six-foot wall of muscle. He was equipped with everything she was looking for: hot body, wicked grin, rumpled hair, intense stare.
Too bad his name was Dare. Drop-dead gorgeous was right, emphasis on the
drop dead.
Her heart jumped, anticipation free-diving through her veins. On further inspection, she also saw a shorter, muscular man walking alongside him.
Now
things were getting interesting. “First come, first serve.”
Chapter 9
‡
S
CORE
.
Third time’s the charm. He knew the Quads had hit the town, thanks to Ms. Hattie. He just hadn’t known where. After a few tries, he’d found her. At The Bucc, no less. It was the closest bar to the school and yet the last that he’d checked. Didn’t matter. He’d been determined, and the time and effort were well rewarded.
The place was packed. A middle-aged woman with a microphone, warbled out a Rod Stewart song.
Must be karaoke night
. Great. These were the nights he usually avoided like the plague.
But for Caelen,
his eyes searched through the throng of guests,
I’ll brave the crowds.
There she sat, one leg crossed as she perched on a barstool in cut offs, a plaid shirt and—His heart stopped, and then went into furious palpitations. Was she wearing Pippi Longstocking braids? He bit back a groan.
Childhood fantasy come to life.
The whole outfit made him antsy, hot, demanding, and
determined
to make her his.
The only problem? Caelen was obviously holding onto a lot of anger from their childhood. But he knew her, to the tips of her dainty toes. This wasn’t only about him. It’d been about some of the hardcore teasing the Sierra Madre rich kids had put him and the Quads through. They’d fought like cats and dogs but against the “richies,” their group had been a united front.
Show no weakness.
And he wouldn’t, not then, and definitely not now. He had to strap on his boxing gloves, because making Caelen Calvo his was going to be the match of his life.
His corner man had taught him long ago to identify weakness. Unfortunately, none of the old rules seemed to apply to her. How was he going to get to her? Pushing her buttons hadn’t worked; it had only set her off. When she’d tried to ignore him, he’d gone on instinct, falling into old patterns and teasing her into acknowledging him, even though he’d sworn five minutes earlier to treat her like gold.
Seemed like Betty wasn’t interested in kid gloves. His ex-wife’s complaints drifted through his mind:
You treat me like a porcelain doll
. He physically shook his head, beating back the memories. He hadn’t thought about her after they broke up and he wouldn’t start now. Janie, or her memory, wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near this moment.
Time to get my girl
.
“Thanks for inviting me, man.” Frank slapped Dare on the back, the action catching him off guard. He’d forgotten he wasn’t alone the minute he’d seen Caelen.
“No problem. Figured we needed a night out. We’ve all been working some crazy shifts.” Frank hadn’t been his first choice—by far, but all of his boys had been busy.
“I hope this place has more than just fatties and losers. I totally struck out the last time we were here, bro.” Frank laughed and cracked his knuckles as he perused the crowded bar.
Dare just shook his head and asked himself, for the hundredth time, why he’d let this douchebag tag along tonight. He’d been hoping for a little support, some backup to distract the Quads when he ambushed Caelen; instead he got stuck with the biggest tool at his station.
He trusted the guy to watch his back in a fire, but social skills were not his area of expertise. “What are you worried about? You have your girl waiting for you at home.”
Frank flushed and shrugged. “Just because a guy’s already eaten doesn’t mean he can’t look at the menu,” he guffawed and followed Dare to the bar. Music and the constant hum of scattered conversations greeted them as they walked through the local dive.
Frank was so full of shit. He talked a big game, but Dare had never
once
seen him go home with anyone. ’Course that could have more to do with his winning personality, rather than his ability to bag a girl.
“Just be cool.” If this meathead ruined his chances with Caelen, he would show him a side Frank had never seen. Within two seconds, Brynn and Caelen were in his sights. “Come on.”
Both woman watched as they approached. Dare couldn’t help but puff his chest out a bit. He liked Caelen’s eyes on him, a lot. He ran a distracted hand through his hair as he took a closer look. Brynn looked pretty in jeans and a soft sweater, but Caelen… That woman always liked to put on a show. She must have been going for Country Glamor. All he saw was long legs peeking out from her cutoffs, making his mouth water. Dare bit back a groan.
So sexy. Too much. His jeans got so tight, his dick and his zipper were now one.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Frank made a beeline for Caelen.
Dare held back from tripping him, just. He reminded himself it wouldn’t take Frank long to trip
himself
up.
Brynn rolled her eyes. “Hey, Frank. How are you?”
“Good. Wow. Two of The Calvo Quads. I haven’t seen you guys in forever.”
Caelen ignored Dare while he leaned over and gave Brynn a quick kiss hello. He’d always liked Brynn even though she reminded him a lot of his ex-wife—or who he’d
thought
Janie was, sweet and quiet, calm. “Sorry I didn’t say hi earlier, but you guys were busy in your top secret meeting.”
Both girls smiled and Caelen replied. “Hello boys.” But instead of focusing on him, she zoomed in on his buddy. “Frank, I almost didn’t recognize you. Milk has done a body good. You look…
bigger.”
Bigger?
He was bigger than the twerp next to him. He bunched his muscles, deciding to ignore the comments. “Hi.”
A breezy smile was her only response.
Not this shit again.
He leaned in, and she eyed him warily. “We playing that game again?”
Before she could answer, Frank cut in. “Damn, it’s been a long time. I haven’t seen you guys since high school. I forgot how different you all look. All four of you are like that, right? Tall and short. How does that happen? You adopted?”
“Well, we’re quadruplets, so no. We just have a lot going on.” Caelen laughed and directed her smile toward her sister.
“Like what?”
Brynn sighed, but plastered a polite smile on her lips. “Our mom’s originally from Denmark; she’s pretty tall. Our dad’s Puerto Rican, and he’s about her height, right?” she asked Caelen.
Caelen directed a sultry gaze in Frank’s direction, acting as if no one else were in the room.
Jealousy, deep and dark, crept under Dare’s skin. She should be looking at
him
like that. Maybe he’d share how worried Frank was about the fatties and losers at the bar? Shaking his head, he took a mental step back. No matter how jealous, he’d never cockblock one of his crew. He had better wait it out, for now.
Caelen finally pried her eyes off Frank. “Yeah, I think he might be a little shorter than her, but we have one grandma who doesn’t even reach five feet and another that’s closer to six. So we’re all kind of a hodgepodge in the height department.”
“And skin and hair. Light and dark. Curly and straight. It’s crazy. I wouldn’t even believe you were sisters, if it weren’t for the eyes.” He chortled, loving the attention. “Anyway, can I get you guys a drink?” Frank sidled closer to Caelen, and she made room for him.
What the hell?
“We’re good,” Brynn said. “So, where do you work, Frank?”
“I’m a firefighter for the local engine, but I’m hoping to be a part of the Hotshot crew, like Dare.”
“What’s a Hotshot?”
“Same as firefighters, except they’re the guys they drop out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Why?”
“Wildfires.” Dare cleared his throat, his hands shoved in his pockets so he didn’t physically remove Frank from Caelen’s presence.
“Except Dare won’t be worrying about working for the next week. He was—”
Dare quickly kicked Frank’s stool, effectively cutting off the next words that would have come out of his big mouth.
Shut up, Frank
. No need to share that he’d been suspended. He didn’t want Caelen to think he was an unemployed loser.
Frank looked confused, as usual, but thankfully didn’t say anymore.
Caelen looked at him sharply, then tilted her head to the side as if to figure out what was going on. After a minute, she reached over and touched Frank’s arm. “How brave.”
His friend’s eyes looked like they were going to bug out of his head. Dare gritted his teeth, never believing he’d be jealous of Frank.
Frank.
How was this happening? Reminding himself that games were Caelen’s specialty, he decided it was time to bring her attention back to him. No way in hell she was going to be spending time with Frank and giving that fool any attention.
No. Way.
*
C
AELEN WANTED TO
laugh out loud. This night was turning out better than she could’ve hoped. She had not one, but
two
men to choose from, and the pickings were decent. Translation: Dare, more than decent; Frank, not so much. Dare, masculine yumminess; Frank, not someone she’d touch with a ten foot pole.
“Tool” had been too kind a word to describe Frank in high school; he was a “richie” who’d looked down on her and her sisters, while simultaneously trying to get into their pants. He’d been such a follower. No way she’d
ever
put her mouth anywhere near his dick.
But Dare didn’t know that. And if she wasn’t mistaken, he looked pea-green with jealousy, like Jolly Green Giant shades of green. Ignoring him was
fun,
and it was working. She could feel his light-brown gaze burning a hole through her. The intensity made her shiver, deep and low. And even though she needed him, her decision solidifying as each second passed, she couldn’t help tormenting him a few minutes more.
Karma
was
a bitch.
And so am I
.
It was the least he deserved after reminding her of all those nicknames
and
outing her to her sisters. She never would have had to come clean about moving in if he’d never mentioned her car. Oh yes, things were looking up. Until Frank had to go and open his big mouth.
“Wait a minute. Didn’t you guys have nicknames in high school? What were they?”
Her blood ran cold. “The Calvo Quads,” Caelen interjected quickly, trying to get him off the scent.
Please, God, give this idiot enough sense to let this go.
“No, no. That wasn’t it. Let me think.” He signaled to the bartender and Caelen looked over at Brynn, helplessly. “Brynn, you were a total bookworm, but Caelen?”
Brynn hopped up and said, “Let’s go over here, and get the bartender’s attention. That guy takes forever. The waitress over here will—”
“I know!” He snapped his fingers and pointed at Caelen. “Bag—Wait,
no
,” he laughed aloud. “I remember now! Punching Bag. They called you Punching Bag, right?”
Caelen froze, looking down at her hands, unable to look Dare in the eyes. It was her worst nightmare come true. She was deeply ashamed of the name, because it’d been well deserved.
Frank was oblivious. “Why’d they call you that, anyway?”
“Don’t really want to talk about it,” Caelen said, grabbing for her backpack, getting ready to leave. The feel of Dare’s gaze burned. Suddenly, she wanted his attention anywhere but on her. The shame scalded; she had the scars to prove it.
“I remember it was really funny.”
Dare’s hand flew out, palm open, as he slapped Frank right against the chest.
Hard
. Frank went backwards off his stool but quickly righted himself.
“Don’t.” Dare’s voice was low, like a scrape against her skin. His anger barely leashed, the group of four froze. The attack had been so sudden, it felt as if the slap still echoed in the space around them.
“Don’t what, man?” Frank looked genuinely confused.
“Don’t. Call. Her. That.” Dare leaned in, his voice soft but deadly. “Ever.”
“O-okay, man. Come on, I was just…”
Frank blathered on, his voice fading from her notice. Looking up, she was seared by the intensity of Dare’s eyes. He was speaking to her without speaking to her, and he wouldn’t let her look away. She couldn’t. But instead of shrinking back, she jutted out her chin in defiance. She wasn’t that same teenage girl, and she wasn’t going to act like it.
Frank still looked stunned. More like a recalcitrant puppy who’d peed on the carpet and didn’t want to be reprimanded by his master. Dare dismissed him, Caelen gave him a disgusted role of her eyes, and Brynn must have decided he needed a little schooling on bad behavior, because she led Frank toward the waitress on the other side of the bar.
Caelen stood and checked Dare out, from his half-tucked, long-sleeved shirt, to his torn jeans and scuffed boots. His rumpled hair was short on the sides and it stuck up in the front, his chiseled jaw was well past five o’clock shadow. Overall, he was a casual with an edge. Coupled with his dark eyebrows, a busted nose, and plump lips, he should have looked like a serial killer. Instead, he was sex on a stick, and she wanted to take a lick.
But old memories died hard. High school had been rough for her, and bringing up that stupid nickname brought back all the insecurities and corrosive feelings she’d tried to put behind her.