Anyone but Alex (The English Brothers Book 3) (21 page)

He
pressed his lips to the skin of her throat, and then, out of nowhere, he said it.

“I love you, Jess.”

She gasped, her hands on his back stilling in surprise.

“Jess?”

“I—I love you, too,” she whispered, as her eyes filling with tears.

His lips pressed against her neck again,
and he rested his forehead against her skin as he always did before leaving her. It was Alex’s way of wishing he didn’t have to say goodbye.

Finally he braced himself on the mattress and stood, disposing of the condom and zipping up his pants before turning back to her
with an adorable smile.

Jess had scooted back against the pillows, lying on her side, naked and on
display.

“How am I supposed to leave you
when you’re looking at me like that?” he asked, frowning.

“One foot in front of the other,” she suggested.

“Where are you going for Girl’s Night?”

“Mulligan’s.”

“Lots of college guys hang out there,” he grumbled.

“Lucky us,” Jessie teased. “Maybe that’s why
Emily chose it.”

“
What if I showed up?”

She chuckled, rolling her eyes at him. “Don’t trust me?”

“I trust you implicitly. I don’t trust them.” 

She
crawled over to where he stood, hands on his hips at the edge of the bed. Kneeling up, she rubbed her breasts against his white shirt and bit his bottom lip, then sat back on her haunches.

“I’m fairly certain Barrett and Fitz were going to invite you.
Emily said they always show up uninvited. It’s almost
part
of Girl’s Night now.”

“Will you still want me if Cameron
breaks my balls off playing squash?”

“I’ll still want you no matter what,” she answered honestly
, then shrugged. “But I’ll have one less brother if he actually hurts you.”

He leaned down and kissed her lips hard, telling her
what she meant to him, that she belonged to him, that he owned her heart as surely as she owned his, and that there was only room for her in his life. She felt it. She knew it was true.

He turned to leave, but as he reached the doorway he
pivoted and caught her eyes with his.

“
What I said before? I meant it, Jess.”

“Me too,” she said, wondering how it was that every time she thought her heart was full, Alex managed to find a little more space to call his own
.

***

“Do you think I have a death wish? Hell no, I’m not playing squash with you and the Winslow’s. What do you think I am? Crazy?”

Alex grimaced at Stratton
over his desk. “Please Strat? They want to play doubles.”

“They want to play
‘
Kill Alex
.’ Just cancel.”

“I can’t cancel, and let me tell you something, little brother. If you don’t come with me and convince Chris to go to
Devon for the Lowry deal, you’re going to have to go.”

“To
England?” asked Stratton, reaching up to straighten his glasses in a nervous gesture Alex knew well. Stratton wasn’t a big fan of international travel—he preferred the familiarity of home.

Alex nodded. “Barrett’s getting married. Fitz is having a baby.
Cam and I are the money. If Chris won’t go, it’s all you.”

“What about Wes?”

“He hasn’t even passed the bar yet. He’s wet behind the ears, Strat. At least you’ve managed big mergers before.”

“
Not well,” he said honestly. “I’m not the strongest option.”

“
You might be the
only
option if Chris won’t go.”

An hour later, Alex and Stratton pulled up in front of the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, with Stratton grumbling loudly about how much easier it would have been to have been born an only child.

They suited up, both of them donning new jockstraps that Alex had rushed out to buy while grabbing lunch. He didn’t know what use Strat had for his balls, but Alex and Jessie only had three weeks left together, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let a squash game take him out of commission. He had a brief, intense flashback to taking her on the edge of the bed while fully dressed this morning, then grimaced as his cock twitched. Damn it, but she was the hottest, sweetest, sexiest girl he’d ever known. And by some miracle of fate, she loved his sorry ass. She said so. His heart swelled as he heard the words in his head from this morning.

He had to figure out a way to get her to stay. Perhaps Barrett knew someone at the ICA who could pull strings to get Jessie a job there.
He couldn’t let her go. He couldn’t bear the idea of losing her.

“You ready to die?” asked Stratton, nudging Alex in the hip, a sour look on his face.

Alex rolled his eyes and nodded, following his brother out of the locker room.

Entering court three, they found Chris and Cam alrea
dy there, taking practice shots. As the door opened, Chris turned to say hello, but Cam smashed a straight drive into the front wall, which whizzed back toward Alex and Stratton, missing Strat’s head by an inch.

“Oh, hell no!
” he said, turning around and walking back out the door, leaving Alex alone with the Winslow’s.

Cam watched from the front of the court. “That wasn’t meant for Stratton.”

Alex shrugged. “Are we playing? Should I go after him?”

“She’s practically
living
with you,” said Cam, his face taut and furious.

“Calm down, Cam,” warned Christopher, the peacemaker, who didn’t actually look very peaceful.

Alex glanced out the clear glass to the viewing area and saw Stratton watching the conversation. For as much as Strat probably wished he could leave, Alex knew he wouldn’t, and if either of the Winslow’s laid a hand on Alex, Stratton would be back on the court with a vengeance.

Cam approached Alex, stopping in the center of the court and pointing his racket at him. “You know what I don’t get? You could have any girl in Philly. Any girl. Why does it have to be my sister?”

Alex glanced back at Stratton, who stood at attention, his legs spread and planted, ready to sprint to Alex’s defense. He loved his brother for it. He understood how Cam felt. If anyone tried to mess with Barrett, Fitz, Stratton, or Weston, they wouldn’t live to tell about it if Alex could help it. He understood that Cam was only trying to protect Jessica because he loved her. The thing is? Alex loved her too. It was the only answer that mattered.

“I love her,” said Alex, holding Cameron’s grass-green eyes. “
It has to be her because I’m in love with her.”

Cameron stared at him, his face redder and redder as he huffed and postured. “Screw you, Alex.”

“It’s the truth.”

“You love her. What a crock of shit. I should beat your head in with this racket. I should
—”

The door opened and Stratton slipped back into the room, standing against the back wall of the court with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Shut up, Cam,” said Chris quietly, turning to Alex, his eyes narrow but searching. “Really? You love Jessica?”

Alex looked at Chris, realizing, for the first time, how similar he looked to Jess. They had the same lips, the same eye shape, the same long, black lashes.

“Yeah. I do.”

“You sound serious.”

“I am.”

“Don’t listen to him, Chris. He’s practically a gigolo. He’s
—”

“She lives in London,” stated Chris, ignoring his older brother. “
If you love her, what’s your plan?”

Alex clenched his jaw, because as much as he wished he had an answer for Chris, he didn’t. “We don’t know yet.”

“Just living from day-to-day, eh, Alex?” sneered Cam. “Who gives a crap if you break my sister’s heart as long as you get what you want in the short-term?”

“Screw
you
, Cameron. I didn’t just meet her last week. Jess and I have history. This started a long time ago.”

“Did you touch her when she was a little girl?” growled Cameron, his face murderous.

“No! God, you’re such a douchebag! I was there for her—when your father died.”

Cameron’s face flushed purple as he rushed at Alex, but Stratton and Chris stepped in the way
. Chris held his brother around the waist as Cam yelled, “You don’t talk about my father while you’re fucking my sister!”

Alex lurched toward Cam, reacting to his vulgar comment about Jess, ready to punch
his lights out, but Stratton grabbed his arm firmly. “Time to go, Al.”

“Get off me,
Strat.”

“Can’t do it. Let it go or I’ll drag you out.”

Cam continued to struggle against Chris as Alex wrenched himself away from Stratton. He picked up his racket and exited out a side door, cursing the entire situation. If Alex and the Winslow’s couldn’t even play a round of squash together, how the hell were they supposed to work on the Harrison-Lowry deal? How were he and Jessica supposed to build a future together? He chewed on these troubling questions as he stood in the elevator, groaning as he got off at English & Sons.

As if his day could get any worse, Hope Atwell was waiting for him in the lobby
.

“Hope?”

“Asshole,” she greeted him acidly, with a sweet smile.

His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered their standing Thursday date. He’d cleared his calendar except for Hope. Damn it. He put his hand in the small of her back, guiding her to his office before she could make a scene.

After his office door closed, she turned to him. “I waited over an hour.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What the hell, Alex? We’ve been meeting for a year! You’ve never missed a Thursday unless it was a holiday.”

Alex moved quickly to the wet bar, pouring her a glass of water and handing it to her. They sat down on his couch facing each other.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying you’re sorry. What’s going on with you?”

“I’ve met someone.”

“You
what
?” she gasped, setting the water down on the coffee table in front of her.

“I
’ve met someone.”

Hope stared at him for several seconds before bursting out laughing. “So what?”

“So, she’s… special.”

“I’m sorry,” said Hope, cocking her head to the side. “But what the hell does she have to do with us?”

“I’m with her now. Only her. I don’t, um, I don’t want to see you anymore.”

Hope’s mouth dropped open.

“Are you
kidding
me?”

Alex shook his head, feeling genuinely bad for Hope. “No. I’m not. I’m in love with her.”

Hope started laughing again, her shoulders shaking as she shook her head back and forth. “In love with her? Oh, Alex, that’s precious. Does she know who you are? Practically a dick-for-hire!”

Alex
refused to let Hope get under his skin. He took a deep breath, standing up and walking over to his desk. “She knows.”

“What woman with any self-respect would put up with that?”

He turned to face her, resting his knuckles on his desk behind him. “I don’t know, Hope. I’d ask you what sort of self-respecting woman would fuck me on a weekly basis with no commitment and no hope for the future, but that might hit too close to home.”

Hope sprang up from the couch and approached
Alex, her pretty face scrunched up and bright red. “You’re a bastard!”

“So I’ve heard.”

“I wasted a year on you.”

“I don’t remember you complaining.”

“You English boys… you’re
disgusting
.”

Alex stared at her, refusing to engage anymore.

She wet her lips, cocking her head to the side again, and giving him a flirtatious smile. “So… you won’t miss
this
?”

In
a flash she had her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips pressed against his. He kept his mouth tightly closed, but before he could reach up and pull her arms from his neck, he heard his door open.

“Oh, Alex, I didn’t realize…”

Alex looked up to see Barrett’s fiancée, Emily, standing in the doorway.

“Emily!” he gasped, taking Hope’s wrists and pushing her away from him.

“I see you’re busy.”

“No,” he insisted. “No, I’m not.”

Hope turned, swiping the back of her hand across her lips. “Emily. You’re Emily Edwards.”

Emily nodded. Hope snorted.
“My sister Felicity sends her regards.”

Emily stepped into the room
, her blue eyes steely and firm as she stared back at Hope. “I don’t have a problem with Felicity.”