Teasing Trent (The Alexanders) (15 page)

“You look pissed off. You were in a decent enough mood when you got here, so what’s happened in the last hour that has you looking like you’re ready to spit nails?”

“It’s nothing. I think I should go. I don’t want to ruin your party for everyone else.”

“Let me guess, Trent and Mara just arrived, right? Man, you have got to let it go. She’s a grown woman. She’s had boyfriends before and you haven’t been this crazy.”

“He’s going to ask her to marry him. He just told me.” Matt growled and then in a sudden move turned and punched a hole in the wall next to him.
 

The sliding glass door opened again. Trent and Mara stood on the patio gaping at them. Nicholas walked up behind them and peered over Mara’s shoulder.
 

“Damn! Cleanup on aisle four,” he joked.
 

Matt stalked into the living room and Jackson ran his hands over his hair roughly. How had a simple family cookout turned into a soap opera?

Chapter Seven

“WHAT DO YOU mean you won’t give me the code?”
 

Ridley bit her lip and hoped no one downstairs could hear her. Not that they needed any more evidence of the crazy town her life had become.
 

“Exactly what I said. I am not giving you the code,” Raina pronounced. “I am so sorry about what happened to David. I didn’t like the idea of him poking around in our past but I wouldn’t have wished him dead, especially not in a fiery car crash. But if the police think it wasn’t an accident, then that means he was mixed up with some pretty shady people. And if they’re looking for you, the first place they’ll look is my house.”

“I told you, I never told David about you.”

“I know but if he had any investigative skills at all, he would have figured out that you were a twin. It wouldn’t have taken much for him to figure out who I am. And if he figured it out, then someone else could have, too.”
 

She paused and took a breath. “Plus, if the FBI really does think you
’
re involved in David
’
s accident, you need to stay hidden. They can
’
t arrest you if they can
’
t find you. At least at Jackson’s house, I know you’re safe.”

Ridley mentally counted backward from ten. “Raina. I cannot just stay at some guy’s house that I don’t even know. What am I supposed to tell Jackson?”

“All I want you to do is stay safe until I can get home. Don’t worry about Jackson. He owes me a favor. I’ll talk to him.”

“No! You can’t do that!” Ridley bit her lip.

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“Okay, what is going on here?” Raina asked. “Why wouldn’t I talk to Jackson?”

Ridley groaned and flopped down on the bed. She wasn’t sure what kind of outcome she’d been envisioning, but she’d never expected for Raina to want to call Jackson and explain everything. Now she had to come clean and, considering how many times she’d chastised her sister for lying, Raina was never going to let her hear the end of it.

“Because he thinks you’re here. When he saw me outside, he thought it was you. And I didn’t tell him otherwise.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You’re pretending to be me?”
 

Ridley gritted her teeth at the howls of laughter coming through the phone. “This isn’t funny, Ray. I didn’t know what else to do! I needed a place to stay and I figured I could get in contact with you and get the money to get out of here without anyone ever being the wiser.”

“I know, I know. Miss Honesty telling a lie. It’s probably killing you having to pretend to be me.”

“I hate lying to him. That
’
s it. I
’
m telling him the truth. Hopefully he won
’
t throw me out.”

“
No, don
’
t do that! As soon as you tell him, he
’
s part of this. He
’
s harboring a criminal. Is that what you want?
”

“
That
’
s not fair, Raina. Of course I don
’
t want that. I never wanted any of this.
”

“
I know you hate keeping secrets but he won
’
t be able to resist looking you up and asking questions.
 
We can
’
t afford that right now. I
’
m sure the police have no proof against you but I
’
d still rather no one knows where you are. The shoot is wrapping up in less than a week. Once I’m home, we can figure out a long-term plan. You’re going to stay with me, right?”

Ridley shrugged, then remembered that her sister couldn’t see her. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. But I’ll probably stay for a while. Until I figure out what to do, anyway.”

“Are you okay, Ridley? Really? He’s being nice to you, isn’t he? I’ll kick his ass if he hasn’t been.”
 

“Raina! Of course he’s been nice. He even stayed up to watch a movie with me, so I wouldn’t be alone. He’s been great. I just feel bad that I’m taking up all his time. He probably has a girlfriend or something that he’s neglecting because he feels obligated to stay here with me.”

“I don’t think he has a girlfriend. Or at least I’ve never seen any evidence of one. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen his ex-wife either.” She was quiet for a moment. “So, you guys stayed up late last night? Just watching a movie?”

“Yeah, it was some comedy with Will Ferrell. He fell asleep toward the end of the movie. I think he’s been pretty stressed out lately, too.”

“Uh huh. It sounds like you two got pretty close last night.”

Ridley would have crossed her arms if she wasn’t holding the phone. “Don’t start, Raina. Nothing happened. It was just two friends watching a movie.”

“Friends, huh? Friends with benefits?”

“I’m hanging up, now.” Ridley warned.

“Oh, calm down. I’m just kidding. Not that it would hurt you any to seduce a handsome, successful man. You could do worse, you know?”

“I’m not here to steal his virtue,” Ridley said. “I’m just trying to stay out of the way until you get back.”
 

“Okay but I still think a little romance would do you good. Jackson is exactly the kind of guy I want for you. A real man, not like the guys you’ve been with who only want to use you.”

“Hey, if we’re going to start debating judgment skills, then I am not the one with the worst track record,” Ridley argued.

“Let’s see, there was the guy who just wanted you to cook for him. Was that John? Yeah, it was John. There was the guy who wanted you to write his term papers for him. I don’t even remember his name. Then there was Nate, the surfer dude who was high all the time.”

“Yeah, well who hasn’t picked losers when they were in college? You dated that guy who liked women’s underwear, remember?”

“Oh yeah, that was a shining moment, but my current boyfriend owns half the commercial real estate on the East Coast, so at least I’ve improved. I just want the same for you.”

“I know you do. But Jackson and I are just friends. Especially since he thinks I’m you.”

“Well, that should make it easier to seduce him, not harder.”

“Raina!”

“Okay, okay, I can take a hint. But I still think you should sleep with him. I saw him with his shirt off once. He is really built. Seeing him naked would totally make you feel better.”

“Sure. I’ll get right on that, sis.”

“You’re joking but I’m not. Well, if you change your mind, do it quickly because I’ll be back in about a week.” She paused. “I’ve really missed you, Ri.”

Touched, Ridley sucked in a breath, blinking back a sudden rush of tears. “I’ve missed you, too. Now, hurry up and get home!”

After they hung up she put her phone back on the nightstand. She’d lived apart from her sister ever since graduating from high school, but up until she met David, they’d talked on the phone every day. Raina would be back in a week. She’d already been here almost two days so what were a few more? But for some reason it felt like forever.
 

She was suddenly really homesick and for her, home wasn’t a place.
 

It was Raina.
 

*
 
*
 
*
 
*
 
*

NICHOLAS ALEXANDER HATED to be wrong. Almost as much as he hated Chinese food and clip-on ties. But since he’d learned over the years that even
his
radar could be faulty at times, he decided to bring in the experts. As he walked down the driveway to his car, he pulled out his cell phone and hit the third speed dial. While everyone was distracted inside, it was the perfect time to do a little sleuthing.

“You rang, little brother?” The wry voice coming through his cell phone was about two octaves deeper than his. His older brother, Elliott, was the kind of man that lesser men feared. And not just because he was bigger than most everyone else.

“I’m glad you haven’t left yet. I need you to look into someone for me. A woman.” Nick glanced behind him to make sure he was still alone. Most of the partygoers had already arrived but it would be just his luck for Jackson or worse, their mother, to somehow overhear.

“It’s always a woman with you, isn’t it?” Elliott said. The dry laugh coming over the line was a surprise. Elliott wasn’t the happy-happy, joy-joy type and treated most conversations as if they were life or death. Nick was actually surprised his brother wasn’t grilling him for details on the “subject” yet.

“So, you want to know if your new flavor of the month has any skeletons in the closet? Namely, any irate husbands who’ll come after you with a baseball bat?”

“Hey! That was
one
time,” Nick countered. “And he wasn’t her husband. At least I don’t think he was.”

“He was,” Elliott replied firmly.
 

“Oh, damn. I actually didn’t know that.” Nick made a mental note to start having Elliott check out his future bedmates. He liked to have fun but he wasn’t trying to break up anybody’s home. His parents had managed to raise him better than that.

“Anyway, it’s not for me. It’s for Jackson.”

As he expected, that statement got his brother’s attention. “Subject’s name, age and birthplace.”

“She’s a model so most of her information is already out there. Her name is Raina Winters.”

“Leggy?” Elliott sounded surprised.

“Yeah, they call her ‘Legs’. You know who she is?”

Elliott grunted. “I’m pretty sure every straight man in the western hemisphere knows who she is. She’s frickin’ hot.”

Nick tugged at the collar of his shirt. He closed his eyes tightly against images of those famously long legs wrapped around his neck while their owner bucked and moaned beneath him. They’d only spent one night together but it had changed everything. He’d told her things he’d never told a woman, experienced things he thought weren’t possible. He’d lost himself in her.
 

Then the next morning she’d just walked away.

Focus, Nick!

“Well, she claims to be locked out of her house. Jackson seems to have bought her story and he’s letting her stay with him. She’s been there since yesterday.”

“You think she’s lying about being locked out?”

“I don’t know but if she is I’d rather find out now before she wraps Jackson any further around her little finger. She told Jackson her real name is Ridley. That should help.
”

His fingers clenched into a fist. When she
’
d needed a place to stay, she
’
d turned to Jackson. She
’
d confided her real name to Jackson.
 

Not to Nick.
 

Their night together clearly hadn
’
t meant as much to her as it had to him. Not that he didn
’
t already know that. Her refusal to see or talk to him since had pretty much driven that point home.

As angry as it made him, he couldn
’
t fault his brother for helping her. What was he supposed to say? I know she
’
s your neighbor and you knew her first but I claim dibs.
 

Even though she doesn
’
t want you.

Just the thought of telling his little brother about her soul-crushing rejection made him feel about two inches tall.
 

“
Anyway, can you check her financials and see if she’s having money problems?”

After Eli
’
s grunt of assent, he ended the call and closed his eyes. He couldn
’
t tell his brother to stay away from her but that didn
’
t mean he wasn
’
t keeping his eyes open. There was nothing to indicate that Raina would use Jackson to get back at him but he would be prepared just in case.

If she was still the lying bitch he remembered, his brother didn’t stand a chance.

*
 
*
 
*
 
*
 
*

“I KNOW THIS is hard, but you have to get a grip,” Jackson said.

“I’m sorry about your wall, man. I’ll pay for the damage.” Matt stared at something on the ground and kicked at it, looking so miserable that Ridley was suddenly embarrassed to be there.
 

Ridley had stopped in the middle of the staircase. She’d come down to see what all the commotion was and, of course, her impeccable sense of timing put her right in the middle of a private conversation. At least the guys were facing away from her.
 

“Come on, Matt. Talk to me. What’s really the deal here? Your sister is getting married, not moving to a foreign country.” Jackson crossed his arms. “You’ve always been so overprotective of her.”

“She’s his family.” Ridley froze when they both looked at her. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to overhear. It’s just, I don’t know. I get it.” She walked down the staircase until she stood next to Matt.

“I’d feel the same way if my sister was getting married. It’s always been just the two of us against the world. When she gets married, suddenly someone else is her next of kin. I’d be happy for her, of course. But I’d be sad, too. It would feel like someone was taking her away from me.”