The Watson Brothers (22 page)

Sam had already guzzled half his Coke from the “dirty” can, and now he tipped it at Pete. “I’m more concerned as to whether or not you’re using protection than if you get a few dust germs off your drink.”

Pete took a long swallow before saying, “You know, Sam, when I was a teen—hell, even when I was in my early twenties—it was amusing the way you constantly reminded me about that. But in case you missed it, I’m grown now. And I’m as responsible as you or Gil.”

Both brothers cracked up.

When Gil saw Pete’s fuming face, he choked down his laughter. “Sorry. Okay, so maybe where birth control is concerned you’re cautious enough.”

“Thank you.”

Sam was still snickering, which only drove home Cassidy’s point that Pete wasn’t a sensible choice for any wise woman to get involved with. Even his own brothers thought him reckless. That burned his butt big time.

Gil took a seat at the table. Sam hopped up on the counter. Pete lounged against the wall—and waited.

“So,” Gil said. “Are you in love with her?”

“Maybe.”

Sam eyed him. “You really don’t seem too worried about it.”

Shrugging, Pete admitted, “I’m more worried about what she thinks.” It took the rest of his Coke and three deep breaths before he screwed up the nerve to spill his guts. “She thinks I’m irresponsible, too.”

“Too?”

With a wry look, Pete pointed out, “Wasn’t that you two just laughing your asses off at me?”

“Oh, now hey, we’re you’re brothers.” Sam straightened with annoyance. “We’re allowed to give you shit. You need it.”

“Exactly,” Gil agreed. “But if Cassidy really thinks that about you, then she just doesn’t know you well enough.”

“Don’t get any ideas about clueing her in,” Pete warned. “Our relationship is…”

“Delicate?”

“I guess.”

Sam leveled him with a look. “Sex was good?”

“None of your damn business!”

Sam held up both hands, but he was grinning. “Such a reaction,” he said to Pete, “means one of two things—either it was great and it has you floundering, or it was awful and you just wish it hadn’t happened.”

Thoughtfully, Gil shook his head. “No, I’ve gotten to know Cassidy. She’s not awful at anything.”

“An overachiever?” Sam asked.

“Something like that. She’s one of those really organized women who knows what she wants and goes after it. She’s got like a five-year plan and a ten-year plan. Hell, probably a twenty-year plan.”

“Looked to me like she wanted Pete.”

Gil shrugged and took another drink. “All things considered.”

Pete really wished it was that easy. Sure, Cassidy had slept with him—then more or less told him he couldn’t get in the way of her goals for a committed relationship. He rubbed the heels of his palms into his eye sockets, wishing he could figure her out. One thing was plain, though. “She’s into guys in suits.”

Gil rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so wear a suit.”

Everything always seemed so cut-and-dried to Gil. He was one hell of a businessman, making plans and decisions with absolute certainty. Nothing ever threw him off course. He was more suited to Cassidy than Pete would ever be. Thank God Gil was already married. “I can’t exactly wear suits to work out in the sports center, now can I?”

Slapping his hands onto his thighs, Gil said, “I have a solution.”

Sam groaned. “Here we go.”

“Shut up, Sam.” Then to Pete: “Take a job with me. People love you. You’d be great at sales pitches, talking to the board, dealing with consumers…”

“But you’d have to wear a suit.” Sam shuddered.

“That’s the whole point, Sam. He said Cassidy likes suits.”

“So why the hell isn’t she wearing them? Did he ask her that?” Sam hopped off the counter. “The answer is not to do something you’d be miserable doing.”

Gil stood, too. “Why would he be miserable working with me?”

His brothers were both nuts, Pete realized. And he loved them. “I wouldn’t be miserable, but damn, Gil, you’re so good at it I’d be trailing behind. And Sam’s right, I can’t change my life for her.”

Sam slung a heavily muscled arm over Pete’s shoulders. “I say stick with the great sex. It’ll win her over for sure.”

“Yeah,” Gil conceded, “that just might do the trick.”

All three brothers laughed. It didn’t solve Pete’s problem, but being with his brothers today was just the distraction he needed. “Are we going out on the boat or what?”

“We’re going.” Gil led the way out the front door. “It’s too nice a day to stay inside. But Anabel and Ariel are planning a baby shower or something, so they couldn’t go along.”

“So I’m second choice, huh?”

Gil winked. “Over my wife? Always.”

“I’m driving,” Sam told them as he slipped on his mirrored sunglasses.

Gil snatched the keys out of his hand. “No, you’re still shaking over the idea of Ariel being pregnant. I’d just as soon reach the boat alive, thank you very much.”

Driving down the road with the setting sun in her face, Cassidy thought about all the time she’d spent at the mall. She’d done some shopping, and in the process, she’d ventured into a salon where she lost a good two inches of hair. The beautician had wanted to take off more than that, but Cassidy was too cowardly to do too much at once. She promised the woman she’d look at her hair when she got home, think about it, and maybe come back soon.

Now at least the ends were smooth instead of poofing out like dandelion fluff. She liked the softer look. To her, it made a huge difference, making her wonder if taking off a little more might be a good thing.

In the passenger seat of her car, a pretty pink bag rustled in the current from the open window. Inside that bag were her purchases of new underwear. Skimpy, sexy panties and two matching wisplike bras that she couldn’t believe she’d bought, and doubted even more that she’d wear. They didn’t look all that comfortable, but then, for the first time in her adult life, comfort wasn’t the point.

On top of the bag rested a small box of positively sinful perfume. She’d loved the earthy, seductive scent the moment she dabbed it on her wrist. When she got home, she’d dab it in other places.

Having sex with Pete had turned her into a carnal-minded monster. All she could think about was seeing him again.

But for now, duty called.

Cassidy pulled into her parents’ driveway, noting both cars. Good. She’d get this over with in one visit. Taking the walkway around to the side door, she entered the kitchen and caught her folks smooching. Some things, it seemed, never changed. In all the years they’d been married, her father continued to dote on her mother. As refined as he often seemed, he wasn’t above cuddling.

Grinning, Cassidy said, “Knock-knock.”

Dressed in a lightweight summer dress and matching sandals, her mother looked chic and flustered. Her father just laughed and came to Cassidy for a hug. “Cass. What are you doing here?”

He always smelled of the same familiar aftershave, even on the weekends. Unlike most men in movies, books, and the ones she knew in real life, her dad was predictable in everything he did. Every single day, without fail, he got up at six. He exercised, drank coffee, and read the paper. He was dressed, shaved, and had eaten his breakfast by eight. He didn’t fret over losing his hair, but he did fret over his family.

Today he wore a natty, short-sleeved oxford shirt tucked into dark trousers. She had never seen her dad in shorts. Even when he golfed.

With typical fatherly affection, he hugged Cassidy right off her feet.

Avoiding his question for just a moment more, Cassidy went to her mom and embraced her as well. “Hey,” she said to her blushing mom, “if a man and wife can’t make out in their kitchen, then I don’t want to ever be married.”

Her mother laughed. “Oh, stop.”

“We just finished dinner, honey. Want me to warm something back up?”

“No, thanks, Dad, but I’ll take some tea.” While her father poured three glasses of sweet tea, her mother sat with her at the table. Cassidy waited for the comments on her hair, for them to notice and ask her why she’d done it. She had her reply all planned out, and Pete wasn’t a part of it. But neither one even mentioned her hair. A little disappointed by their lack of reaction, Cassidy said, “Holly came to see me last night.”

Her father set the tea in front of her and took his own chair. “That’s nice. You girls don’t get to visit enough anymore with you working so much and Holly in school.”

“She, ah, had Duke with her.”

Her mother let out a breath. “She really is hung up on that boy.”

Cassidy nodded. “They’re in love, Mom.”

With a sound of annoyance, her father said, “She’s twenty-two, Cass. She doesn’t know what love is yet.”

“Actually, I think she does.” Because that wasn’t what her parents wanted to hear, Cassidy chose her words carefully. “You’d have to see the way she looks at him to know what I mean. She’s never looked at any of her other boyfriends like that. And Duke is wonderful to her. I know he’s not who you would have wanted for her…”

“He hopes to be a professional athlete. That’s the equivalent of a young man who dreams of becoming a cowboy.
Most
outgrow that fantasy.”

Cassidy shrugged. “From what Duke told me, he has a good shot at it. I bet if you see them together you’ll realize that Duke is a really nice guy—” Albeit a bore. “—and that he loves Holly, too. Isn’t that the most important thing?”

The doubting expressions on her parents’ faces didn’t look promising.

In for a penny, in for a pound. “Why don’t we all get together?” Cassidy made the suggestion with a bright smile, trying to sound chipper about the idea. “You can get better acquainted with him.”

“I want her to finish school.”

Cassidy knew that stern tone only too well. “I know, Dad. And I think she will. But if you keep disparaging Duke, she might,
just might
do something stupid like marry him now.”

Being a logical, levelheaded guy, her father reluctantly conceded. He turned to his wife. “Gina, what do you think?”

Her mother frowned in consideration. “We do have that benefit at the country club tomorrow.”

“Perfect,” her father exclaimed with a smile.

“No,” Cassidy said at the same time. “I mean, that’s a formal thing. I thought we could just get together at my place to grill out or something.”

“But this would be the perfect opportunity to see Duke in a different setting. I’ve met the young man twice, not at length, but enough to know he might not have any great social skills off the field. Let’s see if he’ll do this for Holly,” said her father.

Cassidy groaned. “But then that’ll mean I have to dress up, too.”

Her mother took her hand with a smile. “A painful prospect, for sure. I don’t know why you shy away from dresses.”

Because she looked and felt like a dolt in them.

Her mother wasn’t above maternal bribery. “We need you there, Cassidy. Isn’t that right, Frank?”

“Absolutely.”

“You’ve always had such a good, sensible influence on Holly,” her mother added.

Sensible. Right. What would they think if they knew she’d started a torrid affair with Pete? It might be worth telling them just to lose that hideous “sensible” label.

Cassidy pushed to her feet. “All right. I’ll talk with Holly and set something up, then let you know.” She kissed her mother’s cheek, hugged her father again, and started out the door. But at the last second, she paused. “Mom, you know Holly is pretty smart. Just because she’s beautiful doesn’t mean she’s lacking in brains.”

Her dad laughed. “Honey, we know one asset doesn’t rule out the other. Look at you.” He winked. “Beautiful
and
smart.”

Cassidy blinked at him.

“Holly’s just young,” her mother said. “We can’t help but worry. About
both
of you.”

Cassidy would have replied, but hearing herself referred to as “beautiful” put her in a stupor. She’d never thought of herself that way, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever heard her father say it, either. Usually they harped on her brains, her common sense, and her determination.

She was still dazed when she stopped by the dorm to see Holly. Amazingly enough, her sister was in. Unusual for a Saturday night, but then Holly said they would be hooking up later.

Cassidy thought Holly would surely notice her hair, and again, she rehearsed how she’d explain the sudden attention to her appearance. But Holly just inquired as to why she was there, then started dancing in excitement at the idea of dressing up for a formal charity event. Holly, at least, loved the idea. But then Holly was a typical woman who adored spiffing up in her best duds.

Holly raced to the phone to call Duke, who agreed with no apparent hesitation at all, making Cassidy wonder if she was the only person on earth who detested formality.

Then she smiled. No, Pete hated it, too. And he suited her so much better than a businessman ever would.