Page 42 of The Irresistible One
Without fail, night one was an evening dedicated to just Hayden and Abbi. They went on a date, wherever thathappened to be, and she stayed at his house. She needed male energy in her life. A father figure. Someone, besides me, she could rely on.
Hayden was everything to her.
And while the two of them went off and did their thing, I had dinner with the rest of my family, a group that consisted of Jones, Callum, Talon, and Leo. If Troy was in town, he’d come too.
Aside from Hayden, we all had different last names. We weren’t technically related; we didn’t share blood. But our bond was unbreakable, and nothing—not distance, not life—could change that.
Talon and Leo—yacht brokers, like my brother—were out of town with clients. So, for this evening, Jones and Callum had joined me for dinner.
Jonesy’s face was the most famous since it was plastered all over Florida. Companies paid him to wear their logo, to endorse their products online, and to appear in commercials. From the age of nine, when I met him, all he ever wanted was to race boats. As soon as he hit eighteen, he made that happen. Now, he held every title and record in the world.
He was tracing his finger around the rim of his old-fashioned, positioned across the table from me, smiling. “I heard things got a little spicy at the office today.”
There was a tiny space between his front teeth that was adorable. I appreciated that, when he had gotten rich and famous, he never corrected it or got veneers.
“Who told you that?” I asked. “Because they obviously lied. There was zero spice at all.”
His dark auburn locks looked like a deep brown until they grew longer and the red really came through. “Everyone.”
Everyone meant Hayden and Callum since the other two were away.
“Like I told Hayden”—I rolled my eyes—“I barely said anything.”
Callum laughed. “Come on, Soph. I could only see your profile from where I was sitting at my desk, and even I could tell that the way you were looking at Colson could have scorched the walls.”
There were no secrets in this family. I was reminded of that every time I breathed.
I looked into Callum’s light-brown eyes, a color that reminded me of a teddy bear. “I’m sure my brother asked you two to feed me drinks to get me to confess.” I pushed away my dirty martini. “It’s not going to happen.”
“Which means there’s something. Spill it,” Jones ordered.
I released several deep exhales. “I represented the opposition in a legal matter. That’s what went down, and that’s all I’m obligated to discuss.”
“No fancy lawyer talk at this table.” Callum’s hand went to my shoulder. His grip didn’t lighten because I was a woman. He always treated me like I was one of the guys—they all did. “You two hooked up, didn’t you?”
I groaned. “A part of me just died, hearing you use those words.”
He laughed. “We’re not your brother. We can talk about these things. We talk about them with you.”
“Shit, you’ve heard about the last I don’t know how many women I’ve been with.” Jonesy nodded at me.
I held up my hand, not needing another play-by-play—I had enough of those almost daily. “It’s different.” I wrapped that same hand around my stomach. “And also, you’re not my brother? I’ve literally bathed you.” I was looking at Callum now, who was three years younger than me. “And there are only a few spots on your body that I haven’t doused in medicine and wrapped in bandages over the years,” I said to Jones. “Telling you anything is equivalent to telling Hayden … but nice try.”
I decided I needed the martini more than I’d realized and lifted it off the table, holding it near my chest as I leaned back in my chair.
Jones slapped Callum’s arm, like he’d finally caught me. “Oh, she has something to tell.”
“No.” I downed my entire glass in one gulp. We hadn’t even ordered appetizers yet. “Hear me out when I say this: there’s nothing to discuss.”
“You know, you never talk to us about dudes.” Callum sipped his gin and tonic. “Why?”
“Because there aren’t any in my life. Ever.”
Which had been my reasoning for getting a membership at Lush. I wasn’t interested in hookup apps. I didn’t have time to go out and meet men. I was a full-time lawyer and a full-time mother, and those were my priorities. But I made it a point to sneak away to Lush a couple of times a year to get lost in pleasure.
Because I needed it.
And because I deserved it.
