Chapter 10

CHAPTER10

“I’d really like to go home now,” came the softly mumbled words from the small woman that tried to make a run for it, but unfortunately for her, he’d been prepared for that.

“Right after dinner,” Bryce said absently as he carried Cayley up the stairs and let himself into his sister’s house, making sure to close the door before Bunny, the insanely large dog that his sister babied, could run outside.

“Now works for me,” Cayley mumbled sadly as he headed down the hallway, debating putting her down so that she could walk into the dining room on her own, but…

He didn’t trust her.

Resigning himself to the bullshit that his family was about to unleash on him, Bryce carried her into the dining room and watched as every set of eyes, from his little niece and nephew to his father, locked on him. Biting back a sigh, he shifted the small woman off his shoulder and-

Sighed.

Just fucking sighed when she tried to make a run for it. Wondering why she even bothered, Bryce grabbed Cayley before she managed to reach the door and placed her down on the empty chair across from Sean, who sent him a questioning look before his gaze shifted back to Cayley and his lips pulled up into a shit-eating grin.

Ignoring the little bastard, Bryce grabbed an empty chair and another plate and placed them next to Cayley, who was shifting uncomfortably in her chair, cleared her throat, and mumbled, “Thank you for having me.”

“This is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever,” Johnny said on a heartfelt sigh as he reached for the mashed potatoes.

“Don’t make me kill you,” Bryce said, reaching over and stole the mashed potatoes from him.

“So,” Sean said, looking really fucking happy as he propped his chin on his fists as he glanced between the two of them, “what’s new?”

“I’ve been kidnapped,” Cayley said, nodding solemnly as Bryce scooped mashed potatoes onto her plate.

“That would explain the pajamas,” Connor murmured, sounding amused as Bryce glanced around the table, noting that the rest of his family was watching her curiously while his father glared at him, which was understandable considering the fact that Cayley was his oldest friend’s only daughter.

“So, I have questions,” Sean murmured, smiling hugely only to lose that smile, clear his throat, and shift his attention back to his plate when Cayley said, “The eighth-grade field trip.”

Since that drew everyone’s attention, Bryce decided to use the opportunity to finish loading their plates with food and once he was done, he quickly dug in, ignoring everything around him and focused on the small woman sitting next to him as he found himself wondering how he was supposed to pull this off. For the next thirty days, he needed to spend time with her so that he could prove that the Bradford curse was bullshit, but that might be a problem given their history.

He was going to have to figure out a way to-

“Cayley, I know that you already have your hands full with the renovations and everything coming up this year, but I was thinking that perhaps it would be for the best if you worked on the Dawson Project with Bryce,” Rory suddenly announced, making him bite back a smile because this was absolutely fucking perfect.

Working with Cayley on the Dawson Project would allow him to keep his focus on work and fulfill his sister’s requirement for this bullshit agreement that he’d stupidly agreed to at the same time without having to worry about touching her again since they would-

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Cayley said, making him frown.

“And why’s that?” Connor asked, looking really fucking amused for some reason while Bryce sat there glaring at the small woman looking helplessly down at the plate that he’d piled high with turkey and all the delicious trimmings.

“Besides the fact that I’m pretty sure that he’s planning my murder?” Cayley asked, blinking down at her plate as she mumbled, “I don’t think that I can eat this much.”

There was a heavy sigh and then-

“Ow!”

Sean was forced to pull back his hand or risk losing it when he tried to steal the plate that Bryce had taken the time to fix for Cayley. With a glare aimed at the small woman that was already starting to piss him off, Bryce reached over, scooped up more stuffing from the large bowl in front of him and placed it on her plate with a look that dared her to bitch about his generosity.

“You were saying,” Craig said as Bryce noted that all of his brothers were watching him with an unholy glimmer in their eyes, letting him know that it was only going to get worse from here.

“That I don’t think it’s a good idea to work together for the sake of my sanity,” Cayley said, picking up her fork as Bryce narrowed his eyes on her.

“I’m a pleasure to work with,” he bit out, only to shift his glare to his brothers as the inconsiderate bastards actually had the balls to snort in disbelief.

“You’re really not, though,” Brian said, shaking his head with a sigh as he grabbed another roll.

“You’re a control freak,” Johnny added with a glare that Bryce easily ignored as he shifted his gaze to his oldest brother as the traitorous bastard said, “You really are.”

“How am I a control freak?” Bryce demanded as he narrowed his eyes on Craig, only to shift his glare to Sean when the little prick said, “You mean besides the fact that you’ve made several men quit in tears and you’re always carrying that damn clipboard that we’d love to shove up your-”

“I’m organized,” Bryce bit out with a look that dared them to argue as he looked at his father to back him up, only to find him still glaring, which, again, was understandable.

Nodding, Johnny said, “And a control freak,” drawing his attention back to the little bastard.

“God, he really is,” Rory said, sighing heavily as she nodded, quickly losing her spot as his favorite.

* * *

“Stupid Bryce,”Cayley mumbled, grabbing another pan as she glared out the kitchen window at the large bastard who’d tattletaled on her.

If anyone should be doing dishes, it was Bryce. He was the one that was technically late since she hadn’t been invited, but when she’d used that logic on him earlier, he’d pointed out that he was late because she was a pain in the ass and she’d somehow found herself standing in front of a sink full of dirty dishes. She would have argued, but she knew the rules better than most. The last one to the table did the dishes, something that she’d learned when she was five and it had taken her two hours to climb out of the tree that Sean chased her up in.

She still needed to get him back for that, Cayley absently thought, but later, much later, she decided as she watched Bryce, who still looked really pissed, pull off his shirt and toss it aside. His brothers took off their shirts as well, and while they all had impressive bodies, it was Bryce that she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off. Every golden muscle was toned to perfection, from his large biceps to his abdomen and everything in between.

As he stood there glaring at one of his brothers, Cayley took the opportunity to run her eyes over him, taking in his perfectly sculptured chest and abdomen, watching as his muscles flexed as he reached up with one hand and caught the football before she found herself following that thin, dark trail of hair that started right below his navel and-

“I spoke with your father the other day,” Mr. James said as he joined her by the sink while Cayley did her best not to wince at the realization that she’d just been caught devouring his son with her eyes and-

It was probably for the best if she pretended that this never happened, Cayley decided as she cleared her throat and mumbled, “Oh?” as Mr. James took the lid from her and dried it with a towel.

“For some reason, he was under the impression that you were spending Thanksgiving with your fiancé’s family,” he said, throwing her a questioning look as she grabbed another dirty pot.

“Probably because I led him to believe that,” Cayley said, making his lips twitch.

“And Mary?” Mr. James asked, mentioning her new stepmother.

Cayley cleared her throat and murmured, “She may have had something to do with my decision.”

“Not a big fan?”

Blinking, Cayley repeated the line that she’d been using since she found out that her father was marrying her old high school English teacher. “As long as he’s happy, that’s all that matters,” she said, nodding solemnly as she made quick work of scrubbing the pan clean.

Chuckling, Mr. James said, “Fair enough,” before bringing up the one thing that she’d been hoping to avoid, “And is there a reason why your father doesn’t know that you ended your engagement?”

Biting back a sigh, Cayley said, “Because I didn’t think that it was a good idea to tell him.”

At his questioning look, Cayley said, “He worries about me.”

“That’s his job,” Mr. James said as he took the clean pan from her and began drying it with a towel.

“The only reason that he moved was because he thought that Kevin would look after me. I don’t want to give him one more reason to worry about me,” Cayley said, knowing that if her father found out what happened that he wouldn’t be happy until she finally gave in and moved closer to him, but even then, that probably wouldn’t be enough to get him to stop worrying about her.

“From what I’ve seen, Sean’s been looking after you,” Mr. James said as Cayley glanced back up to find Sean glaring at her through the window, mouthing, “Watch your back.”

She opened her mouth only to wince when Bryce slammed into him from behind and knocked him on his ass.

“Then again,” Mr. James drawled as Bryce looked up and his intense emerald gaze locked on her, making her swallow hard, “Something tells me that your father doesn’t have anything to worry about.”