Chapter 22

Jamie

I was being stitched up.

I'd thought we were going on this casual ‘date' where we both flailed around, trying to throw axes at the wall, but apparently Hayden was like some kind of Viking king, pegging the axe at the target with a negligent flip of his wrist and hitting the bullseye every damn time.

I hated it.

But right as I was filled with a burning need to work out how the hell he was doing it, he stepped in and deigned to teach me what to do. I was a fairly results-oriented person, so I was willing to accept his advice, but that's not what that felt like.

I'd checked Hayden out plenty of times. The quieter one of the twins, he looked exactly the same as Hunter, but the difference in their personalities somehow made this easier. I knew he was big, tall, solidly muscled, and smelled really nice, but knowing that and feeling all that pressed against me was a whole other thing. Whatever resistance I worked hard to maintain in my head: that he was Millie's brother, that he was a model, gorgeous and completely out of my league, was shoved to one side, and when he told me to breathe, I did, because I'd stopped doing that the minute his arms wrapped around me.

This was fake.

This was fake, fake, fake, I tried to tell my heart, but it just beat harder, faster, as if I was teetering on the edge of a cliff, not being positioned to make my throw. His words barely registered, nothing he was trying to teach me absorbed. Instead, I moved, did what he told me to and then… the axe hit the bullseye.

What made me turn and wrap my arms around his neck like I had a right to? Like this really was a date and he was a guy intent on impressing me? I expected him to stiffen, disengage, and set me awkwardly aside, but instead, his grip tightened. His eyes dropped down, watching me stare at his mouth as seconds, minutes, days went past, before I realised what I was doing.

Making my best friend's brother uncomfortable.

He was probably mentally rehearsing a polite but firm brush off, so I stepped clear of him, my hands going behind my back, one wrapping around the other wrist. Focus on axe throwing, I told myself, on winning the bet, on?—

"OK, so, if that was your turn, then it's my turn now?" I asked.

His slow smile let me know everything was OK and I turned, letting out a long breath as I walked away to retrieve the axes.

Keep my body loose, don't grip the handle too tightly, don't imagine the target as Clinton. I repeated the advice over and over as I stepped up and threw again. Not quite as good as when Hayden was helping, but still, it thudded into the inner ring.

"So that's a ten?" I asked.

"What?" He blinked and then shook his head. "Um, yeah, so with the bullseye from before that brings you to 35."

"And you're forty." I stared at the number on the scorecard like it'd personally offended me, but he grabbed his axe and then walked up to the lane.

Which was when inspiration struck.

When I played pool with the guys at the pub, there was a series of dirty tricks people pulled to put each other off. One was the guys flopping out their dicks when you were about to take your shot, something Millie had stopped firmly. Others were shouting something unintelligible the moment you moved your cue, queering your strike. I figured I could try something similar right now to even the score, but what? Flashing my vagina at the axe throwing place would get us thrown out, not help me win, and that's when I looked down.

The bust of the dress was made up of two panels, each one hugging my breasts. The V dropped down low, but everything was secured by those cupped panels, so this might work. I moved closer, standing just beside him as Hayden went to throw.

"Do you think this dress is too low cut for a dinner date?"

"What?"

Tits, man, they got a guy's attention every time, even men who thought of you as a surrogate sister. His head whipped around, his whole body twisting as he released the axe, the blade bouncing off the wire fencing panel that blocked off the other lane. I grinned as he stared at my bust.

"Ah… no, I don't think…" His voice trailed away as I burst out laughing.

"My turn now?" I said, kicking up my heels as I went to retrieve the axes, but when I went to move to the line and throw, he was blocking off the exit.

"So it's like that, is it?" I'd never heard his voice drop down into a low growl before. "Well, if we're playing dirty…"

He was wearing a nice pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a shirt over that, sleeves rolled up over his forearms, but he moved slowly, pulling the shirt off with all of the finesse of a male stripper, before moving into a pose that made every muscle pop.

Damn…

There was no reason for me to stare. I'd seen him in the pool often enough, or just walking around shirtless in summer. Free the nipple, Millie asserted, and the guys had taken that campaign to heart. Yet somehow I was just standing there, tracing every line of his body with my eyes, as if they could peer past the thin cotton of his t-shirt.

And I wasn't the only one.

The girls down the end had been shrieking and cackling all night, obviously having an awesome time on the bride's hen's night, but those sounds grew louder as several stampeded over. Teetering on perilously high heels, I frankly admired the girls' ability to stay upright, but they did as they came closer.

"Oh my god." One girl slapped her hand down on her chest. "You're that guy from the… From the…"

"That billboard," another sighed. "How the hell are you hotter in real life?"

"Um… thanks?" he said, taking a step back.

"Christy's getting married tomorrow," the first girl said. "Christy!" A woman wearing a pretty sparkly dress and a small veil stepped forward sheepishly. "The weddings tomorrow, but you…" Her finger wavered in the air. "You could strip for her!"

"Sharon—" Christy said, shooting her a dark look.

"So Christy, was it?" Hayden said. "I'm not a stripper and—" He was about to turn to me, but Sharon wasn't about to allow that.

"You sure? I've got a couple of hundred dollars here…?" I stepped forward as he stared blankly at her, obviously not wanting to be rude. "OK, well, how about an autograph then?"

"Yeah, sure."

Couldn't they hear the reluctance in his voice, or did they just not care? My teeth clacked together as I came to stand beside him.

"On her tits," Sharon said with a wicked grin, then produced a Sharpie from her bag. "I'm sure your sister won't mind."

Sister? It took me a second for me to realise who she meant, and that's when I stared the bitch down. A curl of her lip made clear she knew that's not what this was, and while Hayden was my fake date, she didn't know that. Rude, that's what Sharon was, even her friends moving restlessly around her, but she held the Sharpie out imperiously.

"Hey, bro," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder and sidling in closer. "I meant to ask, did that lice shampoo work for you? Mum wasn't sure if it worked for crabs as well as head lice."

"Not really." The women watched in horror as his hand slipped down, scratching at his groin. They stepped back and kept on going so damn fast I was surprised I didn't hear their heels screech.

"We're good!" Sharon shouted, the lot of them hustling right back to their bay.

I watched them go with a smile of satisfaction, right up until I looked up to see Hayden staring down at me.

"I thought you were supposed to be finding me a girlfriend?" he asked, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Well, Christy is someone else's and Sharon…" I wrinkled my nose. "Not her. Sister… I mean she's not far off, but I'm dressed up nice and you're…" My mouth went dry as I looked at that t-shirt pulled tight across his chest. "Well, you're you. This could be a real date. There's no way for her to know if it was fake." I put my hand on my hip. "Millie would kill me if I let you hook up with someone like her."

"And what kind of girl does my sister have in mind for me?" His voice had somehow become a low purr. "Is this something the two of you have discussed?"

"Ah… no."

Probably because most of our conversations about her brothers and dating was that Millie was sure no woman would want them because they were arseholes.

"So you just made an executive decision to out me as having crabs to get rid of those girls?"

I stiffened. Had I overstepped?

"Well, I can go over there and tell them it's a joke, if you like, put in a good word with whichever one you think is hot." I smiled. "I'll even tell them you're really good at throwing axes."

"Nope. You made the right call." He kept on stepping closer and would've been standing on my dress if I hadn't hiked it up. "I told you, when I'm with you, you have my entire focus."

His black pupils seemed to swallow the blue of his eyes, turning him into someone else altogether. Not Hayden, not Millie's brother, but him. Hot, smelling really, really nice, and so close it took effort not to touch him, my hands trembling as a result, this wasn't feeling fake at all.

But it was.

I pulled away and grinned. "I really need you to come to that family thing, so I'm gonna win this."

That was just my excuse to stop whatever the hell that was. I picked up the axe and walked over to the lane, lobbing it without thought. He'd win and I'd lose, that became apparent as soon as I saw he had skills, but then I had to wonder. He hadn't specified what he said he wanted if he won, just making the terms vague instead. Probably nothing, I assumed. Just Hayden being polite and going along with my bet idea.

"Well, well." He nodded to the target, and damn me if I hadn't managed to hit the bullseye. "Look at what you can achieve if you relax enough."

"Thanks, Yoda." I patted his arm as if this was just us being dickheads at his parents' place. "So what're we on now?"

"You're on 55 and I'm on 40," he replied, but that smug smile made clear he thought he was safe. "If I throw a bullseye, I win."

"So flashing you would be really bad form, right?" I said.

"Maybe." His eyes slid over my body because hey, he was still a guy. "But if that's what I wanted, I'd just win this bet and take you somewhere private, so I was the only one that got to see you."

What the hell was that? The long look, then the smirk, right before he picked up his axe. I wondered at his response instead of trying to throw him off, so he got another bullseye.

"OK, fine, you win," I said, throwing up my hands. "So what do I need to do? Service your car for free? Clean your toilet?"

"Nothing like that." He retrieved the axes and then set them down with a click on the table. "Anyone can do that for me, but this… This is something only you can."

"Only I can?" I frowned. "What?—?"

"Evening."

Hunter's voice was similar to Hayden's, but not identical. When I spun around, he smirked, but that quickly faded when he took in my dress. I looked down, realising I still had it hiked up. I was probably creasing a dress he'd bought, so I tugged it down and then smoothed it back into place.

"You're here early." Hayden shot Hunter an unfriendly look.

"What can I say? I needed to see what Millie had done with my credit card." Hunter shoved his hands into a very nice suit, the black wool fitting his body perfectly. "And I've gotta say I approve. This…?" He waved a finger from the tips of my toes to my head. "You look amazing, Jamie, so are you ready for dinner?"

Onto the next fake date. I blinked and then grabbed my bag, but when I turned around to say goodbye, Hayden was already there.

"I won," he held me, his hands sliding along my arms, "so I get my prize."

"You just need to tell?—"

"This." I froze to the spot as he moved in, hands going to my jaw, his thumb brushing across one cheek before he darted in and kissed me.

Damn.

He wasn't my friend's brother right now. He was a man whose mouth was soft and hard at the same time, my own moving to meet his kiss. I could've put that down to shock, but that didn't explain why I took a little step closer. His arms went around me, tugging me firmly against him as the kiss went on and on, getting deeper, hungrier. The first flick of his tongue had something tightening inside me, something I wished he'd do something about, my hands forced to rake across his back.

"Oh my god, he's kissing his sister? Sick."

A strident feminine voice had me jerking my head back in time to see Sharon and her party shooting us a dirty look as they walked out of the place. I couldn't reply, needing to suck in breaths instead. This was a joke, surely. Hayden was playing chicken and I hadn't veered away, but if that was it, he looked just as stricken as I did.

"Looks like you've got what you needed," Hunter said, taking my arm and tucking it in his. "Now it's my turn."

I stared back at Hayden as I stumbled out of the axe throwing place to see him touch his lips and then grin, that same crooked one that set girls' hearts afire in school.

Mine included.

This was a core memory, one I'd store away and bring out when I was having a sucky day, because teenage Jamie would've just about shit at this. I'd kissed Hayden McDonald and now… Hunter escorted me over to his car and opened the door. I was going out for dinner with his twin.