Screw Me Sideways

“You only have one that I know of.” And Reason had thought a lot about Jade Summers as of late. In fact, he’d had some pretty intense dreams about the woman. “How would Jade know Katherine?” She hadn’t been in town long enough to know much of anyone.

“She dated Katherine’s son Barry.”

“So what’s that got to do with me?” Reason should’ve taken opportunity by the horns and found a way to ask if Jade and Barry were still together. Had she moved on? Was she seeing anyone? Would she like to fuck a bartender?

God, he was losing his mind.

Nory shook her finger at him. “I’m on to you, Reason.”

“Yeah?” He laughed. “So is everyone else.”

“Uh-huh. You nearly foam at the mouth when Jade is around.” A beat later, Nory said, “Anyway … Katherine hates Jade. She didn’t like her when Jade dated her son and she doesn’t care for her now. Recently, Jade and Barry went out to lunch to swap out boxes, you know do the whole breakup thing. It’s ultra-cool to do that now, just for future reference.”

“Noted,” he grumbled. Reason didn’t need to worry about breaking up since he didn’t date.

“Anyway, it was fairly civilized until Barry told her that he didn’t want the separation. He mentioned the l-word and it went downhill from there.”

“Are you going somewhere with this? I need to find someone to slice potatoes and chop onions.”

Nory rolled her eyes. “In a nutshell, Jade told Barry that she wasn’t interested in him because she has a thing for another guy.” She waggled her brows. “Or two. She’s been around the family long enough now that she sees the advantages in multiple partnerships.”

“Great. Well, I hope she didn’t break his precious heart into a million fragile pieces.” Reason stuffed the beer box underneath the bar.

“Don’t you see what’s right in front of you?” She put her hands on her hips. “Come on, Reason!”

He blinked. Nory was mild-mannered and seldom raised her voice. Obviously she was miffed. She’d caught him in a compromising situation. She looked up to him. In many ways, Reason, along with Kellan Andrews and Ansley Cartwell’s four husbands, had become Nory’s surrogate big brothers. All things considered, Reason was embarrassed and should probably apologize.

“You don’t know,” Nory sang.

“Know what exactly?”

She’d just opened her mouth to explain when Kellan entered the front door. “Hey, Nory. What’s going on, Reason?” Before they answered, Kellan thumbed the air behind him. “Nory, who’s the babe dressed in white outside? Please, God, tell me she’s over twenty-one.”

“It’s Jade,” Reason muttered, shooting him a quick grin. “And no.”

Nory crossed her arms and eyed Reason suspiciously. “Her birthday is next Friday, as a matter of fact.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “She plans to celebrate here.”

Reason saw Jade in a very different light then. Kellan only went out with buxom beauties, the real lookers. If he had noticed her, she was doing something right to turn heads. Jade had been around some in the past, but Reason hadn’t seen her in recent weeks. “What’d she do to her hair?”

“Blonde is her natural color,” Nory replied.

/> “She’s looking good since she ditched the homely look.” Kellan grabbed a soft drink out of the cooler. “Is she single?”

“She is,” Nory replied, grinning at Reason. “But she has her sights set on someone.”

“That’s never stopped me before,” Kellan said, taking a swig of his drink. “Be a friend, Nory. Go drag her in here to keep us company.”

“Not unless Reason says it’s okay.”

“Reason?” Kellan averted his gaze. “How’s this your business?”

He narrowed his eyes on Nory. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Yep,” Nory replied, turning to Kellan. “She’s got a thing for Reason. He hasn’t noticed. Now that I’ve told him, it’s probably too late.”

“She is one fine female.” Kellan tilted his drink at Nory. “You didn’t hear me say that.” He bumped Reason’s shoulder in passing. “What’d you do to screw that up, man?”

Nory traipsed to the door. “He let Katherine Andes have a go at him. We walked in and caught them in the act.”