Love in Bloom (De La Fuente Family 3)

Perhaps he should encourage Kasey to spend time with her. He was a couple of years younger than Mateo was. And after what Aiden had said, his younger brother was interested.

So why didn’t he like that idea?

“You ready to go?”

“Yeah.” He grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers together when she looked so fucking lost standing there.

Erin glanced at their joined hands before he gently tugged and got her moving. With the gentle breeze, her hair curled around his arm and felt silky soft. Her scent drifted toward him and he inhaled. He could get dizzy on her, in fact, he already was.

“Mateo?”

At the sound of his name, he realized that he knew the voice and with surprise, he quickly let go of Erin’s hand before he met the gaze of his old high school girlfriend.

“Allie.” His eyes swept over the woman who he’d lost his virginity too all those years before. She looked sleeker and more polished than the last time he’d bumped into her, which was also the last time they’d had sex—a few years ago. “What are you doing here?”

“Visiting my brother.” She looked between him and Erin, which brought him out of the surprise.

“Where are my manners?” He placed his arm around Erin and brought her against him because he felt that she would bolt like a filly if given the chance. “This is Erin. Erin, Allie, a friend from high school.” Once he’d introduced them, he sensed Allie was about to let Erin know exactly how they knew each other. The gleam in her eye and the smile on her face said it all; she hadn’t been happy with the high school comment.

Erin stayed silent, but Allie really looked Erin over before she said, “But high school isn’t the last time we saw each other naked, now is it, Mateo? I mean we fucked like bunnies in school…and we still do.”

Fuck!

She had to open her mouth.

He felt Erin stiffen against him and he couldn’t decide whether to use it as an excuse to push her away from him or to be honest about Allie to her. Because after the last time they’d been together, he’d told Allie no more.

Back in high school he’d been obsessed with her, but figured later that it had been his teenage hormones running rampant. Allie wasn’t a nice person and he didn’t want Erin anywhere near her because Allie had a possessive streak a mile long.

Before he could even excuse them, Erin said, “If you’ll excuse me. You two obviously have some catching up to do.” She untangled herself from his arm and headed toward where he’d parked his truck.

He sighed heavily and faced Allie not feeling friendly at all because he wanted to head after Erin. “Nice Allie. Always one to be classy,” he sniped, shaking his head. “That was uncalled for and a damn lie. I haven’t fucked you in years.”

“Eighteen months…and I only wanted her to know about us.” She grinned.

Mateo ground his teeth and fought the urge to shake the woman so his words would sink in. “There’s nothing between us and hasn’t been for a long time, Allie…and Erin is my fiancée, so leave her alone.”

“What happened to Caprice?” She narrowed her eyes.

Fuck!

He’d forgotten when he’d introduced them.

“It’s complicated.” He ran his hands through his hair and glanced at his truck.

“Then un-complicate it.” Allie grazed his chest with one of her sharp nails while she moved into his space.

That was so not happening.

“If I wanted to do that, I’d have done it already. I’ll see you around Allie. I need to go and check on my fiancée.”

Without a backward glance, he headed for Erin because there was a need inside him to make sure she was okay. He hated the thought that she’d been upset by Allie’s careless words.

He smiled because if Erin was upset at what Allie had said, then that meant he was more than a job to her. He’d really known that already, at least since she arrived yesterday, but it was nice to have it confirmed. However it brought him up short. He shouldn’t like the idea that she was jealous, but he did.

There must be something wrong with him because she’d only stepped off the plane twenty-four hours ago and now he found that he looked for her when she wasn’t with him. He liked looking at her. When she’d played the role of Caprice, he’d only watched her to keep an eye on what she was up to.

He’d noticed her physical attributes before, but the woman she’d portrayed had given him a stomachache instead of an erection.