I open them and jump, half expecting to hit the ground badly. Instead, I land in strong arms. My weight sends Cain stumbling back and he hits the ground, but he doesn’t let go of me. I end up on his lap.
Whew.
“Are you okay?” Cain asks me.
I nod. No broken bones. No gashes. I’m more than okay. Though maybe not okay with sitting on a man’s lap in just my underwear.
As soon as I’ve caught my breath, I get up. I grab the gown which Cain put down on the grass and frown as I realize how dirty it’s become. Why did Cerena have to give me a white gown? It’s funny, really. I traded a gown that had a barely noticeable few drops of champagne on it for a gown that now has mud and blades of grass all over it.
I sigh. At least I managed to get my snooping done. I just hope I found something good.
“Is something wrong?” Cain asks me.
I hold the gown against my body and shake my head. “Turn around so I can change.”
He gives me a puzzled look.
I know. I know. He’s already seen me in my underwear.
“Just turn around.”
He obeys. I hastily put the gown on before anyone comes along. Then I grab my purse and start walking.
“Let’s go,” I tell Cain.
I’ve had enough fun for one night.
“Wait,” Cain calls after me.
I glance over my shoulder and see him taking off his jacket. He drapes it over me. I pull it tighter around my shoulders and give him a grateful nod.
We walk around the house towards the street, opposite the side where the party is going on. It’s better that we don’t run into anyone after we’ve just searched Cerena’s office illegally and I look like a mess and…
“Allie?”
I stop in my tracks as I see my brother, Grae, standing in front of me.
Shit.
He touches his chin as he steps forward. “Cerena told me you were here at her party and I couldn’t believe it.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Cerena told you?”
Grae nods. “She and I are… friends.
More like fuck buddies, I bet.
He frowns. “You look like you’re trying to escape the party now, though, which is more believable.”
I shrug. “You know how much I hate parties.”
Grae takes another step forward. “Yeah, I know. You…”
Suddenly, he stops, his eyes on my gown. Shit.
I pull Cain’s jacket even tighter around me in hopes of hiding the grass and mud stains, but he’s seen them. And as he lifts his head, he sees Cain standing behind me. His jaw clenches. His nostrils flare.
I know that look. I know exactly what he’s thinking, and it’s not good.
“Grae, this isn’t…”
I try to stop him, but I’m too slow. In the next moment, he swings his arm. His fist lands right across Cain’s face.
Oh, shit.
Chapter Six
Cain
Fuck.
I grimace as I look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror of Allie’s hotel room.
My nose has stopped bleeding. So have my gums. I’ve managed to wash the red stains off my lips and teeth and the metallic taste of blood out of my mouth. My left nostril still looks swollen, though. Bruised. Grae Chandler might have left the bridge of my nose intact, but he still got me good.
That’s probably what stings the most. The fact that I let him hit me and the fact that I didn’t get to retaliate. I can’t remember the last time either happened. But what was I supposed to do? Hit him back while Allie was watching? No way.
I could have at least dodged. Why didn’t I? I knew Grae was going to punch me the moment he looked into my eyes. I saw him clench his fist. So why did I let him punch me? Because I felt guilty even though I didn’t do anything wrong? That doesn’t make any sense. Here’s a better explanation – because I decided that taking the punch was better than having to explain myself.
In retrospect, maybe that wasn’t one of my better decisions.
“Cain?” Allie knocks on the bathroom door. “Are you alright?”
I open it and find her already changed, wearing a robe over a pair of pajamas. Too bad. She looked good in that gown, even after it got dirty. The most sophisticated and feminine I’ve seen her, in fact. The most alluring. One of the reasons I didn’t immediately step out of the shadows in Cerena’s office was because I was enjoying watching the way it hung from her slender shoulders and hugged her hips. Maybe that’s actually why I let Grae punch me – because for a moment there, I wanted to do what he was accusing me of.
Strange. I’ve seen Allie in her boxers, in her bra and panties, and yet it was while she was wearing that gown that I couldn’t take my eyes off her.