Gracie bit her lip and glanced quickly at Cherry. “We should talk about this later, Wade.”
He heard Jonas arguing with Deanna in the other room and wanted to curse. “You’re right. We’ve got things to do here.” He could tel she was relieved, maybe a little too relieved. His chest tightened. Didn’t she like the idea of living with him? Was he moving too fast? A commotion in the other room splintered his thoughts.
Taking Gracie’s hand in his, Wade steered them out of the kitchen. “Come on. We’d better separate my sister from Jonas before she hurts him.”
“They don’t get along?”
“More like she purposely tries to rile him. She gets a kick out of driving the man crazy. I never could figure those two out.”
As they entered the living room he spotted the pair of antagonists immediately. Jonas looked ready to spit nails, and Deanna was grinning like the cat that had just spied the canary. “What’s the problem with you two this time?”
“Your sister is the devil; that’s what the problem is.”
Deanna laughed, and even Wade had to admit that it sounded just a little evil. “You just aren’t used to women tel ing you no,” she said.
Wade stepped forward, his gaze locking on Jonas. “What the hel did you ask her?”
Jonas crossed his arms over his chest and started to speak, but Deanna talked right over him. “He asked me on a date. I turned him down.”
Wade saw red. “You aren’t dating my sister, Phoenix. So forget it.”
Dean, who’d been deep in conversation on his cel phone, chose that moment to end the cal . “You have the hots for Dee?”
Jonas held his hands up, as if in surrender. It wouldn’t do him any good, because Wade was going to kil him. “Did you two miss the part where she turned me down?”
“I heard,” Wade growled, “but why’d you ask in the first place?”
Deanna stepped in front of Jonas, her protective stance shocking everyone in the room to silence. The heat in Jonas’s eyes as he stared at the back of Deanna’s head was unmistakable. Forget death, Wade would castrate him instead.
“You act like I’m some ugly, little trol .” Deanna pointed a finger first at Wade, then at Dean. “Did it ever occur to you two morons that maybe I’m a big girl and can speak for myself?”
“No,” Dean and Wade said in unison.
Deanna stepped forward, her anger palpable. “Wel , guess what? I’l date whomever I choose. Neither of you have any say in it whatsoever.”
Wade tried for calm. The last thing he wanted was Deanna with her back up. She gave stubborn new meaning when she set her mind to something. “You’re our baby sister, honey,” Wade said, his voice gentle. “Jonas knows he shouldn’t have asked you out.”
“What you real y mean is that he shouldn’t have thought of me as a woman.”
Great, now he’d hurt her feelings. Wade felt like he’d fal en down the damn rabbit hole. “That’s not the way I meant it. He’s my partner and my friend, which makes you off-limits. There’s a code here.” Wade glared at Jonas. “Tel her you know that, Phoenix.”
Jonas slumped. His entire demeanor baffled Wade. He’d never seen his friend so defeated before. “Yeah, sisters are off-limits.”
Deanna swung around. “You’re taking their side?”
Jonas reached toward her. Deanna moved out of reach. His gaze hardened. “I’m not taking anyone’s side, Deanna. But Wade’s right. If I had a sister . . . Wel , let’s just say I see your brother’s point.”
Deanna was quiet a moment; everyone in the room seemed to hold his or her breath. “Then I was right to turn you down,” she said, her voice not quite as firm as before. Wade didn’t like that. Deanna was a fighter. She’d always had the backbone to go against anyone and win. Right now she looked . . . crushed. The whole situation was bizarre as hel .
Crazier stil , Jonas paled. The man Wade had watched take down drug lords in foreign countries without so much as breaking a sweat looked visibly shaken. “Deanna, don’t.”
Deanna waved a hand in the air. “Never mind. At any rate, we’re not here to debate my personal life. We’re here to help Gracie get her apartment back in order. I say we get to it.” With that, she headed for the kitchen.
Jonas watched her until she disappeared, then he cursed and walked out the front door. Wade looked over at his brother, wondering what the hel they’d just done. Dean just shook his head, every bit as confused.
A soft, feminine hand touched his forearm. Wade knew that hand. He cherished that hand. Looking over, he saw Gracie smiling up at him.
“Sorry about the family drama. Things aren’t usual y this . . . weird.”