The Vincent Brothers 2 (2 page)

More catcalls and whistles started. Beau was smiling at her now like she was the most fascinating person in the world. That was it for me. I had to get out of here.

              “Let’s go get something to eat, I’m starved,” Ethan suggested and Jake North agreed.

              “You drive,” Ethan called out and climbed into the passenger seat of my truck. Without looking back at Ash and Beau, I walked around my truck and climbed in. If he hauled her off to his truck, I’d lose it. Leaving was the best idea.

Lana

             
Jewel flirted outrageously with the bartender. I knew her game and was willing to bet he did too. The brilliant scheme to flash cleavage and bat eyelashes while giggling wasn’t the most original idea ever concocted. Why she couldn’t just be happy with her soda while we waited on a table was beyond me. The ten-hour road trip I’d been on with her from Alpharetta, Georgia to south Alabama was my quota on quality time spent with my childhood friend and next-door neighbor. Jewel and I had grown up and become two completely different people but that bond from our childhood had somehow kept us from growing apart. However, Jewel could only be endured in small doses.

              “Come on Lana, flash him a view of those fabulous boobs you’ve finally decided to share with the world,” Jewel whispered as her gaze stayed on the young guy fixing drinks for another customer. Shaking my head at her ridiculous request, I picked up my soda and took a sip. I was happy with my soda. If she wanted to make a fool out of herself in hopes of getting a mixed drink, then fine, but I wasn’t about to join in. The last thing I needed was to get caught with an alcoholic drink only thirty minutes away from my aunt and uncle’s house. My uncle was a Baptist preacher and if he found out I’d been drinking alcohol, there was no way he’d let me stay with him and his family for the summer.

              “You’re such a party pooper, Lana,” Jewel whined and glared at my drink like it was offensive.

              I didn’t really care if she was upset at this point. I just wanted to get some dinner and then get to my aunt and uncle’s. The sight of Jewel’s taillights driving away was going to be a welcome event.

              “I don’t get you, Lana. You go and get all gorgeous and finally decide to flaunt what your Momma... Okay maybe not your Momma because God knows she ain’t real attractive... How about flaunt what luck must have given you and for what? Nothing! That’s what! You buy yourself a new, sexy, cute wardrobe and finally get a hairstyle to show off that head of hair of yours but you
never
flirt. It’s as if you did this for yourself and that’s just dumb. Guys notice you now Lana. They turn their heads but you just ignore them.”

              This was a familiar tirade of hers. It drove her nuts that I didn’t throw myself at any boy that looked my way. I wasn’t about to tell her the reason why. That kind of information would make Jewel dangerous. She’d find a way to ruin everything. She wouldn’t mean to, of course, but she would. Her loud mouth always seemed to bring a world of trouble with it.

              “I’ve told you that I’m just not interested in dating right now. We just graduated. I want a summer to prepare for college in the fall, enjoy being away from my insane mother and just—relax.”

              Jewel sighed and bent her head down to nibble on her straw while her eyes zeroed in on the poor bartender who had to be ready for us to be seated at a table.

              “You can still come with me, you know. Skip this living with the preacher stuff and come party all summer at the beach. Corey would love you to join us. Her step-father’s condo has three bedrooms and a killer view of the ocean.”

              A summer hanging out with drunk Jewel and friends was not appealing, at all. I had my plans and so far everything I’d put into motion was running smoothly. However, I couldn’t help but be nervous about the next step. It was the most crucial.

              Having my naturally red hair darkened to a deep copper and styled attractively instead of pulled back in a braid or ponytail had been step-one. The darker red color had made my pale skin seem almost delicate. Then the cleaning out of my closet had been the next move. I’d bagged up every single piece of clothing I owned and dropped them off at the local Goodwill. My mother had been horrified but after she’d seen the clothing style I intended to replace it with, she’d been very supportive. Unlike most mothers, my mother wanted to see me in shorts that showed off almost all of my legs and tight tops that emphasized my C cup boobs.

              Jewel had wanted to teach me how to apply makeup but I’d kindly refused and went to the Clinique counter at Macy’s and had them teach me, and then I’d bought everything they’d used. Although I’d never been one for makeup I had to agree that it did startling things to my eyes. I’d closed my bedroom door and stared at myself in fascination for hours after they’d put makeup on me.

              Convincing my mother to let me stay the summer with my aunt and uncle had been a little more difficult. My cousin, Ashton, had helped tremendously with this part. She’d talked to her mother who in return talked to mine. Our mothers are sisters and once my aunt convinced my mother that Ashton truly wanted me to come spend our last summer before college together, I’d been so excited I’d momentarily forgotten about the last step in the plan. The reason why I’d made myself moderately attractive and begged to come stay the summer with my cousin. The goal sounded so simple but when I allowed myself to dwell on it then it became so incredibly complicated. Getting a boy to fall head-over-heels in love with you isn’t easy. Especially when he’s been in love with your cousin for as long as you can remember.

Chapter Two

Sawyer

             
“You’ve got to curb the temper, man. If anyone could take on Beau—it would be you but you’d still walk away beat up,” Ethan announced as I pulled out onto the country road from the dirt road that led back to the field parties.

              “It’s been six months, bro. How long you gonna be pissed over this?” Jake asked from the backseat.

              Why was this any of their business? Neither one of them knew what a committed relationship was like. They’d both been through so many girls during our four years of high school I couldn’t even name them all. Explaining to them that I’d planned my life with Ashton as the center from the time I was twelve years old wasn’t exactly easy. So instead, I leaned forward and turned on the radio to drown out any more of their interrogation.

              “You can turn on music all you want but the fact is you got to let this go. He’s your cousin and your best friend. A chick can’t come between that. Not for long.” Ethan was watching me from the passenger seat. I knew he was waiting on a response from me but I didn’t give him one. His comment about Beau being my cousin was reminder enough that no one really knew me, except Beau and Ash. He wasn’t my cousin. He was my brother but once Beau found out the truth from his mother, he’d decided to keep that information locked away where it’d been his whole life. He didn’t want to claim my dad as his own and I couldn’t really blame him. It wasn’t like my dad had ever done anything to help Beau’s home situation growing up. Beau held nothing but disdain for my father, our father. He chose to remember our father’s brother as his dad. He’d been the only dad Beau had ever known. Even though he’d died when Beau was in first grade, he’d been a fond memory for Beau—unlike his real father.

              “Hey! You passed Hank’s,” Ethan announced, pointing his finger toward the burger place we normally went to eat.

              “Not going to Hank’s,” was my only response. They were the ones who jumped in my truck. If they didn’t like my need to get out of Grove then they could walk back to town when we got to where I was headed.

              “You leaving Grove?” Jake asked.

              “Yep.”

              Ethan sighed and leaned back in the seat, “We may end up in Florida before he stops this damn truck.”

              “Florida? I’m starving and a cheeseburger from Hank’s would’ve fixed that,” Jake grumbled.

              Slowing down the truck, I pulled over and glanced back at Jake, “You’re welcome to get out and walk back.”

              His eyes widened and he slowly shook his head. “No man, that’s okay. I’m good.”

              I pulled back onto the road and ignored the exchange between the guys. They both thought I was nursing a broken-heart. Well, they were right.

              No one said another word until I pulled the truck into the parking lot of Wings. I’d driven about twenty miles south to the next town big enough for decent restaurants.

              “You should’ve told me you were headed to Wings. I’d have shut up,” Jake made an excited whoop as he jerked open the backdoor of the truck and jumped out.

              This was somewhere I’d never eaten with Ash. There weren’t many places that I didn’t have a memory of her so my choices had been limited. Tonight, I needed to get my mind off her and focus on my future—or at least my summer.

              “I’m gonna eat my weight in some wings,” Ethan said in reply to Jake’s excitement over my choice of restaurant. At least I’d made them happy. Not that it mattered.

              Opening the door, I went inside and stopped at the hostess stand. A tall girl with long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail smiled up at me with an appreciative gleam in her eye that I was used to. It had been habit for me to ignore that look in other girls’ eyes for so long that I automatically brushed it off. Tonight, I wasn’t going to do that. It was time I started flirting back.

              I flashed a grin that I knew was pretty damn impressive because it was one Ashton always commented on. “Three please,” I told her and watched as her brown eyes got bigger and she blinked several times. She wasn’t exceptionally pretty but seeing her get all flustered was a nice balm to my ego.

              “Oh...um... okay... yes... uh,” she stammered, reaching for the menus and instead knocking them to the floor.

              I bent down beside her to help pick them up.

              “I’m sorry. I’m not normally so clumsy,” she explained with two bright red splotches of color staining her cheeks.

              “So, it’s just me then?” I teased.

              A nervous giggle erupted from her and I realized she’d never do. I didn’t like giggles. Ash wasn’t a giggler.

              Handing her the menus, I stood back up and pointedly shifted my attention elsewhere. I didn’t need to flirt with her anymore. She’d get the wrong idea.

              “Okay, um, this way,” I heard her say. Both Ethan and Jake quickly fell in behind her. I started to follow when my gaze stopped its uninterested appraisal of the bar to focus in on a female I would happily let giggle all she wanted.

              Auburn hair hung down her back and curled on the ends. Two very long legs were bare and crossed as she sat on the barstool and a silver backless high-heeled sandal dangled off the toe of a very dainty foot. I hadn’t seen the face of this one yet but from the back, she was a head turner. Major potential.

              “You coming or what?” Jake yelled but I didn’t turn my head to see how far they’d gone or where they were being seated. Instead, I stood frozen watching her. Jake’s loud voice caught her attention and she turned in her seat and glanced over her shoulder toward him. The creamy smooth complexion was dotted with freckles. Normally, I wasn’t a fan of a lot of freckles but the bedroom look to her green eyes and full, almost unreal, looking lips made it all work. She started to turn back around after seeing what the yelling had been about when she froze and her eyes locked with mine.

              Surprise, pleasure, and anxiety all flittered across her face as she studied me. I was fascinated. The bartender came up behind her and said something and she glanced back at him.

              “Sawyer, man, come on,” Ethan called out this time. Tearing my gaze off the redhead, I made my way toward the table where the hostess was standing with our menus.

              “Sawyer, wait,” a familiar voice stopped me in my tracks. Disbelief settled over me as I turned back around to see the pretty redhead making her way toward me. A short denim skirt stopped several inches above her knees as I made my way up her body appreciating the view. The white top she was wearing tied at her waist in some sort of loose knot and small glimpses of flat smooth stomach peeked out as she moved. Finally, I managed to get my focus off the impressive cleavage the shirt displayed to see her face. A small smile tugged on those ridiculously plump lips and recognition dawned on me.

             
No fucking way
.

              “Lana?” The incredulity in my voice was unmistakable. The last person I’d expected to see was Ashton’s cousin. The fact she was the girl I’d been checking out was even more shocking.

              “Sawyer,” she replied with a full grin on her face.

              “What’re you doing here?” I asked, thinking more along the lines of
what the hell happened to you
? She looked nothing like the girl I’d seen about seven or so months ago. That girl had been sweet, prim, and proper. This one in front of me was a walking sexual fantasy.

              “Eating,” she quipped and I realized I was smiling. A real smile, not a forced one, for the first time in months.

              “Well, yeah, I kind of gathered that. I meant what are you doing here, in south Alabama?” She pressed her lips together and then her tongue peeked out and nervously licked them. Hmmm... I wouldn’t mind tasting those lips either.

              “I’m staying with Ashton this summer. My friend is headed to the beach so she’s dropping me off at Ash’s after we eat.”