Page 64 of Our Sweet Destiny
Chapter Thirty-Three
“I THINK YOU should stop worrying about Dad and just go for it,” Savannah said as they neared the gate.
“Is that why you picked up that quarter? So you could try to convince me without Treat and Josh around?” Rex asked.
Savannah raised her eyebrows with a smile.
“Do you have any idea how difficult this is already going to be? You know me, Savannah. When have I ever told all of you about a girl? Huh?” Rex’s voice was harsh, but not because of Savannah’s pushing him toward doing something that he knew would hurt his father. It was because Jade stood by the gate looking sexier than ever before in those boots she’d been wearing down by the ravine, with a see-through shirt that already had his blood pumping when he wasn’t even close to her yet. She looked at him with an innocent smile he was sure was meant to fool everyone else, but one glance into those blue eyes and he knew differently. He was only a handful of steps from her, and when they reached the gate, he had to put his hand on it to steady himself. If his hands weren’t busy, he’d pull her close and answer every lusty desire that pooled in her eyes.
“Hi,” she said, licking her lips.
Rex swallowed a groan and a long breath. “You look gorgeous.”
She ran her eyes up and down his body. “So do you.”
Savannah barged between them. “Jade, hi! So good to see you. Hi, Riley.”
“Hey, Savannah. Great to see you again,” Riley said.
Rex and Jade’s eyes hadn’t strayed, but he knew that if he didn’t move now, he might never let her get away from the gate.
“Riley, this is Max, and you know Treat and Josh, of course,” he said.
“I hear you’re a clothing designer now?” Josh said as they headed into the gate.
Riley and Josh talked about fashion on their way through the crowd.
Rex’s senses were heightened. He felt Jade beside him and desperately wanted to reach for her hand. He clenched his fists instead.
“How’s Hope?” she asked.
“Our father’s with her,” Savannah answered. “He’s got our numbers, and he’ll call if he needs us. She was still acting different when we left. She’s not rolling or biting or anything, but she’s not exactly calm, either. I thought that medicine would help her pain.”
“It should have,” Jade said with a worried tone.
“Look!” Max’s eyes lit up at the sight of the band on a makeshift stage, where her boss’s wife—her best friend, Kaylie Crew—stood front and center, singing into a microphone. Max turned toward a pretty, curly-haired woman and squealed.
“Danica! I didn’t know you’d be here, too!” Max embraced Danica, and Danica’s husband, Rex’s cousin Blake Carter, appeared behind her.
“Hey, cuz,” Blake said to Treat.
Treat hugged him with a wide smile. “Blake, so great to see you again.”
“Kaylie is my wife’s sister. Do you really think we’d miss this one? A chance to see my cousins and my sister-in-law sing all at once?” Blake answered.
Blake looked very much like his Braden cousins—tall, darkly handsome, and well built. Rex pulled him in close and gave him a brotherly pat on the back, then put his hand possessively on Jade’s lower back and felt her flinch beneath his touch.
“I’m sorry we missed your wedding,” Savannah said, kissing Blake’s cheek. “Josh is around somewhere. He disappeared right after we got here.”
“Blake, this is Jade.” He wanted to claim her as his. Just two simple words. Would that be so hard?My girlfriend.
“Hi, Jade,” he said. “You’re here with Rex?” His eyes darted between the two.
Savannah came to their rescue. “Jade Johnson,” she said, like that explained everything.
Blake opened his eyes wide as Rex removed his hand from Jade’s back. “Ah, got it.” He moved close to Jade. “Forbidden love?” He winked.
JADE HADN’T EXPECTED her stomach to clench the way it did, or the hurt that stirred in her heart. She didn’t want to be forbidden. She wanted to be on Rex’s arm, showing all the women who were watching the handsome Bradens that she was his, and he was hers. Instead she smiled at Rex’s cousin.
