Page 65 of Our Sweet Destiny
“I guess you could say that,” she managed.
Rex looked at her with a silent apology in his warm gaze, but even that didn’t lessen the pain she felt, or the way she felt dirty for being hidden.
She spotted Riley dancing with Josh, and jealousy spiked something akin to anger within her.
“Excuse me. I’m going to grab a drink,” she said, wanting to get away before she said or did something stupid.
“I’ll come with you,” Rex offered.
“No. Stay here; visit with your family. I’ll be back.” She felt Rex’s hot stare on her back as she made her way to the concession stand.
“SORRY, MAN,” BLAKE said to Rex. “I didn’t mean to upset her.”
“It wasn’t you,” Rex said. “It’s the whole family feud thing. There’s no way to rectify it and…”
“And you want to be with Jade. I get it. When I met Danica, she was my therapist. Talk about forbidden.” Blake turned and looked at Danica. “Best apple I’ve ever eaten.”
Rex shot a glance at the concession stand, where Jade was laughing with Jimmy Palen, who owned a large auto-repair and body shop in town. Jimmy leaned against the edge of the concession stand, one hand grasping a beer bottle. Rex couldn’t see his green eyes, but he’d bet they were focused on Jade’s chest.
Jade threw her head back with a laugh, and Jimmy reached out and touched her arm. In the next breath, they were heading toward the dance floor.
“Wanna dance with me, big brother?” Savannah knew how to create a distraction. She wasn’t one to wear Western style clothing. Instead she had on tight jeans and a black spaghetti-strap blouse. The contrast of the black against her radiant auburn hair was stunning, and her eyes danced with happiness—or a devious plan. Rex wasn’t sure which.
“No, thanks,” he said.
“Oh, I think you do.” She took his arm and dragged him onto the dance floor.
At six foot three, he was not an easy man to drag, but his feet would not obey his mind. He wanted to stay put and stew—or stalk—Jimmy and Jade. The last thing he wanted to do was dance with his sister, but there he was, on the dance floor, moving to the music.
“Look at you go,” Max said as she and Treat sidled up beside them. Danica and Blake were right behind them.
Rex fixated on Jimmy and Jade. His body might not want to cooperate, but his head was right in the game and getting angrier by the second, watching Jade’s hips sway beneath Jimmy’s hungry gaze. Oh yeah, he could see the jerk’s eyes now, and they hadn’t left her cleavage once since they’d begun dancing.
“Rex, you okay? They’re just dancing.” Savannah touched his biceps, and he was so tense that he instinctively flexed.
He barely registered her next comment beyond the blood thundering in his ears.
“Treat? We might have a problem.”
“Rex, we can’t have any trouble here,” Treat said in a low, firm voice beside his ear.
“Oh, don’t worry, big brother. I’m not about to make any trouble.”I’m just going to claim my woman.
Jade shifted her eyes to his, and in that brief glance, he saw hurt so deep it was like she reached into his gut, grabbed his organs, and twisted. How could he have not recognized how much she’d be hurt by the same things that angered him? This situation was untenable, and even as Treat put a stabilizing hand on his shoulder, Rex knew there was no way that he’d be the cause of any more of her pain. This madness had to stop.
He looked into his brother’s eyes and asked, “Could anything have kept you from Max?” It wasn’t a challenge; it was a question—one to which Rex already knew the answer. Before Treat could answer, he asked Blake, “Would you have let anyone come between you and Danica?”
“Not on your life,” Blake said, pulling Danica close and wrapping his fingers beneath her wild, dark curls.
Rex ran his eyes over his family’s faces. Their worry was quieted by their support for him. Rex nodded, coupling their strength with his.
“I’m done with this. Dad’s not here, and her parents aren’t here. Even if they were, I can’t live a lie. It’s not who I am. It’s time to end this crap.”
Rex took a determined step forward and was pulled back by Treat’s strong grip on his arm.
“The minute you do this, you have to be ready for the fallout back home,” Treat warned.
Rex’s eyes didn’t waver from Jade.
