smile for him was different. This time it was wary, as if she was waiting for some kind of rejection, or scolding, and he couldn’t help but wonder why.
He’d been friendly despite her initial dislike of him, and he was obviously interested in spending time with her. Hell, except for Liam, his whole family got to witness that shameless display, and surprisingly, he didn’t even care. What he did care about was finding out why Stacey seemed to want nothing to do with him.
They all stood in the lobby and watched as her car rolled past the windows, and then the teasing began.
“Well, that was…interesting,” Elle laughed.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Lacey said, but she wasn’t laughing. At least, not the same way Elle was. “We like this girl, Lael. We like her a lot, so don’t you dare mess this up for us.”
“I’m not going to mess up anything,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“You’d better not,” Lacey growled.
“Okay,” Elle said, pushing Lacey down the hallway. “We’ve got work to do.”
Lael looked at Levi, waiting for whatever jab his brother wanted to throw. The man had been pretty quiet during the whole exchange, but that wasn’t unusual for Levi. His brother usually accessed everything before weighing in.
“So…you had a proposition for me?”
“Yeah, never mind about that,” Lael said. “At least for now.”
“Whatever you say, little brother,” Levi laughed.
Lael shook his head and started walking toward the kitchen with Levi on his heels. The other man didn’t say anything else, but he knew that it wouldn’t last. As soon as they all gathered around the dinner table, Liam would also know all the details about his encounter with the new girl.
Except how her smile had fallen both times she’d looked at him. That detail was for him alone, and no matter what happened between him and Stacey, he wouldn’t share that information with any of his siblings.
3
Stacey shut off the engine to her car and took a deep breath. Out of the entire Rivers family, Lael was the only one she didn’t like.
Okay, that wasn’t entirely true.
Unlike his brothers who were merely good-looking, Lael was drop-dead gorgeous. He wasn’t as tall as the other two men, but he still had a good five inches on her, and his body was a literal work of art.
Sculpted muscles covered every inch of his frame, and even the clothes he wore couldn’t hide the fact that he was hard everywhere. Part of his bicep muscles had been peeking out from the sleeve of his shirt, and down below, his calves were rock-solid even though he’d been standing still. The man even had sexy feet, and though his clothes were loose, she knew they were probably hiding six-pack abs and firm, corded thighs.
Damn it!
She didn’t want to like him. Didn’t want to think about what it would be like to have him kiss her—or fuck her—but she couldn’t help it. She shifted in her seat thinking about his hard body covering hers, and she knew she was in trouble.
The man was perfect—flawless—and she didn’t do perfect anymore.
She hated perfect.
At least that’s what she kept telling herself as she exited her car and crossed the street toward the beach. The swimming area was full of people again—perfect people—and one glance at the equipment shed had her fidgeting again.
She smoothed a hand down her shirt, and steeled her resolve.
Usually, it didn’t matter how attracted she was to a man because they never gave her a second look, but Lael had been different. He’d not only looked, but he’d kept on looking, eventually causing her to fidget, and that’s what she needed to remember.
The man might be gorgeous, and he might have shown a spark of interest, but deep down, he was no different than any other man. Meeting him at the shed was a way for him to rub his popularity in her face, and when the opportunity arose, he would quietly humiliate her in front of everyone.
Stacey took a deep, steadying breath and seriously thought about running. Walking up to the shack while it was filled with women drooling all over Lael was already a form of humiliation, and she desperately wished she was meeting up with Lacey or Elle instead of their brother.
At that thought, she started to move.
No matter where she went, there was always going to be someone. One brother, or one sister, or one employee…or whoever. There was always going to be someone who thought she was fair game because of