Christian laughed.
“He also had an attractive older sister, at whom I would stare at for hours on end when he wasn’t watching.”
“Watch it,” Christian growled.
Duncan grinned. “So, it came to pass that around the age of fourteen, we discovered novels had been written about the Vandenbrook family. Upon further research in the local library, we also discovered Christian could easily use this to his advantage. And so began his days of dating, during which he wined and dined women all over London. Well, as best he could at that tender impressionable age. He soon tired of his own sleaziness and went off to college.”
Christian closed his eyes. Leave it to Duncan to mention all the affairs he’d had. Though one couldn’t count them as affairs, if the person wasn’t married. Besides, it wasn’t as if he was sleeping around. He merely dated a lot, which he felt the need to interject to the whole group.
All expressions looked doubtful. He felt like growling.
“Our dear Christian wasn’t interested in his father’s inheritance; he wanted to make something of himself, so he decided to break off from the family and actually get a job—something, if you’ve read any of the Vandenbrook books, you’ll notice never happened. His father was appalled; his mother nearly had a stroke, but Christian was extremely successful and happy. In hopes of finally bringing Christian back into the family’s honor, his father set about to engage his eldest son to one of the most notable families in London. The girl was beautiful but stupid, causing Christian to feel the need to work late into the night so he wouldn’t have to see her. Eventually they broke it off.”
Christian laughed. “Yes, we did, thanks to you; I still owe you one, by the way.”
Duncan smiled smugly to himself. “You’re not the only one who can seduce, my friend.” Then he winked at Kessen.
“Do that again, and I’m ripping your eye out of its socket.”
Duncan backed away from him and whispered to Kessen, “Quite violent when he gets territorial, don’t you think?”
She laughed and reached over to squeeze Christian’s hand. He felt like never washing it again. When she tried to pull her hand back, he held it tightly. Her look said, “Are you really being that immature right now?” But he merely smiled and kept holding tight. He wasn’t letting her go.
She eventually gave up and relaxed her pull. Christian brought his attention back to Duncan.
“In a nutshell, our future duke’s favorite food is spaghetti. Boring, I know. His favorite color is black, because according to him, it always looks dashing. He likes novels and is guilty of reading all of the Vandenbrook series, and adores scary movies. I think he has all his teeth, and at this point believes one day tea will take over the world.”
Kessen looked stunned.
“My turn, my turn!” Nick shouted. “Our friend Kessen loves bread, bread of any kind; she likes baked bread, burnt bread, hard bread.”
“We get it, she likes bread,” Duncan interrupted.
“Fine,” Nick said. “She adores any sort of fuzzy animal but will deny it to her grave, talks way too much about nothing all that interesting, also loves Italian food—although her knowledge of it extends to SpaghettiOs and macaroni and cheese.”
“Pity,” Duncan said.
Nick nodded. “She can speak three languages, has her master’s degree, but tends to play dumb, because it was what people expected of her. She is obsessed beyond reason with the Wall Street Journal, and her dream would be to star in the Broadway musical Cats.”
“That’s a lie!” Kessen yelled, lunging for Nick’s throat. Christian pulled her back just in time.
“Okay, fine. I lied about the whole Cats thing, but it would be funny to see her in a cat suit. Plus, she fights dirty.”
“Agreed,” Christian said dryly.
Kessen laughed. “I only fight dirty because I have to. Nick gave me no choice growing up, and Christian’s too cocky for his own good. Duncan, sorry, but you’re guilty by association.”
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Duncan put his hands on his hips. “You know, after learning more about you, it’s easy to see why Christian adores you.” He threw a challenging glance towards Christian. Christian felt his fists clench.
“I’ve been told I’m the better kisser between us. How about we give it a go? Just in case. I don’t want you to think you have no options.”
Christian jumped out of his seat, barreling towards Duncan. Lucky for Duncan he was able to hide behind a now panicking Nick. “You know,” Duncan said from behind Nick. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him react that way before.”
“Most peculiar,” Nick pointed out calmly.
“Agreed.”
“Well, time for bed!” Nick clasped his hands together, while Christian was still breathing heavily in front of him “Kessen, if you’ll just follow me upstairs, I’ll make sure your room is locked so nobody sneaks in during the night.”
Christian rolled his eyes. “As if I have no self-control.”
All three of them looked at him doubtfully.
“Oh, for the love of—”
“Language!” Duncan shouted, sounding exactly as Kessen had earlier that day.
Chapter Twenty
Kessen brushed a quick kiss on Christian’s cheek. “Thanks for the date.”
On pure instinct he crushed her to his chest and kissed her firmly on the lips, as if marking his territory in front of Duncan, even though he knew Duncan valued his pretty face too much to try anything.
“Until tomorrow,” he whispered huskily.
Kessen looked dazed as Nick tried to push her up the stairs.
“Shoot, Christian, you didn’t have to kiss her senseless. She probably doesn’t even know where her room is,” Nick grumbled as he led her away.
“You know I would never take advantage of her, right?” Duncan asked casually.
Christian fell silent for a moment. “Yes, I know I can trust you.”
“But, if for any reason you back out of this, you should know I’m sweeping in for the kill. She’s too much of a catch to let go. And if you let her go, my friend, you are a complete fool.”
Duncan slapped his back and ran up the stairs, leaving Christian alone in his thoughts. If he was being honest with himself, that was the last place he wanted to be. Where he really wanted to be was in Kessen’s room, leaving marks of his kisses all over her body.
He shuddered at the thought. The wisest course of action would be to take a cold shower, especially since he had six lonely nights ahead of him.
****
Kessen did, in fact, feel dazed as Nick graciously led her into her large bedroom at the end of the hallway. She collapsed onto her bed with a smile bigger than Texas plastered across her face.
“So, you love him, then?” Nick asked it in such a way, it was almost as if they were discussing the weather.
She sat up. “What would make you say that?”
Nick chuckled. “Oh, Kessen, where to begin? The kissing, the teasing, the flirting—it’s like I’m back in middle school with you all over again.”
“Except you don’t have to fight off the boys anymore, Nick.”
“Don’t I, though?” His expression turned serious as he walked across the room with his hands in his hair. “I’ve never been good at letting you grow up.”
“Are you going to turn all serious and sentimental on me?”
He flashed a wicked grin. “Never. But you’re like a sister to me. Heck, you are my sister; as much as I tease you two, I really do want you to be happy. Even if it does mean that by protecting you from yourself, I am in fact taking my life into my own hands.”
“What do you mean?”
Nick’s gaze fell onto a sharp letter opener in the corner of the room. Oh, she mouthed, then looked down at her hands and laughed.
Nick laughed. “Remember the chocolate chip cookie incident?”
Her stomach coiled just thinking about it. “How could I forget?”
Nick
sat down next to her and sighed. “Your mom said you couldn’t have any more cookies, so you took it upon yourself to prove her wrong and eat the entire bag.”
“I threw up for hours.”
“I held your hair.”
“You’re a good friend.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I know. Not many friends would do that for each other.”
Nick grabbed her hand and sighed. Honestly, it was freaking Kessen out a bit. It was rare she saw the façade of “everything’s funny and nothing is serious” Nick fall. It wasn’t that he was faking it; he just did an excellent job of shielding his emotions. It was his one fault, or so Sammy said.
“I’m not letting you marry him if he doesn’t love you back,” he said almost in a whisper. Kessen felt her hand tense underneath his grasp. “It wouldn’t be fair; I would never forgive myself if I didn’t stop you from being stuck in a loveless marriage. You deserve so much more.”
“Then why did you come?” she asked.
“I came to offer my support … and to see for myself what was truly happening over here. Honestly, I could have supported a marriage based on mutual understanding, almost as if it were a business deal. I could handle that. But a marriage where one of you is head over heels and the other doesn’t even care? I couldn’t agree to letting you do that.”
Kessen nodded in understanding. A business transaction was one thing; a heart being involved was quite another. “If you worry about Christian falling in love with me, you’re going to age prematurely, and I know how you feel about wrinkles.” She nudged him in the side.
His gaze penetrated to the depths of her soul. “What makes you think I’m more worried about you than Christian? I told you the chocolate chip cookie story for a reason. You tend to get greedy when you want something; it’s what makes you a good businesswoman. It can also get you into trouble. Don’t make this a competition. If you do, only one of you can come out a winner. And that, my dear, will put an end to your nuptials for sure.”
“What exactly are you saying?” she asked, still confused.
He took an agonizingly long breath. “Kessen, I’ve never met a man more perfect for you in my entire life. If you screw this up, you’re an idiot.”
She punched him in the arm. “Then what was with all the talk about a loveless marriage and you being worried and stuff?”
He shrugged. “I wanted a reaction; instead you stared into space as if to give everything great thought. Seriously, you could do without thinking for a while, especially where Christian is concerned.”
Nick kissed her on the forehead while simultaneously slapping her shoulder. “See you later, kiddo!”
The door closed behind him, and Kessen was alone with her thoughts yet again. Nick was trying to lure her into saying she loved Christian, but why? What was the big deal? They were already getting married; they had the paparazzi and her father’s product launch to thank for that. Instead of mulling it over more, she took Nick’s advice and cleared her head of all thoughts.
She changed into her bedclothes and drifted off to sleep, and her last conscious thought was that Nick hadn’t locked her door.
****
A knocking penetrated Kessen’s dream, which upset her mainly because it was filled with Christian’s perfect face—fallen angel that he was. She mumbled a Spanish swear word before padding to the door.
Just as she reached for the knob, it opened, revealing Christian in only his pajama pants. It was like a gift from the sleep gods. She blinked a few times, just in case she was still dreaming.
“What time is it?” she finally asked, when he did nothing but continue to stare.
He shook his head. “Um, I don’t know. Is it weird that I had to see you?”
She wanted to scream no then wrap her body sinfully around his, but instead she managed to shrug nonchalantly as if it was a normal occurrence for devastatingly handsome men to visit her bedroom in the wee hours of the night.
“We didn’t have enough time. No. We don’t have enough time, I mean…” He turned around towards the large fireplace and began building a fire.
“What I mean is…” He cursed. “Sorry, I just can’t seem to articulate what I want to say in a way that sounds remotely smooth and calculated.”
Kessen giggled and put her hand over her mouth when he shot her a menacing glare. “You were saying.”
Christian’s eyes turned black as he walked slowly to where she stood, pinning her between his body and the wall. Her only option would be to pretend to faint and hope she didn’t get a concussion in the process. She decided to stand.
“I want us to be friends,” he said against her face.
She suddenly felt ill. “So you don’t…” It was hard to finish a sentence containing the most devastating blow she had ever received from the opposite sex.
“No, no, no!” he yelled, then kissed her furiously on the mouth and spoke against her lips. “It’s not like that. I want—dear Kessen, you have no idea how much I want more than that. But I want more of you; I want to know you like Nick knows you. To be your friend and more. I want all of it. I don’t think I would ever be happy with just one part of you.”
It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her in her entire life. It was easy to throw compliments at women; it was quite another thing to want her soul as well.
And then his lips were urgently pressed against hers. Here we go again, she thought, as she wrapped herself as tightly around his body as she could.
“Kessen—” he mumbled against her hair and jaw.
She felt somehow braver in the nightlight and let her tongue trail down his chin; he shuddered in response, opening her mouth to his tongue yet again. Their mouths danced as if they’d never kissed another soul but each other.
Their bodies matched a perfect rhythm of give and take until both of them were breathless.
“Ahem.” A voice penetrated their passionate haze.
Kessen, suddenly mortified, clung to Christian for support, thinking his body would hopefully shadow her own. Actually, she just wanted to throw him under the bus so she could save herself.
“What have we here?” It was Nick’s voice. She would bet her life on it. On second thought, maybe just Nick’s life.
Christian swore under his breath so only Kessen could hear. “I, uh—”
“He sleep-walks!” Kessen blurted.
Christian’s eyes widened. “Um, yes, and I tend to—”
“You tend to attack innocent women in your sleep?” Nick finished.
Kessen fake laughed and punched Christian playfully in the arm. “Ha! You know what they say.”
Nick looked at her. “Oh, this should be good.”
She didn’t have time to respond before the door burst open again. “Lies! All of it lies!” It was Duncan, and he was dressed in all black. Actually, Nick was in all black too. What were they planning on doing? Compromising them more?
“What’s a lie?” Christian asked innocently as he ground his teeth together.
“I will swear on my family inheritance, which is substantial, by the way,” Duncan winked at Kessen meaningfully, “that Christian does not, nor has he ever, sleep-walked.”
Christian swore.
Nick laughed.
Kessen gulped.
“Furthermore,” Duncan said, stepping forward, “I find it odd he would be in this young lady’s room at such a late hour. Do you really have such a hard time keeping your hands to yourself, young man?”
“Duncan, we’re the same age. We—”
“Not a peep out of you!” Nick said, pointing his finger at Christian. “And you, young lady!” Nick turned towards Kessen. “For shame! You’re just lucky your father wasn’t here.”
Both Duncan and Nick closed their eyes and shook their heads.
“It was just kissing!” Kessen said, then wished she wouldn’t have, considering they were all adults, and it was a boldfaced lie.
“He’s naked!” Nick yelled.
Duncan he
ld up a robe in mock disdain. “Cover yourself this instant!”
Christian took the robe. “I’m wearing pants.”
Nick started clapping. “Good for you! Just keep them on, will you?”
Duncan laughed.
Christian growled, and Kessen turned redder, if it was possible.
“We were testing you two,” Nick informed them.
“And you failed,” Duncan agreed, crossing his arms.
“I’ll stand watch here,” Nick whispered to Duncan. “But you need to go to the horny high schooler’s room, so he doesn’t escape again.”
“Yes, brilliant,” Duncan agreed.
“High schooler?” Kessen asked dumbly.
“Oh, we were referring to him.” Nick threw a disapproving glance Christian’s way.
“Now we are all settled, shall we sleep?” Duncan asked.
Christian smirked and winked at Kessen just as the boys began another lively discussion on door locks. She blushed and smiled back, squeezing his hand.
“Tomorrow,” she said quietly. He nodded his head and left, but not before punching Duncan hard in the shoulder.
Nick shook his head, but it was easy to see he was in good humor. The little rat set them up on purpose. No matter, she would get her revenge on him someday. He saluted her and turned on his heel to leave the room. She heard the lock turn and laughed until she managed to fall into a deep sleep.
****
Christian however, was not sleeping. Who could sleep after a day or even a night like that? If this was what he had to look forward to for the rest of his life, he couldn’t sign up fast enough. His body was burning as if on fire, and his mind was reeling with every single possibility of what could have happened with Kessen had Nick and Duncan not shown up with guns firing, literally.
How they managed to find the paintball guns Christian himself had so dutifully put under lock and key, he would never know.
He believed he loved her, but a girl like that would panic if he said anything. She would most likely hop on the first plane back to Colorado if he confessed his love after only a few days of knowing her. But he knew—he knew he was falling hard. After all, he had dated a lot of women, and none of those times had felt anything like this.