Great. More isolated time with her. If only he’d kept his mouth shut. Reyes plastered on an insincere smile. If she knew she’d irked him, she’d only dig in more. “No problem.”
His lack of enthusiasm made Sterling laugh out loud. “You are so transparent, you big fraud.” When he started around to open her door, she made a sound of derision and hauled herself up into the truck.
Stopping to stare at her, Reyes propped his fists on his hips. “What if I’d planned to take my bike?” He hadn’t had the Harley out recently. The day was cool, but the sun was bright.
Already jumping back out of the truck, Sterling said, “Awesome. Let’s do it.”
Figured she’d like that idea. Cade would kick his ass for real if he had Sterling strapped around him on the drive to his father’s place. For such a calm, in-control guy, his brother was ridiculously territorial with his wife. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Spoilsport.” Again she jumped easily into the truck. As he pulled out of the driveway, she added, “Reyes has a girlfriend,” in a low and annoying singsong voice.
The truth was, he loved his sister-in-law, most especially because she had brought Cade back into the family. His big brother had avoided that duty by joining the army rangers. When he medically retired with a bad knee from too many jumps out of moving planes, he’d reluctantly returned to the family...yet an emotional distance had remained.
From the start, Cade had bucked their father’s iron will. He wanted to choose his own destiny, not fall in line with his father’s plans.
When he met Sterling, though, he got a whole new perspective on what family meant, mostly because she didn’t have one and therefore appreciated his.
They’d all pulled together to get her bacon out of the fire. Of course, that hadn’t stopped Reyes from teasing her mercilessly. He’d at first considered her a pushy broad who’d played at being a badass. Hadn’t taken him long to realize she wasn’t playing.
The lady had endless stamina, a backbone of steel, a streak of bravery a mile wide and endless determination to learn. He liked her. More than that, he respected her.
Maybe he should tell her that to end their not-so-subtle war.
Nah. Pretty sure she enjoyed it as much as he did. Or at least, as much as he did when he wasn’t worried for Kennedy.
“Not denying it, huh?”
Reyes took his sunglasses from the visor and slipped them on. “What’s that? Did you say something?”
Sterling grinned. She was a tall, bold woman with strong features, a sturdy, rockin’ body, and a lack of fashion sense. When she smiled? Downright beautiful.
“You like her. Admit it.”
“I like her.” He more than liked her. Not that he’d do anything about it.
“Wow.” Clearly Sterling hadn’t expected that reply. “So how does she feel about you?”
It occurred to him that his sister-in-law might make a good sounding board. She’d been through a devastating experience similar to what Kennedy had endured. The big difference was that Sterling appeared to bounce back. Like a boxer, she refused to show weakness in any way. Long before she’d met Cade, she’d had some understandable hang-ups concerning sex—but she’d forged onward, involving herself in sexual situations until she no longer froze, for the sole purpose of ensuring she wouldn’t cower when threatened. Her whole focus had been on helping others, and she knew she couldn’t do that if the threat of sex left her emotionally paralyzed.
Because of her resolve, she’d learned to “get through it” without anyone realizing how she disliked the whole physical thing.
Now with Cade... The two of them could barely keep their hands off each other. Sterling had gone from tolerating sex to wallowing in the pleasure of it.
Which meant his brother did a fair amount of smiling these days.
“Trust me,” Sterling said, “if it takes that much thought trying to figure it out, she’s not into you. Women aren’t that subtle.”
Never a dull moment with his prickly sister-in-law. She had a razor-sharp wit that he couldn’t help admiring. “I could use some advice.”
Slapping a hand over her heart, Sterling pretended to swoon back against the door.
“Knock it off. I’m serious.”
As if she didn’t believe her ears, she said, “You want my advice?”
Damn, couldn’t she ever let up? “Never mind. It was a bad idea.”
“No way, now I want to hear this. Behold, a serious woman. Tell me what’s troubling you. I’m all ears.”
The humor caught him off guard, making him snicker. “I don’t know how Cade tolerates your sarcasm.”
“He doesn’t earn it, that’s how.” Shifting to better face him, she grew serious. “Come on, give. All ribbing aside, you’re my brother now and I care about you. I’ll help if I can.”
Yeah, that was the sister-in-law he loved. She could charge into danger with the best of them, and she also had a heart of gold. “You know what Kennedy went through.”
“Yeah. Hope the dick who did that to her is buried deep.”
One guy was. The other? He didn’t know. “She’s...guarded still.”
Plainspoken as always, Sterling asked, “You mean about sex? With you?”
Reyes frowned. “You’re jumping the gun.”
“So you don’t mean sex?”
Why in the world had he thought she’d be subtle about the topic? “Damn it, will you let me talk?”
She pretended to zip her lips.
After shooting her a quelling glance, she remained silent and waiting, and Reyes released a deep breath. “Sex between us hasn’t come up. I’m not an idiot where women are concerned. I pick up on stuff. Kennedy’s not into it, not just with me, but I think with anyone. I think she’s...” Not damaged. Never that. “I don’t think she’s given sex a thought since she got away.”
“Can I speak now?”
Why not? “Have at it.”
“Kennedy obviously doesn’t know what she’s missing. In her mind, sex is still all about humiliation, lack of choices and pain—basically the total opposite of fun. Given what she’s been through, she’s probably not looking to change that.”
“You did.”
“Yeah, well, you know I can’t stand being cowed by anyone or anything. To me, sex was a handicap to overcome.”
“And you managed that.” Could Kennedy?