“Bryan,” I whisper when the others leave the room. “I can’t stay here. This is just…” I shake my head. “It’s crazy. You’re a Kincaid.”
“And you’re a Turdsky.” He grins. “I think that’s pretty fuckin’ funny.”
“We’re business associates. Barely.” My voice cracks. “Our families do not get along. I thought your cousin was a total bitch just yesterday, and now you want me to eat food she cooks.”
“But she’s not a bitch,” he whispers. His lips come closer. Closer. “She’s a sweetheart, and she’ll share the bacon with you. There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t sit in on this meeting. You’re not our enemy, Madilyn.”
It feels like I am.
“Come on.” He closes the space between us, but instead of pressing a kiss to my lips, he diverts and delivers it to the very center of my forehead.
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.
My heart tumbles as he lowers me back to my feet, as he throws his arm over my shoulders, then as he pulls me in so tight that he practically chokes off my air. But he drags us toward the kitchen and stops at the doorway until the fighters inside turn back to us.
“Maddi would love to join us for breakfast. Also, we didn’t actually fuck. I was playing.”
“Struck out.” Evie pours milk into a pancake batter bottle, studies the line of liquid with one eye as it rises. Then when she has enough, she pops the lid back on the bottle and slams it against the counter with a loud crash. “Tomorrow’s a new day, Bry.”
“You guys know who she is?” He drags me to the stool beside where Mac sits, plops himself down like it’s not rude for him to take the last seat, but then his hands rest around my hips as he pulls me down to sit on his thigh.
I’m sitting on Bryan Kincaid’s fucking leg in front of his family. He’s shirtless. And no one is saying a damn thing!
“Uhh…” Evie looks at me with narrowed brows. “She’s Madilyn Tosky of Monaco Motors.”
“Monaco Auto,” I instinctually pop out.
It’s habit. It’s deeply ingrained family pride.
“Yeah.” She waves a hand in my direction and continues shaking the pancake mix. “That.” Then she looks to Bry. “Did you forget? Because that’s not very chivalrous.”
“No,” he chuckles. “I mean, do you know who she is, beneath the business suit?”
“The ink?”
“No!” He laughs. “Tosky.” He squeezes me tighter, and I guess he just doesn’t give a damn about appearances, because he rests his chin on my shoulder. “She’s Madilyn Tosky. As in, the granddaughter of the douchebag that Grandma was supposed to marry.”
“That douchebag,” I snap, “is my grandfather.”
“That’s literally what I just said.” He huffs, and bounces me when his chest vibrates with laughter. “She’s third generation Turdsky, guys.”
“I knew.” Bean sits at the end of the counter and smiles for me. It’s not a wild grin, not teasing, not taunting. It’s just… friendly. “Grandma told the story of Shane Tosky and Grandpa Bry ages ago.”
Evie pops the cap off the now-shaken pancake batter and steps to the stove. “That was years ago. Back when Ben still had cooties.”
Bry chuckles. “She’s that guy’s direct descendent.”
“In another universe,” Mac ponders, studying me and Bry, “If Nelly chose Shane and not Bry, that would make you guys…” he closes one eye, as though it helps him think. “Cousins?”
I jolt back with a scowl. “Gross.”
“We wouldn’t be anything,” Bry snickers. “If she chose Turdsky, then we wouldn’t exist. The Kincaid genes are strong in me.” He lifts his right arm, flexes his bicep right by the side of my head.
Evie scoffs, and the guys roll their eyes. But I… well, I develop a crush on his arms, which only intensifies when he wraps that arm back around my belly and rests his palm on my opposite ribs.
He’s not just resting near me. Not just beside me. He’s wrapping himself around me entirely. And though I was raised to reject this kind of behavior, I can’t walk away. I can’t insist he stop. I just…
Fuck.
“If Grandma lost her ever-loving mind and chose the wrong guy, then we wouldn’t exist,” he reasons. “So…” He looks up to the ceiling. “Nice score, Grandpa. You did it up good.”
“You idiot.” Evie rifles through the silverware drawer, snatches out a plastic fork, and tosses it at Bry… though it hits me.
Her bright blue eyes stop on mine. “Sorry.” She looks to Bry. “So we’ve come full circle, a Kincaid is claiming a Tosky, and the universe is back on its axis now?”
Bry only nods, and ignores the way my heart races uncontrollably. “That’s about the size of it. Oh, and I thought she was dating that dumbfuck, Price.”
Finally, he crosses those lines – assuming the sleeping with me, announcing we fucked, checking me out in my underwear, carrying me around, and pulling me into his lap are all on the appropriate side of that line – and presses his lips to my shoulder. He nibbles like it’s totally cool for a couple of strangers to bite each other, and when I try to step away, he only holds on tighter and bites a little harder, until I’m forced to press my lips closed or risk moaning in front of all of these people.
“She’s not?” Ben asks. “I thought she was too.”
“Nuh uh.” His lips curve up against my skin and send bolts of electricity straight to my groin. “She said she isn’t. She said I assumed.”
“And you know what they say about assumptions.”
He snickers. “Exactly. So I was being chivalrous as shit, letting her keep her clothes and dignity all night. She was taken, and though I don’t give a fuck about Price, I care about her.”
My eyes widen and lock onto Evie’s when she only smirks and watches us.
“But turns out I made an ass of myself with those assumptions. She was single as fuck.”
“Was?” Mac grins. “Past tense?”
“Mmm. We’re in a committed relationship now, guys. Welcome her to the family.”
“Bryan!” I try to step away, only to sling straight back under his steely grip. “Stop saying weird shit like that. Fuck.” Then I look to Evie, wide-eyed. “You made me say ‘fuck’ in front of business associates.”
He only shrugs. “I already said fuck in front of you. You’re good.”
“We are not in a relationship. You’re delusional. And rude. Abrasive. Arrogant.”
He grins. “Sexy. Tenacious. Determined. At least seven percent in love.”
And there it goes. My heart dies and flutters in one.
“I’m going to convince you,” he swears, “and someday, when we’re old, you’ll be thankful that I was like a dog at a bone over this.”
“So…” Bean hedges on a soft laugh. “Alrighty. Welcome to the family, Maddi. You’ll find most of them are loud and rude, so if you need a minute of quiet, come find me or Brooke. We’ll hook you up with something a little less obnoxious.”