I offer my hand, and when Scott shakes it, I squeeze it hard enough for him to know I’ll mess him up if he so much as hurts one hair on Cara’s head. “I’m Cara’s brother, Nicholas. Boxer.” I tip my chin up and flex my muscles in what I consider my signature boy-scaring move. “You should come down to the gym sometime. Would be good to get to know you a little better, wouldn’t you agree?” I squeeze harder and grin.
He pulls his hand away and shakes it while wincing. “Uh, I’m not thinking that would be good for my health.”
I grin wickedly. At least he’s smart.
Cara shoves my shoulder. “Nicky, be nice.”
My mother turns around from the stove when she hears Cara’s admonishment. Her blue eyes smile when she sees Cara and then turn hard as she takes in Malibu Ken, aka Scott. I hold back a snicker. One thing my mother despises is a Richie Rich, and this boy reeks of money from the tips of his Ferragamos up to his dress slacks and Ralph Lauren polo shirt.
Ma believes if you didn’t till the ground yourself and work for every dollar you’ve ever received, you’re likely not a good human. I guess my mother is a bit judgmental. Until, of course, she sees the curly haired blonde girl tucked behind her daddy’s leg.
She leans down instantly, her rounded form balancing perfectly as she crouches. “And who is this angel baby?”
Scott tugs his daughter’s hand, bringing her out from behind him. “Introduce yourself, sweetie,” Scott tells his daughter. I glance up at my sister, and she’s biting her lip, not doing a very good job at holding back her obvious love of the child.
“I Kaylee,” she mutters and walks over to my mother, swinging her skirt.
Another thing about Ma: all children love her. No matter how many twenty-something men my sisters have brought home, men who cower in fear of her and her legendary wooden spoon, children don’t have that same fear.
“Aren’t you the prettiest girl I ever did see? Do you like spaghetti?” Ma asks Kaylee.
“It’s her favorite dinner,” Scott blurts.
I grin. Good one. Point for Scott.
My mother’s gaze flashes to Scott approvingly before going back to Kaylee. “Would you like to help me cook, angel?”
The little girl’s eyes light up. “Ohh! Fun!” She giggles, and my mother scoops her right up, puts her on a rounded hip as if she did this every day, and hands the little one her own wooden spoon. Well, that was easy.
I turn toward my sister, who’s got her hands clasped in front of her heart and a giant smile.
“Dodged a bullet on that one, care bear.” I tap her nose like I always have with my sisters.
“You’re telling me.” She lets out a long breath, and Scott puts his arm around her, reminding me that a new man is all up in my sister’s space. A man with a child.
“You and me.” I point to Scott’s chest and then my own. “We’ll be having words. Soon. Feel me?”
Scott swallows but firms his spine and holds my sister closer. Point two for Scott. Afraid but willing to put himself out there. Of course, there’s no way I’m giving him that inch of satisfaction when he needs to have the fear of her big brother put into him.
“Not a problem, uh, Nick.” He forms his words, trying to sound confident but failing.
“Nicholas,” I correct him firmly. He hasn’t earned the right to use my informal name.
“Nicholas.” He clears his throat. “You’ll be seeing a lot of me from now on.”
“Reeealyyyyy?” I draw out the word. “Then you’ll need to have some wine. Meet the family. We do dinners—”
Scott jumps in. “Every Sunday. Got it. Feel honored I’ve finally been invited.”
I frown at the word “finally.”
“Care bear, how long you been hiding Malibu Ken?”
Cara squints. “Not nice, Nicky. And not that long.” She looks away, diverting her gaze. That’s her tell. A poker player she is not. That slip of the eye means she’s lying through her teeth.
“Carrie, tell the truth,” Scott admonishes.
Carrie? Special nicknames. Fuck. This is serious.
“Uh, maybe we kind of sort of already live together.” She twirls her hair and shuffles her feet.
I’m certain my eyes about pop out of my head at this news. Cara’s been hiding a man. “You are in so much trouble. This is going to be fun to watch.” I grin, knowing my mother and father are going to lose their shit when they find out.
Cara grabs my biceps, holding me in place. “Don’t tell them. I want them to fall in love with them both the way I have first…” she rushes to say.
“Love? Fuck, Cara. You love this guy and his kid, moved in with him, and have been hiding this from your family? How long?” I whisper-growl closer to her face, my big brother hat firmly in place.
Scott pulls my sister back protectively. Another point for Scott, but this surprise is going to douse any hope they had of easing the family into him.
Right then, Gracie and Faith enter the kitchen, arms locked. Being the babies, the two of them have always been close, both hitting their twenties and still living at home.
Gracie’s gray-blue eyes, similar to my own only with blue versus my green tone, lock on to mine. Grace and I look the most alike with our near-black hair and super-light eyes we got from our mother. She has a mixture of the blue-green-gray combo. The rest of the family have the dark, cappuccino-colored hair and brown eyes. She’s also the baby, and I’m the eldest, so we have that oldest and youngest sibling connection.
“Girls.” I let Cara off the hook for now and open my arms. Both rush into me. The scent of their strawberry shampoo hits my nose, reminding me of home. I breathe them in, my heart
