Alex looked around Jolene’s house again. She didn’t think she’d be back here for another party, but she thought wrong. She and Cade had been seeing each other for almost two months. Seeing each other, or dating, wasn’t as serious as saying it was a relationship, and at the moment she was still trying not to say those words to anyone. Not even to herself.
More than friends seemed to be working for her. She figured it was working for him too since he hadn’t brought it up again.
But here she was at Nic’s bridal shower being held at Jolene’s house for the girls. It wasn’t an overly large gathering and that suited her just fine. She really wanted to back out, but she was getting close to Ella and Ella had insisted.
If Ella hadn’t insisted, then Jolene would have dragged her by the ear. Or so Ella had told her. Alex believed it.
But right now it was all the siblings’ significant others before the rest of the party showed up, which were mainly co-workers. Aimee, Nic, Jessica, herself, and Ella. Not that she thought of herself as Cade’s significant other, but it seemed the rest of his family did and she didn’t have the heart to correct them.
Jolene and Nic’s grandmother were in the kitchen spreading all the food out and kicked the five girls out, then told them to go get a drink and relax. All but Jessica who was sprawled on the couch with a bottle of water in her hand.
The doorbell rang and Ella ran to get it. “It’s probably Jade.”
“Who’s Jade?” Alex asked Aimee.
“Their cousin. It’s only Ella and Jade in terms of girls in the whole Fierce family for that generation. It’s kind of sad.”
“And it’s only going to get worse when these two arrive,” Jessica said with her hand massaging her belly. “I can’t believe how dominant the male genes are in this family.”
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Nic said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“You won’t hear me complain,” Aimee said. “I like how big and dominant the men are.”
Alex just rolled her eyes. They were waiting for her to comment and she wasn’t going to, even if she did agree. She’d never been someone who thought that about a man, but there was something about Cade that made her forget.
It’s not like he was dominating in a way that controlled her, and she was positive none of the women in this room meant it that way either. It was just that their utter male presence dominated all their thoughts!
“Alex,” Ella said walking in. “This is my cousin, Jade, and her mother, my Aunt Carolyn. She’s married to my father’s younger brother. Well, my father has twin younger brothers and my Aunt Diane is on the way too.”
“I’m just going in the kitchen with Jolene,” Carolyn said and took off after she smiled at everyone.
“Nice to meet you,” Jade said, holding her hand out. Yep, she not only looked similar to Ella, but she was dressed the same too. High end and classy, not a hair out of place. Thankfully, Aimee, Nic, and Jessica were more like her. More hands on and more...not as fancy.
“So you two were really outnumbered. How many other boys are there?” Alex asked.
Ella laughed. “A lot. Jade has a twin brother, Wyatt. And then twin older brothers Drake and Noah. My aunt Diane has three boys, Sam, Bryce, and Ryder.”
“So there is a possibility of not having multiples?” Alex asking, smiling.
“I wish someone told me all of this before,” Jessica said.
“Be happy it’s only two,” Jolene said walking in. “You could have had five in you.”
“I’m never going to make it with these two. They won’t stop fighting.”
Ella laughed. “It sounds like you’ve got a Brody and a Cade in there.”
“No,” Jessica said. “I can’t handle that. I need Aiden and Mason in here. They get along better. I’m still annoyed with Cade over the fact that I can’t decorate the nursery with clowns. What the heck did he do?”
There was silence with that comment. Everyone looked at Ella and Alex had no idea what to make of it. “It doesn’t matter. I’m never letting Cade live it down and he knows it,” Ella said.
“We don’t talk about the clown situation,” Jolene said, then rushed back into the kitchen.
“Cade isn’t that bad,” Alex said.
Everyone just turned to stare at her. “You have to say that,” Aimee said. “You’re dating him.”
“I don’t have to say it,” Alex said. “I wouldn’t if it wasn’t true. He just likes to make everyone laugh. There isn’t anything wrong with that. Don’t we all need laughter in our life at times?”
Nic snorted. “There isn’t anything wrong with it most times. I love Cade like I love the rest of them, but he does run fast and loose with his mouth.”
“My brothers all pounded on him at one point or another,” Jade said. “He didn’t keep his antics to just his brothers.”
“Please,” Ella said to Jade. “Wyatt was just as bad as Cade. And when the two of them were together they went after everyone. Even the cousins.”
“Then don’t you guys think you’re being too hard on Cade?” Alex asked.
Ella looked over at her and grinned. “Just friends, huh?”
Alex felt her face flush. “I believe I used the word ‘more’ in there.”
“You did,” Ella said. “I’ll give you that much.”
Thankfully all talk about Cade’s antics and her relationship ceased after that and the rest of the guests started to show up. Too bad they started back up on Cade later on.
***
“Have another drink,” Mason said to Cade.
“I’ve had two already. Can’t I pace myself? I’ve got to drive home.”
“Relax. You can crash here if you want,” Mason said.
Cade was kind of thinking that, but didn’t want to assume since everyone else had plans to go home. “Jessica won’t mind? Sometimes I think I’m not her favorite person. Which is odd because she busted on me so much in the beginning.”
“Think nothing of it,” Mason said. “She’s just a little touchy with the pregnancy and all. I hate seeing her this way but she’s getting pretty big. You just need to stop telling her that.”
“It’s funny,” Cade said.
“It won’t be funny if you have a wife someday and she’s pregnant.”
“Who’s going to marry, Cade?” his cousin Sam asked. He didn’t get to see his cousins as much as he would have liked. He and Wyatt had the most in common, but Wyatt couldn’t make it today. Ryder, Drake, Noah, Bryce, his Uncle Garrett, and Uncle Grant were also here for Aiden’s bachelor party. Along with his brothers and father and several staff from Fierce.
“Cade has a girlfriend,” Brody said, walking forward and putting another beer in Cade’s hands. “Shocking, isn’t it?”
“Really?” Sam asked. “I’ll have to meet the woman that could put up with you for more than a few dates.”
Cade laughed. He knew they were joking. Or so he thought. It was the same old same old for years. His joking ways weren’t limited to his siblings and his cousins often let him know they weren’t thrilled with him either.
“Two months,” he said proudly.
“That has to be a record for you. So who is it?” his cousin Drake asked, having heard the conversation.
“Her name is Alex Marshall and she owns and operates Marshall Printing.”
“I’ve heard of them,” Drake said. “I think they’ve done some work for our firm. Some banners or something for a grand opening.”
“Probably,” Cade said. “Her company does all sorts of things.”
“Is that how you met?” Sam asked.
“Our mother asked him to work with her,” Aiden said, walking forward and slapping him on the back.
“Why do you guys keep saying that?” Cade said. It wasn’t the first time his siblings had pointed that out. “So what? I met her that way, but you all make it sound like Mom set me up or something.”
“Boys,” his father said, walking over. “I think we need to let Cade have some peace today. It’s Aiden’s day. How about we go toast him again? I for one want another one of my bourbon aged beers that Mason made just for me.”
Cade watched everyone walk back to the taps that Mason had set up in his bar. There were snacks out at the moment, but the food would be delivered soon. Cade had taken care of that. Some of the staff were bringing it over in about thirty minutes. Once he got some food in his system he wouldn’t feel so bad about drinking his third beer in three hours.
But four hours later, he realized he’d had another two beers and though he wasn’t drunk by any means, he was feeling a little bit more relaxed than he’d hoped for. That bourbon beer went down nice and smooth but had a higher alcohol content than most of the other beers.
Many of the guests were leaving the party by now, just his siblings still sitting around waiting for their rides. He was thinking he would end up crashing in the guest room tonight after all. The last thing he wanted to do was bum a ride from anyone. Not after drinking and eating so much.
“Alex,” he said when she walked in with the rest of the women. “What are you doing here?”
She walked up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “So happy to see you too.”
Everyone in the room laughed and he knew he’d put his foot in his mouth. “Jessica invited me over to see her nursery.”
Mason groaned. “Please don’t bring up the nursery.”
“I’ve come to reconcile I can’t have clowns,” Jessica said. “But I still wanted Alex to see it. Besides, I heard Cade had a bit too much to drink and might need a ride home.”
Cade felt himself groan and everyone looked at him. “How did you hear that?” he asked his future sister-in-law.
“Aiden had been texting Nic, asking if she was having fun. He might have said you all had a bunch to drink and it was good that you all had rides. Alex overheard and said she’d grab you. Wasn’t that nice of her to offer?”
“Yeah,” he said, looking at his brothers and seeing them all grin at him. This was payback. He knew it. “Really nice of her. I just figured I’d crash in the guest room tonight.”
“It’s fine,” Alex said. “It’s not like it’s out of my way.”
“A woman is offering to bring you home,” Brody said. “Don’t turn it down. Maybe if you’re nice, she’ll stay the night with you.”
Cade shot his brother a dirty look, but everyone else just laughed.
“I’m out of here, boys,” Aiden said. “My soon-to-be-wife is taking me home and I hope to get lucky.”
“I know I’m getting lucky,” Brody said rubbing his hands together. “Sidney is spending the night at her other grandfather’s.” Aimee walked up and put her arm around Brody’s waist.
“Mason, you’re out of luck unless you can roll Jessica down the hall,” Cade said before he could stop himself. Damn beer. Alex slapped his arm. “Ouch,” he said laughing.
“Alex,” Jessica said. “I think you should bring Cade home now before I slap his other arm. There’s a couple of back roads that will get you there faster. Let me just write them down for you.”
“Jessica,” he said, almost growling.
“I love you too, Cade,” she said, grabbing a piece of paper and jotting them down, then handing it over to Alex. “Have a good night, kids.”