Cash snorted. “How am I missing out?”
She pictured John Garrett’s soulful brown eyes and ripped body, and a little shiver danced up her spine. “Because he’s…well, hot,” she said again. “I had the biggest crush on Garrett when I was a teenager. He was eight years older and completely unattainable. He treated me like a pesky little sister, and then by the time I was old enough to catch his eye, he’d turned into a manwhore and had enough threesomes with my brother that hooking up with him would’ve felt like hooking up with Carson.”
She suddenly noticed that Cash’s expression had hardened. A glint of displeasure lit his blue eyes, almost as if he was…jealous? Because she’d admitted to having a crush on someone else when she was younger?
Before she could ask, the back door of the building swung open and Annabelle emerged, looking gorgeous and relaxed in a cotton print sundress and sandals. Ryan Evans tailed his girlfriend, his tall, muscular frame clad in bright blue surf shorts and a black wife beater.
“Hey,” Annabelle said happily as Jen stood up to greet her. The two women hugged, while Ryan reached out to tap fists with Cash. “Carson said you were moving in today. He ordered us to make you feel welcome.”
Jen frowned. “He specifically called you to tell you that?”
The brunette snickered. “He called everyone.”
“Conferenced us all in this morning,” Ryan piped up.
“He held a conference call?” Jen said in disbelief.
“Everyone was on the line,” Annabelle explained with a grin. “Even Garrett and Will.”
Ryan laughed. “It was like a high school reunion over the phone.”
Wow. Her brother was really taking this Brendan thing seriously, wasn’t he? Sweet as it was, she couldn’t fight the urge to strangle him.
“Anyway, we wanted to have you over for dinner this week,” Annabelle said. She glanced at Cash. “You too, Cash.”
“We’ll be there,” he answered. “Thanks for the invite.”
“You’re welcome. Now, shoo, both of you,” Annabelle said, dismissing the men with the wave of her hand. “I want to talk to Jen alone.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Where exactly do you want us to go?”
She waved her hand again. “I don’t know. Over there. Out of earshot.”
Jen hid a grin as the two men lumbered off toward the shallow end of the pool.
“Yeah, I’m thinking of dumping her,” they heard Ryan say loudly. “She’s incredibly bossy.”
Annabelle ignored her boyfriend’s taunt and flopped down on one of the lounge chairs. “Sit. I need to ask you something.”
Intrigued, Jen sat on the neighboring chair and met Annabelle’s concerned brown eyes. “What’s going on?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you. Are you seriously in danger from this Brendan guy?”
Jen sighed. “I don’t think so. His creep levels are high, but I think the texts and emails will stop once he leaves town. He’s being transferred to Oakland at the end of the month.”
“Yeah, Carson mentioned that.” Annabelle’s expression turned shrewd. “Are you just saying this so nobody will worry? Because if you believe this guy might actually go American Psycho on you, you need to say something.”
“I’m not just saying it. Brendan is weird and clingy, and yes, he did get slightly violent one time, but I don’t think he’s capable of anything extreme, like murder. He’s got a good position at his investment firm and there’s no way he’d risk throwing away his career. Success is important to him.”
Annabelle relaxed. “Okay. But if you feel like you’re in real danger, don’t brush it off. Tell Cash, or Carson, or Ryan. Don’t think that a restraining order means you’re protected.”
“I promise I’ll tell someone if I feel like I’m in danger.”
“Good.” Annabelle ran a hand through her chocolate-brown hair. “Now I’m going to be extra nosy and ask you something else.”
“Um…okay.”
“What’s going on with Holly and your brother?”
“What are you talking about?” Jen asked in confusion.
“The arguments… Holly staying with her sister…?”
“What?”
The other woman instantly backpedaled. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”
“Wait a minute, you can’t just say something like that and ask me to forget it. What do you mean Holly is staying with her sister?”
And why the hell didn’t Jen know about it? She’d seen her brother several times this week and not once had he mentioned that he and his wife might be having problems. Granted, he hadn’t offered to let her stay at his place, but she’d figured that was because Carson and Holly’s apartment only had one bedroom. Sleeping on a couch for a month wasn’t Jen’s idea of a good time, and she’d assumed her brother had dumped her on Cash out of a sense of decency, so she’d have a real bedroom and some actual privacy.
But had he done it for another reason? Made her stay with Cash so she wouldn’t be privy to the rocky state of his relationship?
“What do you know, Annabelle?” Jen demanded.
“Not much. Holly won’t talk about it, and when I ask, she says everything is fine. But I know she’s lying. I caught her crying after the wedding we planned last weekend, but she chalked it up to nostalgia and said it reminded her of her and Carson’s wedding.”