Free Wrong Man, Right Kiss by Red Garnier Page B

must do. But Molly was in love with his brother, dammit, and both his head and his cool had left him a week ago when he’d learned of it.
    Things he had planned to do his whole life were happening, and precipitously. Regrettably, not in the manner he had intended them to.
    Never had he imagined he would experience this much jealousy over the girl he’d always planned to have for himself falling in love with his brother.
    God, he still couldn’t believe this was true.
    Still, he was trying very hard to screw his head back on and focus on enjoying the parts of the evening he knew would bring him pleasure.
    Like showing off his new “girlfriend” to his family. “Mother, have you met Molly?” he could ask while the unspoken words that floated between them would be, The woman you warned me never to touch? I’m tumbling her all night now, and she loves it. We both do. Hey, will you excuse us for a moment? We’re going to go ahead and have sex out by the bushes….
    But sadly, not even that thought brought him comfort as he handed his keys over to the valet and strode over to help Molly out of the car.
    Her scent dizzied him as she stood up from the low seat.
    Creamy legs…silken red hair…the sexy-as-hell curve of her neck just begging to be bitten…
    He wasn’t going to think about that now. In silence, he focused on how warm and calm the night breeze was as he led her up the staircase, her hand unsteady in his.
    “Molls?”
    “Mmm?”
    He wanted to tell her she had never looked more beautiful to him. Instead, he lifted her hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of it, tipping her chin encouragingly with his other hand. “We’ve got this,” he murmured, and her instant smile wrapped around his heart.
    Hand in hand, they entered the gleaming foyer of the two-story mansion, where a harpist welcomed them with a slow, haunting tune. The gathering consisted of a small group of friends and family and of course Landon’s enormous mastiffs, who were plopped on the rug at the far end of the living room.
    Molly had told Julian earlier that Kate and Beth’s business, Catering, Canapés and Curry, was handling tonight’s party.
    So at least the food would be good.
    As soon as Julian and Molly were spotted, they were split apart. Kate and Beth sequestered Molly for interrogation while his mother, in an evening dress and a pair of bed slippers, flew over to Julian before he could even find a server with a wine selection. “My dear son! My dear, dear son!” she called from afar, crossing the room toward him. “What’s this I hear about you and Molly, JJ?”
    “Mother, why did you give me two names if you did not plan to use them?” he said, exasperated.
    “All right then, Julian John—answer me now and don’t test me. My nerves are frazzled as it is without any help from you these days!”
    A fond smile played on his lips as his mother stopped an arm’s length away, regal and elegant even in slippers and panting for her breath—something only a matron like Eleanor Gage could pull off.
    Julian could already taste the satisfaction of watching the “news” affect and disgruntle his overprotective mother. She, who had sent him to Spain, France, Russia and Africa to separate him from his best friend. She, who had warned him if he ever touched the only girl he’d ever truly cared for, he might as well not consider himself a part of the Gage family anymore.
    Yeah, it gave him pleasure, perverse pleasure, to see if she would make good on her threats. A part of him savored the fight with her even though he loved her. It had hurt him, incredibly, to be judged and condemned by his entire family for a sin he hadn’t yet committed.
    He’d been punished since he was just an adolescent, and he’d been suffering ever since.
    Yes. It felt good to rebel against them. To give them the exact thing they were afraid of. Because soon they would see how wrong they’d been about him. Dead. Wrong.
    So now that she was narrow-eyed