Cade said easily, ignoring her reaction to Reese.
âMineâs in the hot tub,â she said, lowering her hand and glaring at Reese. âSomeone threw it there earlier.â
âDo I want to know what you two were doing in the hot tub?â Cade asked.
âNothing!â Audrey retorted.
âI donât have my phone, either,â Reese said. âIt left with my date. Donât worry, though. Weâll be fine.â He looped an arm around Audreyâs shoulders and grinned. âIâll take good care of her.â
***
Reese was pretty sure that this weekend was a recipe for disaster. He could just see it now. Mix one junkie pop star with a do-gooder billionaire whoâs hiding a secret crush on her. Add in the lonely twin sister crushing on the billionaire, and make all three parties completely unaware of the otherâs interest. Stir with that giant stick up Audreyâs ass. Watch fireworks explode.
At any other time, heâd find the combination utterly amusing. Hell, Cade was a big boy. His buddy could take care of himself. And he figured that if Daphne was old enough to get hooked on all the drugs that the tabloids said she was on, she was responsible for her own fate. He didnât have much sympathy there.
But the factor that was bugging him in this was Audrey, and he wasnât quite sure why.
Maybe it was the fact that she got so flustered when he flirted with her. Maybe it was the way she carried herself, so incredibly stiff and rigid that sometimes he wondered if she even knew how to relax. Maybe it was the way her full mouth thinned out at the sight of him, and it only encouraged him to be even naughtier.
Hell, it was probably all of that.
But sympathy for the little ice queen who was bound to get her heart broken in multiple ways? That one had been harder to explain to himself. He told himself that he liked a challenge, that he was simply bored and looking for a diversion, and her prickliness was definitely a diversion. But when she looked up at Cade with those wide, shining eyes and that soft smile? Like he was Sir Galahad reborn and had arrived to save the day?
Reese had to admit, he got a little jealous. Not of Cade, of course. Cade was oblivious to Audreyâs devotion, seeing it only as the affection of a friend, or worse, a little sister. It was the way she gazed up at him as if he were her hero. As if, now that Cade was there, everything in her world would be all right. Like everything was good again, simply because heâd arrived.
And Reese had realized that no one ever looked at him like that.
Which was not to say that he didnât get female attentionâthe opposite, really. Women had ceased to be a challenge long ago. Throw a little flirtation their way, laugh at their jokes, flatter them, pay attention to them, and heâd have a woman eating out of the palm of his hand within hours.
It was no challenge whatsoever. And once they found out he had money? It just became even easier. He was good looking and knew how to charm. Women often looked at him as if they wanted to devour him whole, or test out how he was in bed.
No one ever looked at him like Audrey looked at Cade. Like he was a motherfucking hero.
And for some reason that bothered Reese and challenged him all at once. Audrey cast him withering glare after withering glare, but because Cade helped her put away groceries and rubbed Daphneâs back while she barfed, he was worthy of adoration and blind devotion?
The competitive side of Reese made him want to see if he could get Audrey to look at him the same way. And it had been that competitive side that had made him speak up and insist on the kiss sheâd promised him.
Audrey had turned bright red of course, the freckles standing out on her skin. And sheâd huffed and blustered, but had been quick to escape once Cade turned his questioning gaze on her. Yeah, she didnât want to explain that one to Prince Charming,