Free Anyone but Alex (The English Brothers Book 3) by Katy Regnery

heartthrob at St. Michael’s Academy , and she was a third grader at Miss Thoroughgood’s Prep. For hours she’d stared at her face—at her crooked, pre-braces teeth and freckled nose—before going downstairs for their Bon Voyage party. That was the night Alex English kissed her on the forehead and whispered “No Girls Allowed doesn’t mean you” in her ear. That was the night she’d lost a piece of her heart.
    And since seeing Alex on Saturday, she felt that lost piece within her grasp—in the warmth of his presence, in his teasing grin and bright, blue eyes. She knew what people said about him, and she’d even read the accounts with her own eyes, but it didn’t seem to matter. It didn’t matter that he’d been with scores of women. It didn’t matter that they claimed he’d treated them poorly.  It didn’t matter that her brothers objected to her seeing him. It didn’t matter that spending time with him might ruin her reputation in Philadelphia.
    Seeing Alex again, talking with him, dancing together—it had all served to remind her of how important he’d been to her once upon a time. And despite his reputation, he felt no less important to her now. If she’d doubted the strength of her childhood crush, meeting him again on Saturday night had confirmed it. Her feelings for Alex were still alive, and no matter how much he had changed, a part of her would always belong to him .
    T hat was why—with her heart racing, but her head held high—she went to her closet to choose an outfit to wear to lunch. She cared for him. She wanted him. And until he gave her a reason not to, she resolved to trust him.
    Ninety minutes later, she sat in the front parlor at Westerly, ostensibly reading her Kindle, but anxiously flicking her eyes to the window every few minutes to see if a hired car was making its way down the driveway.
    “Why, Jessie,” said Olivia Winslow in her crisp British accent, wandering into the parlor and smiling at her only daughter. “I thought you’d gone into town.”
    “No, Mother. I’m… just reading. Though I may head in for lunch in a bit.”
    Her mother grinned, which brightened the sharp lines of her thin face. “Lovely idea ! I’ll come with you. We can go to the Club or to—”
    “No!” Jessie’s Kindle fell to the floor with a loud crack as she lurched forward. She leaned down to retrieve it then looked at her mother helplessly. “I, um, I might have a date. With a friend.”
    “You might ?”
    “I do .” She nodded, handling her Kindle uneasily.
    “You do ?”
    “I think I do.” Jessie bit her lip, casting a quick glance to the window and wincing when she found the driveway still empty.
    “This friendly date wouldn’t be with a certain English brother, would it?”
    Jessie stood quickly, smoothing her simple black dress and placing her Kindle on the seat behind her. “Mummy…”
    “Cameron has been in a tizzy. And if Preston doesn’t stop cough-mumbling ‘manslut’ he’s going to be hoarse.”
    Jessie’s face flushed , and she looked down at the folded hands on her lap. If her mother wanted to give her a lecture about Alex, she would…politely…not listen.
    “What time is Alex sending a car?” she asked gently.
    “Noon,” Jessie answered.
    “Well, it’s only eleven-fifty-five. May I wait with you?”
    Jessie took a deep breath and nodded, shoving her Kindle aside and sitting down again. Her mother took the seat across from her, farther from the window, but facing the driveway.
    “Oh, here’s some news. I just got off the phone with Eleanora English. She invited us for Thanksgiving dinner to welcome us home. I hope you have no objections to my accepting her invitation.”
    “None at all.”
    Despite her calm reply, Jessie’s heart leapt at the thought of seeing Alex on Thursday. And then she berated herself because if he failed her today, she had no business being happy to see him on Thursday. She snuck a glance at the empty driveway.
    When she