Free Chaos by Barbara Huffert

well,
our own pleasure. Damn it, Campini, until you kissed me back that first time I
thought you hated me. I fully expected you to punch me and scream bloody
murder.”
    “And yet you kissed me anyway.”
    “I had to. You wouldn’t stop pointing out my many faults.
The more you talked, the more I watched your mouth move. I decided that
something that soft-looking shouldn’t be used in such a harsh way so I thought
I’d kiss you and see if I was right. I was too. Your lips are as soft and
sensuous as they look. I honestly never expected you to respond but I figured,
since you were criticizing me, you may as well have a real reason to.”
    “And I thought you should put your mouth to better use than
sneering at me. How can you be so annoying and turn me on so much at the same
time?”
    “I’ve wondered that about you too. Can’t we just try to be
friends and let this thing between us run its course? We’ll have some good
times together, I’m sure of it.”
    “Fine. But when the time comes and we’re done, we are not
going to get weird with each other. We are going to be polite and civil if it
kills us because I don’t want Kiley and Jordan to wind up in the middle of some
nastiness between us.”
    “Deal.” Shane agreed, already knowing he was going to hate
it when she showed up with someone else.
    “Deal.” She held his gaze, hers unreadable again. “Okay,
friend, I have a favor to ask of you.”
    “Already?” He laughed, trying to regain the lightness their
conversation before he’d ruined it.
    “Yes but I was going to ask you to help me with this anyway.
I told you I was putting together a personal album for Kiley and Jordan. Well,
I’d like you to give it to them for me. Before the ceremony, Jordan told me
about a few of his guests and why it would be better if I didn’t take any
photos that clearly showed their faces. I promised that if they ended up in the
pictures, I would give them all to him and delete them from my files. I also
spoke with the ones he mentioned and made them the same promise. I have the
album ready and I don’t think I’m comfortable leaving it here while I will be
gone. I guess they’ll look at it and then Jordan will have to destroy it but
part of me hopes he’ll keep it instead.”
    “Can I see it?”
    “Of course you can. You know who they all are anyway. What
an odd group of people they invited. And what a simple wedding. I would have
thought Jordan would want a full-blown, high society wedding to show everyone
how far he had come.”
    “Jordan’s not like that. He wanted Kiley to have what she
wanted and what she wanted was small and simple, at the home so her friend,
Vera and the people who took care of her mom could be there. If she’d wanted to
get married on the observation deck of the Empire State building with the Pope
officiating, he would have found a way to arrange it for her.”
    “Neither one of them is Catholic.”
    “So? I’m just saying that my brother would have agreed to
whatever your cousin wanted, as long as he ended up married to her.”
    “And all my cousin wanted was him and the few people who
matter to her. He doesn’t have much use for high society.”
    “Nope. He prefers his group of honest friends to the rest of
the world who only want to use him. I think they’ll be one of the couples that
are still in love and trying to please each other on their fiftieth
anniversary.”
    “Me too. I’m happy for them. Kiley hasn’t had the easiest
life and she deserves to have what she wants. You know it wouldn’t matter to
her if he was poor.”
    “Yes. Christ, Campini, we all know your cousin isn’t a
fortune hunter. How can you even suggest that?”
    “I wasn’t. It’s just obvious that you’d do anything to
protect your kid brother even though you know he doesn’t need you to. I just
wanted to be sure you knew you didn’t have to worry about them. I didn’t mean
to sound cynical but you do sometimes, so…”
    “Okay, I get it.