“Hey. I was wondering where you’d gone off to.”

The other woman looked her up and down but didn’t extend her hand. “I’m Alana. I don’t think I’ve met you before.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ridley.”

Jackson put an arm around her and anchored her to his side. “Hey, baby. I didn’t mean to abandon you.” He nuzzled her hair and snaked an arm around her back to settle possessively on her waist.

She looked at him in shock, then quickly covered her reaction with a bright smile. Her pulse raced as she curled against Jackson’s chest. It shouldn’t give her such satisfaction to see the other woman’s eyes narrow at the affectionate gesture.

If he wanted her to play along to get rid of a clingy ex-girlfriend she could do that. It was no big deal, despite the fact that her libido was suddenly wide awake and doing the samba. She’d have to be dead not to react to the flex and play of Jackson’s muscles under the thin, short-sleeved shirt he wore.

Especially when he was holding her so tightly that she was plastered against those muscles.

“No, I was fine,” she managed to get out, hoping her voice didn’t betray just how turned on she actually was. Did he have to smell like that, all warm and slightly sweet?

“I was just hanging out with Matt and watching the boys play. The thing is, I hate to be a party pooper but I think I'm going to go upstairs and lie down for a bit.”

She figured it was as good an excuse as any. It was one thing to play lovers for a few minutes to fool his ex, but she couldn’t be this close to Jackson for too long without melting into a puddle. No doubt, they were already attracting attention. She turned and met Nick’s frosty gaze. She smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back.

What is his deal?

“You live here?” Alana asked suspiciously. “Who are you, one of his little cousins?”

Ridley would have laughed in any other circumstance. She was used to the criticism. When people found out who her sister was, their first question was usually why don’t you look like that? She was immune to rudeness at this point and she certainly wasn’t going to take offense when the criticism came from a woman who looked like she had bird feathers or something equally ridiculous stuck to her eyelashes.

“Yes, I live here.”

The ironic thing was she didn’t even have to lie. She currently was living there, and unless her sister changed her mind about letting her stay in her house alone, she’d be there until Raina came back.

Jackson’s hand tightened around her waist before he turned to look at her, his gratitude clear by the way the stress lines around his eyes relaxed a little. In that moment, Ridley experienced a fierce surge of protectiveness.

Cat fights weren’t her style and she’d never been the type to engage in verbal spats over a man. If a man wanted to be with her, then he needed to tell other women that he was taken.

Period.

But in this case, not only was Jackson not her boyfriend but she could clearly read the S.O.S. signals the poor man was sending out. This girl looked like the type who wouldn’t take no for an answer, and as his friend, she was more than happy to help him get this she-cat-in-heat off his back.

“Like I said, I’m going upstairs to rest. Are you coming?” she asked.

Jackson nodded slowly, as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying. Alana watched them with slitted eyes, her mouth falling open slightly as Ridley threaded her fingers through Jackson’s. Just as they were walking off, Ridley turned back.

“And if Jackson and I are cousins, then I'm pretty sure we're both going to hell.”

*   *   *   *   *

DID SHE REALLY just say that?

Jackson was fully aware that he was playing with fire. He couldn’t articulate what had made him do it. It was one thing to tell Alana he was dating someone else, but to draft Ridley into playing the part without permission was just asking to get slapped. He was lucky she’d gone along with it at all.

He certainly hadn’t expected to hear her stick up for him in that honey-sweet voice of hers. Not only had she gotten him away from Alana, but she’d slyly insinuated they were sneaking off to have sex. Or at least that was how he’d interpreted it. He wasn’t sure if she’d meant it to sound that way or if his dick had taken over his hearing.

Either way, he wasn’t going to resist if she wanted to drag him upstairs. Even if it really was just to sleep.

“Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that. She just pissed me off. One of your cousins. Really? Who hugs their cousin like that?” Ridley shook her head. “I won’t ask why you were attracted to her. She’s very pretty. Other than the crazy things stuck to her eyelashes and the pound of makeup she’s wearing.”

“No comment. But I’m willing to admit that most of my relationships are pretty shallow. My friends pushed me hard to get back into the dating scene after…”

“After your wife died. It’s okay, Matt told me. I’m really sorry.” She squeezed his hand as she said it.

His wife was usually a subject he didn’t discuss with anyone. Part of him was angry that Matt had told her, but the other part was glad. Jackson couldn’t figure out why, but for some reason he didn’t mind talking about it with Ridley. She seemed like she really was sorry for his pain and not just saying it to score points like most of the women who eventually found out.

“Thanks. It was a hard time and after a while I started dating just to shut everyone else up. I’m sure you can imagine the kind of women they were setting me up with.”