Any Way You Want It (Brand Clan #2)(52)

When he just looked at her, she shot a glance at Roderick. “Did he?”

Roderick laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. “I’m not getting in the middle of this.”

“Oh, my God,” Zandra shrieked staring accusingly at Remy. “No wonder Kevin looked so nervous when I came downstairs that night. I kept asking him what was wrong, but he wouldn’t tell me. And after the prom, he couldn’t get rid of me fast enough. All this time, I just thought he was bored with me, and I knew Tawny had promised to sleep with him if he went over to her house. But I never once suspected that you...you had threatened him!” Sputtering with indignation, she punched Remy on the arm. “You jerk!”

He laughed. “Come on, Z. Don’t be mad. I was just looking out for you. Kevin had a reputation at school. I didn’t want him taking advantage of you.”

“So what! You had no right to interfere!”

“Did, too.”

“Did not.”

Remy heaved a sigh. “Come on, baby girl.”

Not wanting to cause a scene, Zandra didn’t resist as he pulled her back against his chest, curved an arm around her waist and leaned down to nuzzle the side of her neck. “Tell the truth. You didn’t even like that meathead. The only reason you went to the prom with him was to piss Tawny off.”

“That’s not the point.”

“See, look at you,” Remy chuckled. “You didn’t even bother to deny it.”

Zandra sighed, lips quirking as she fought the tug of a grin. “I didn’t exactly have boys beating a path to my door to take me to the prom.”

“Which goes to show how stupid those boys were.” Remy kissed her cheek. “I’d have taken you.”

She went still. “You would have?”

“Yeah. But you never asked.”

“It didn’t occur to me.” She hesitated, then shyly admitted, “You were a college sophomore. You barely wanted to go to your own prom, so I didn’t think you’d want to go to mine.”

“You thought wrong.”

Zandra smiled, a warm glow spreading through her.

“Look what I saved you from,” Remy murmured, his tongue tracing the shell of her ear.

She shivered. “What?”

“If you’d lost your virginity to Kevin that night, for the rest of your life, you’d have had to live with knowing that your first was that sloppy motherf*cker whose wife is so miserable with him, she has to resort to lying about him playing for the Browns, of all teams.”

Zandra fought not to laugh, but it escaped anyway. She’d never been one to bask in the misfortunes of others, but seeing Tawny and Kevin today made her grateful that she had been ditched on prom night.

As the band returned to the stage, Zandra settled more comfortably against Remy’s chest. When he leaned over her, she raised her face to his. They shared a slow, steamy upside-down kiss that had her insides clenching with pleasure.

When Roderick and Lena whistled encouragingly, Remy and Zandra pulled apart and smiled softly at each other.

After the concert, they left the park and headed to Royce and Bernadette Brand’s home in Hyde Park, where the rest of the family had gathered for a summer cookout. Holding hands, the two couples made their way through the beautifully furnished house to reach the French doors leading out to the lushly landscaped backyard.

The scene that greeted them sent a wave of nostalgia through Zandra.

Remy’s parents and grandparents lounged companionably on the wraparound brick patio, sipping lemonade and laughing quietly. Flame and smoke billowed from the grill, where Royce flipped thick steaks and burgers while joking raucously with River and Racquel. Dozing on the ground near the outdoor fireplace was the family’s presciently named cocker spaniel, Zeus, who’d long surpassed his breed’s life expectancy.

Robyn and her husband, Harper, chased their four young children around the sprawling yard, while Royce’s handsome sons tossed a football back and forth.

Observing the idyllic scene filled Zandra with a poignant sense of homecoming.

The Brands’ summer barbecues had been one of the few highlights of her childhood. She’d looked forward to them the way most kids looked forward to Christmas. They were always held on a Saturday afternoon, the day after Royce Senior received his bonus from the steel mill where he worked. Though money had been tight, he’d always set aside funds to buy plenty of meat for grilling.

On the day of the cookouts, Zandra would rush through her chores, then race down the street to Remy’s house. The outside may have appeared as old and rickety as her own, but unlike her home, the Brand residence was filled with love, laughter and warmth. It had truly been a home.

Sometimes Zandra’s mother had accompanied her to the cookouts. Her father rarely came, and for that she’d been grateful. His surly presence would have ruined her enjoyment of the festivities, and he’d always seemed intimidated by Royce and Desmond Brand, a sense of inadequacy he would later take out on Zandra’s mother.

Whenever she’d gone on vacation with the Brands, she’d liked to pretend that she was a member of their family, that Remy and his siblings were her brothers and sisters. And as much as she’d loved and adored her mother, she’d often wished—secretly—that Royce and Bernadette were her parents. She knew Royce would never lay a hand on his wife or children, would never cause them to dread the very sound of his voice.