No Way Out (The James Family Book 2) by C. M. Steele

Chapter One
    The god-forsaken ceremony finally ended. It was a mind-numbing three hours long college graduation for my future sister-in-law. We’d all gathered around inside the auditorium and waited for Cam to bring Natalie to us. Thank goodness for mobile technology. I had been able to get some work done while I waited for her to walk across the stage.
    My phone buzzed with a text from Kate. It’s over.
    What’s over? I texted back. I felt like I walked into the middle of a conversation. We hadn’t spoken to each other since yesterday, but it ended on a sour note. We had a fight about my work schedule, which was never up for discussion because I was a workaholic. I wasn’t the type of man that dropped his responsibilities for a woman. There was no way I was going to be like Cameron, who lost his mind over Natalie and she’d been all the man could concentrate on.
    Natalie came up and I gave her a sweet hug. It pissed off my brother, but it made me smile. I handed her the roses just to rile him up. What a chump. I would never let a woman wind me up like that.
    With that thought, the most beautiful, sexy creature bounced up to us. Well, rather to Natalie. With a squeal, they hugged each other tightly. Once they were done, she was introduced to us. Miss Emmy Watts was Nat’s best friend and a woman I needed to know.
    “Emmy, this is the James Family. You know Cam and Vanessa and her man Tim. These are his parents Melody and Simon, Sr. And this is Simon, Jr. Everyone, this is my best friend, Emmy Watts.” I mentally chanted her name. I wanted her.
    My phone vibrated, I pulled the damn thing out from my pocket and read the text. Us.  
    Okay. Have a nice life. What the fuck was I supposed to say? She started this, and you shouldn’t start something you can’t finish— A lesson my parents always taught me. Besides, she was ruining my admiration for the lovely Emmy. I didn’t like the fact that women played that game with me. I knew what she was up to. This wasn’t my first rodeo, nor my first time a woman wanted to play the breakup game. The thing she didn’t understand was that I never lose.
    Slipping my phone in my pocket and ignoring my ex, I stared at Emmy getting lost in her smile.
    She was stunning, to say the least. It was like I’d been hit with some strange emotion the moment I heard her giggle. I didn’t understand what it was, but I had a feeling I was just as fucked as Cam— if not more.
    My ability to speak failed me; something it had never done before. I couldn’t fathom what was going on except that I’d turned into a mute. My phone buzzed again, but I hit the side button because it wasn’t important and admiring every second of her presence was.
    She had to be at least five-seven, but those kitten heels she had on made her look a lot taller. My eyes roamed her body thinking of the things I could do to her. Damn, the things. Mm…, I thought.
    Her super curly blonde hair looked hot as hell as it framed her face. Never had I seen someone so beautiful. I wanted to grip her hair and pull her to me and let her jump up and down on my cock. I was so hard at that moment, I lost all blood to my brain.
    Before I could get my shit together and tell her that she was mine, a big motherfucker came up to us. He grabbed Nat first and spun her around which pissed Cameron the fuck off, then it was my girl’s turn. She was smiling up at him before he pulled her away. I wanted to bum rush him and bring her back, but reality hit me and I wasn’t an idiot. I growled, “Who the fuck is he?”
    Nat just laughed at us because I wasn’t the only one losing my shit. Cameron was fuming, giving her an arched look that demanded answers. She hissed at us. “It’s her brother, you jealous asses.”
    As we walked to the cars, I paused for a moment to think about what had just happened, and it hit me that Nat was right. I was fucking jealous. What the hell? I didn’t have a jealous bone in my body... well, not until five