“Everything with you is easy.” I wrap my arms around her and pull her close. “I hope this doesn’t sound too strange, but you’ve been the saving grace for me these last few weeks. It’s as if you were sent from above.” Low is beaming, smiling up at me as if I made the stars shine. If anything, the opposite is true. “God knows I was a ball of stress. On the surface, it would seem all that anxiety was brought on by the opening of a brand new restaurant, but in truth, it was the baby—the one thatwasn’tmine.”
“Can I ask how something like that happens?” She cringes as if it were in fact the last thing she wanted to inquire about. “I mean, I get the insert part A into part B, and nine months later you get a cute baby G—for girl”—she shakes her head, the look of grief quickly crosses her features—“but he’s your brother. It’s not like he’s some random co-worker.”
“Technically, he’s both. Yes, he’s not only my brother—my twin, he was my co-worker—still is hers. We worked for Axel’s father. He has a firm in downtownJepson.”
She sucks in a quick breath, those almond eyes of hers perfectly outlined, her pink lips create theOof surprise, and she’s only that much more gorgeous. Just when I think Low can’t get any more beautiful, she goes ahead and surprises me. For a minute I envision her on her knees, that perfectO-shaped mouth of hers ready to receive me, and my dick begs for me tounleashit.
“I lived in downtown Jepson.” She swats my chest before carefully working open my buttons and slipping her arm over my chest and holding me like that, skin over skin, and it feels damn good. The warmth of her flesh has me drinking down the sensation. It feels like water for my thirsty soul. “I hated that dump, but I’m sure wherever you were clocking nine-to-five, it was prettycushy.”
“Itwas.”
“So they obviously didn’t meet at work.” She blinks up at me. “God, was he your best man at thewedding?”
I give asinglenod.
“Wow, this just getsworse.”
“It actually does get worse,” I assure her. “Mer had dated Chipfirst.”
“Oh my God.” She backs up and swats me again. “Did youstealher?”
“No.” I pinch my eyes a moment. “They didn’t last long, and she assured me they never hit a home run. I, unlike my brother, am a strong opponent of double-dipping—not with chicks that have been with friends, certainly not my brother. Anyway—” I slump at the thought of what comes next. “We dated. It grew serious quick, or at least it seemed that way. In hindsight, it all felt a bit rushed.” Her body tenses over mine. “No, nothing at all like you and me, I promise. Trust me, we’re molasses in comparison. Mer had me meeting her mother on the third date, and the next thing I knew we were engaged. For the record, sheaskedme.”
Low lets out a snicker. “I’ll have you know I’m old-fashioned that way, so don’t get any bright ideas of waiting around for me to pop the big one. If you catch me on bended knee—most likely I’ve lost anearring.”
“Duly noted.” I dot her nose with a kiss, and those marbled eyes of hers cast me under theirspell.
“And then what?” She gives me a little shake. “Come on, we were just getting to the good part.” She claps a hand over her lips. “I’m sorry!” She ducks under my arm a moment. “I meant the part in which your life decidedly goestohell.”
“Not a problem. It’s certainly feeling like the good part. Now that I can get some traction away from the event, it feels like it was right that things ended with Mer and me. Just wish she didn’t have to wrench my balls in the process.” I blow out a quick breath. “About a year ago, Meredith announced she wanted a baby. I wanted to wait.” I nod at Low in the event she’d like to choose sides. For some reason, I feel like everyone with a set of ovaries would potentially side with Mer. Not thatRavendid.
“That’s totally understandable. I would never want to have a baby if you weren’t on board.” She gives my cheek a light scratch, and I feel the burn straight down to the pit of my stomach. Our eyes latch, and I can’t seem to break the trance. “Junior Boobear needs his daddy bursting with excitement while he’s still a gleam in his mama’s eyes.” She bites down playfully on her lip. “Plus, what’s better than a little baby makingpractice?”
“I agree.” And I’m shockingly pleased she gets where I’m coming from. “But that’s not what happened. We argued.” There is an entire world of hurt that comes next, so I do the only thing I can—skip over it. Fast-forward to the next big hurt. “She started up an affair with my brother. Then she got pregnant and tried to pass the baby off as my own, but something wasn’t right. I’m loyal to my condoms. If only she was as loyal to me, none of this would have happened.” I pull her in close and land a kiss to the top of her head. “The worst part is, when Chip stepped forward and told me he was sleeping with her—in that moment I knew it was over, and as horrible as it sounds, it was arelief.”
“What?” She pounds over my chest with a heartstopper. “Didn’t you want to kill yourbrother?”
“Yes and no. He said they rekindled a friendship. One thing led to vodka, and the next thing he knew they were embroiled in a six-week affair. She told him she was on the pill, so he didn’t put a hat on it. And thank God for me, that happened to be a month-long dry spell for Mer and me.” I take a deep breath as if I had just hit the surface after a nine-month swim. “Yes, Chip is an asshole. I still don’t know what the hell he was thinking. How the fuck could he do that to me?” My heart shreds just reliving the nightmare. “It was more than I could take. I wish she had chosen anyone else on the planet, male or female. Hell, she could have chosen a horse, and I would have felt betteraboutit.”
“She went for the sharpest knife in thedrawer.”
I nod into the idea. “And she sliced my belly and my heart openwithit.”
“And her belly grew.” She sighs while blowing a curl off her forehead. “Now that’s one twistedfairytale.”
“Enough about me. Tell me something about you. Tell me anything. What do you love? What do you hate? What are your dreams? What makes you tick?” After regurgitating that ballbuster, I’ll be glad if I never hear my voiceagain.
She growls out a wicked laugh while her fingernails graze over my chest. “Right about now, you’re making me tick like a bomb ready to detonate all over this living room just for you.” The smile drips right off her face, and she suddenly looks as if she’d like to deck me. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.Let’ssee.”
“Trust me, I like where you’re going.” And I’d sure as hell like tocomealong.
She closes her eyes a moment. Her skin is dewy and youthful, so damn beautiful and young. If she’s Raven’s age, then we’re only seven years apart, but the youthful energy she exudes feels like the elixir I didn’t even know I needed. Being with Mer aged me. I felt two hundred years old right up until ImetLow.
“I love cooking food in general, but I especially love to bake. As you’ve noticed, brownies are my stress-relievinggo-to.”
“And as much as I hate the fact you’re stressed, I’m really glad you resort to baking and not something that might actually induce stress inmelike, say, knife throwing.” We share a dry laugh. “Your brownies should be boxed and sold by the dozen. Word on The Pelican street is there’s an owner looking to steal yourrecipe.”
“Oh, hon, you don’t have to steal it.” Her eyes sparkle at the thought of an imminent brownie theft. “There’s not a thing I’m not willing to give you.” She shrugs as if it were the unfortunate truth, and I can’t help but bounce that naughty grin right back on my lips. “What do I hate?” She scans the ceiling for a moment before snapping her gaze back to mine. “The Oxfordcomma.”
