“That wasn’t telling them,” Gideon said evenly. “But nice power move.”
I laughed, releasing anxious energy. Was I glowing too? Gideon had complimented me. Sure, it wasn’t my looks, but I’d take power move in a heartbeat. My brothers often saw that little girl still getting over the injuries she’d gotten in the accident that had claimed her parents’ lives. “Thanks. But be prepared for company when we get home.”
He slid his dark gaze in my direction again.
. . . when we get home.
I liked the way that sounded. Was he unnerved?
Several minutes later, we were walking into the house. I left my phone in the car.
I trudged to the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
I glanced over my shoulder, but he was on his phone. So, not one of those innuendo answers. He was legitimately starving. For food.
How bad was it that I was jealous of the phone held loosely in his big hand while he rhythmically stroked the screen with his thumb?
I might have this man’s baby. Which meant we’d have to...
A shiver worked its way under my skin. I busiedmyself with looking in the freezer and the fridge. Gideon stayed where he was, his attention on his phone. I tried not to be disappointed. Maybe it was a good thing that I had regular reminders that this was the equivalent of a business deal.
Back to fixing an early dinner.
The trip had been three days, and I’d planned to get groceries on my way into town after the flight. That was before I’d gotten married and brought a man home.
I had hamburger. There was pasta in the cupboard. I could throw together?—
Someone pounded on the front door. Hard.
I whirled around. Smugness infused Gideon’s gaze and he tucked his phone into his back pocket. “Ready,wife?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gideon
I sat on a surprisingly comfortable couch that was way too floral for my taste. Autumn was tucked into my side, her hand back in mine.
I brushed over her skin with my thumb. She was practically shivering as we faced the firing squad of her siblings.
The first demanding knock had been Tate and Teller. Tenor had arrived next. I’d hated facing them at the distillery. I was on Bailey property, but this place was more mine than theirs now.
Just as they’d been getting over the shock of seeing me, Summer and Wynter had arrived with Wynter’s husband—Myles—and a baby. Autumn whispered which sister was which to me. Summer was standing next to Tate, the oldest sister, ready to take charge. Myles was currently in the bedroom, changing the baby’s diaper.Wynter hovered in the hallway, ready to cut off a stampede if need be.
She needn’t have worried. The guys would try to throw me out of the house, not farther into it.
“Get an annulment,” Tate demanded.
“No,” Autumn and I said in unison. She smirked at me and I couldn’t help a small smile. Our simultaneous answer had turned Tate’s face red. The color could’ve blazed through the man’s thick beard.
“Autumn,” Summer said, brushing a long, strawberry-tinted lock of hair behind her ear. She looked about the same as she had as a kid but also completely different. I remembered what all the Kerrigan sisters had looked like when they’d first come to town. The way they’d moved, like they’d rather be anywhere else, like they were eternally lost and like they were haunted. Four lost girls.
I wouldn’t have paid attention, but Mom had spoken about them. A lot. She’d empathized, and maybe she’d wished she could help. Perhaps it’d been as simple as wanting a daughter.
I hadn’t really seen Autumn as often as the others.
A memory jiggled at the back of my brain. She’d been injured. Both Autumn and Summer. Mom had fretted over their recovery. Summer had healed fairly quickly, but Autumn had needed more time.
