“Interesting,” James said as he rubbed his chin and stared at me.
“Sometimes it could be. Basically, I was the eyes and ears for the troops on the battlefield.”
James turned to Thomas and raised an eyebrow. “You know what I’m thinking?”
“Yep, and we’ll talk about it later,” Thomas replied as he rubbed his hands together, glancing at me.
They nodded to each other, and James turned his attention back to me. “How long did you serve?”
“Served eight years.”
“Thanks for your service,” Suzy, Joe’s girl, said as she held their daughter, Gigi.
“Any time, beautiful.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Joe staring at me. “It’s impressive that each of you found a beautiful woman.”
“Looks aren’t everything, man,” Anthony said.
“Says the man with the exotic beauty in the next room,” I teased him. “I’m not being a dick. I’m just making an observation.”
“Well, you can keep those thoughts to yourself, buddy,” Mike warned, puffing out his chest.
They were so uptight.
“Let me say this,” I said. “They are your women. I’ll never try anything or get in between you. I respect your relationships entirely. I’m just making a statement. You’ve all done well for yourselves. I’m hoping that, someday, I’m lucky enough to find someone for myself. We’re family. I’d never fuck with family.”
“Watch your mouth,” Ma said as she smacked my head.
My body jolted and I cursed under my breath. I hadn’t seen her enter the room behind me. I swear she’d lurk in the shadows just to whack me.
“Yes, Ma.” I sighed, turning toward Joe. “Thanks for letting me stay with you.”
“I’m pretty close to rethinking that now, Morgan.” He smirked, running his hand up Suzy’s leg.
“Come on, man. I’ll be a perfect gentleman.” I meant every word of it, too.
I’d never try anything with their ladies. I knew I could be a total jackass, but that was beyond even my level of assholishness.
Suzy set Gigi on the floor and climbed into Joe’s lap. “Stop being so serious all the time. He can help with Gigi while you’re at work.”
I shook my head and waved my hands. “Oh, no. I couldn’t. I’m not good with kids anyway.” Fuck, I’d never really been around little ones.
“You’ll be fine. Gigi likes you.”
“No, she doesn’t,” I replied, staring at Gigi, who couldn’t have cared less about me as she played with a Barbie.
“She likes everyone,” Suzy said, smiling at Joe.
“Just like her mother.” Joe’s eyes shot up toward the ceiling as he mumbled something and rubbed his face.
“Joseph,” Suzy warned, “you’ll be nice to our guest this week.”
“Anything for you, sugar,” he replied before he gave her a kiss and brought her closer to his body.
“I can get a hotel,” I interrupted, feeling like a third wheel.
He tucked his face into her neck. “Nah, man. Stay with us. We have plenty of room. We actually have a guesthouse on the property. You’ll have it to yourself.”
I whistled, impressed that my cousin had a pad swanky enough to have a guesthouse.
