“Would you be pissed at me if asked if I could stay here tonight?”
“Of course not! I would love it. What do you want to do?”
She shrugs. “Just hang out.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Mind if I go and give my big bro a hug?”
“Sure, but it’s my turn after you.”
“I won’t be hugging him quite like you do. Ewwww! I don’t even want my mind to go there!”
She slips out from under my shoulder, making a mock disgusted face in jest, and makes her way out of the room. She stops in the doorway before turning back to me. “Thanks, Ari,” she says, a sad smile on her face.
“You’re most welcome.”
The look in her eyes almost makes me want to cry. There’s a lot that has happened to this family since their dad died, and despite the heartache that is clearly still set firmly in their hearts, they are still pulling together strong and I admire that.
***
I open the door to Lottie and Spike. I texted them and invited them over, with the thought that it would be good for Tara to have some family time, and some girl time all mixed together.
“What’s with the dude on the door?” Lottie barks, flicking her head over her shoulder and motioning to commando two, I think.
“Oh. There was a bit of trouble yesterday. Spike didn’t tell you?”
“Spike didn’t know. Spike had a very rare day off yesterday,” Spike grumbles, and the look on his face tells me that it’s obviously a touchy subject.
“Well, you had better come in then, hadn’t you?” I say, holding the door wide. As they enter, I watch commando checking out Lottie’s ass in the very cute hot pants she’s wearing. I raise mybrows at him in stern questioning, and he snaps his head back around to look straight ahead. If he knows what’s good for him, he won’t check out any of our asses. That would result in him being fired and probably beaten up.
“We brought Chinese food!” Lottie announces, holding up bags as she enters the lounge. She may be small but she’s a huge presence, and she likes it to be felt. I’m pretty sure she would like to enter every room accompanied by music and crowds cheering, much like a boxer walking out to the ring before a match.
“Arianna. You can help me sort this lot out in the kitchen,” she says, looking at me pointedly.
“Sure,” I laugh.
She takes all the cartons out one by one, and bangs each of them down angrily on the countertop. “What the hell is going on, Ari? You’ve forgotten how to use your phone?”
“There was just a bit of trouble at the boutique yesterday. Nothing big. Denham overreacted and we have…bodyguards, I suppose you’d call them.”
“Wehave bodyguards?”
“I…I have bodyguards. It sounds so stupid. I don’t even need them.”
“Ari.” She stomps her foot. “Why do you need a freakin’ bodyguard? What the fuck happened?”
“Someone has been sending me roses.”
“What?”
“Every day. I thought it was Denham. One would appear in my bedroom, every damn day. Then yesterday, some guy on a motorcycle delivered one to work.”
“Shit. Is ithim?” The tough Lottie exterior drops. She knows how serious this could be.
“Yes,” I whisper and Lottie sucks in a pained breath. “But I’m trying to play it down. After what happened with Tara today,Denham doesn’t need any more to worry about. You should have seen him today, it’s like he aged in front of my eyes from worry.”
“Yeah, there’s a whole load of shit surrounding Tara. Remind me to tell you another time. She’s a good kid but she’s really done some stupid fucking stuff.” She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “So if he has sent you roses every day, did he send one today?”
