Sloane shakes her head and looks across the table at Lainey Rai, “I haven’t, but it sounds like fun. We can makeyour favorite cookies and pack a picnic.” Lainey Rai’s face lights up again, warming my heart. Sloane looks at Mason next to her with a twinkle in her eye and scrunches her nose, “I’ll probably look like a beached whale by then.”
Mason slides the back of his finger across her cheek. “You’ll look beautiful, especially if you look like a beached whale.” Sloane chuckles and tilts her head to Mason’s hand.
I’ve never seen my brother show affection to any women outside of our family. He’s always been the non-committal type, but I can see how happy Sloane makes him. My mind wanders to the feeling of Elly on my lap in front of the fireplace earlier today, and I shut the thought down quick.
“Are you expecting, Sloane?” Elly asks.
Something about this stranger knowing my family’s personal business doesn’t sit well with me, but I bite my tongue and keep my face impassive instead of making it known. The cautious side of me worries about her using any information she might learn.
Sloane turns her attention to Elly and a blush brightens her cheeks. “I am, the doctor says I’m due around the end of August.”
Elly’s face lights up and she sits up tall. “My birthday’s in August, the twenty-ninth,” she raises her hand into the air next to her face and shrugs one shoulder, “perfectionist Virgo.” She lowers her hand to her lap. “When will you find out if it’s a boy or girl?”
“We have an appointment next month to do bloodwork and we should find out then.” Sloane’s face is glowing as she talks about the baby, I glance at Mason and he’s looking at Sloane with hearts in his eyes as she talks.
Mason sets his arm across the back of Sloane’s seat, his thumb lazily sliding between her shoulder blades, and looks across the table at his twin. “Marley swears it’s a boy, and since she always calls the gender of the colts dead-on beforethey’re born, we’re taking bets on whether she’s right or not.”
“I feel it in my gut, it’s a little boy.” Marley tilts her head with a smile as she looks at Sloane, they became fast friends when Sloane started working here last year and Marley has expressed more than once that she’s over the moon they will be sisters.
Marley’s eyes flick to Jax sitting next to Sloane before she quickly ducks her head and focuses on the food she’s cutting on her plate. Her overall countenance stiffens and my hackles go up a bit, but just as I look at him, his eyes lower to his plate. Is that a smile on his face?
“How fun!” Elly says, the smile on her face brightens the room and makes her look innocent and sweet as she looks between Mason and Marley, “I don’t have any siblings or extended family, so those types of fun little games were seriously lacking in my childhood.”
I wonder what all is hiding behind the innocent smile on her face, and I huff a grunt. Is anything she says true? Is her lack of siblings the reason she’s not bothered by what she does? Before I realize I’m saying it and can bite my tongue, I growl, “That explains a lot.”
The room becomes quiet, and everything seems suspended as all eyes turn to me. Dad clears his throat and tips his water glass to his lips, and Mason lifts a brow at me. I know we agreed to treat her like a guest, but I’m having a hard time not thinking about why she’s here.
Fuck.
Why am I letting her bother me so much?
Those big brown eyes are cast in my direction, the sparkle gone, and the smile is still on her face, but when I glance at her hand holding her fork, it’s trembling slightly. Regret instantly sets in my gut and I feel like the biggest shit heel; I shouldn’t have said that, it can’t be easy to be the enemy in the room.
She brought it on herself, she was told not to come back.
“Meaning?” The flush on her face could be anger or embarrassment, but it’s making the white bandage taped across her eyebrow stand out even more. She sets her fork on her plate and lifts her napkin to her mouth before she folds the corners perfectly together and sets it on the table.
I glance at Lainey Rai, and she’s looking at me with her eyebrows pulled together in confusion, I never behave this way. She doesn’t know what’s going on, but if anyone is making her feel uncomfortable, it’s me. Moving my gaze back to the little tornado that’s the reason for my strange behavior, my eyes lock on hers for a moment.
It becomes a staring contest, her eyes don’t move from mine. She’s got backbone for a little thing; I’ve gotta give her that. I also set my fork on my plate and wipe my mouth.
Softly setting my wadded-up napkin on the table next to my plate, I clear my throat and look at Dad, who is watching me, “Nothing. Excuse me.”
As I walk out of the dining room, I feel like a complete ass even though she’s the one that shouldn’t be here.
Damn it. That wasn’t supposed to go that way.
The house is quiet since everyone is in the dining room and my footsteps on the area rugs as I walk to the office seem louder than usual. There is a war going on inside my head. On the one hand, I want to toss her out on her ass and pretend like I never met her, but on the other hand, I want to make her regret coming here.
Fucking hell.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ELLY
HE PULLShis ball cap out of his back pocket and claps it on his head as his broad frame disappears through the dining-room entry way. His worn blue flannel shirt stretches tight across his tense shoulders, and the edge of the baggy hem is tucked into the crease over his belt, revealing a perfect, muscular butt in his jeans.
My face heats as I realize I’m staring at his ass like he’s part of dessert.
