“Yes, but I have a method,” I grumbled.
“He said that as well.”
My heart kicked up at that, and I sat upright, eyeing the suspiciously normal herbal tea. It smelled the way I made it. It looked right, but…how?
“JR went next door and demanded all the things you use. Apparently, this isn’t the first time he’s done this,” she said, raising her eyebrow questioningly.
I shook my head, but said nothing else. Taking a tentative sip of my tea, I instantly felt better as the benefits of the delicious and nutritious drink soothed my dry throat.
“He’s a God,” I whispered.
“I wouldn’t go that far. I’ve heard him called many things, but never that, and never because of tea.”
“I need tea to function,” I explained. “So, are you his wife? His mistress? His?—”
“Sister,” she cut off.
I was about to take another sip, but paused before the cup could reach my lips. “You’re…”
“Are you surprised by that?”
My eyes took inventory of the state of how she was dressed. She was wearing his shirt, and even though it covered all the major bits, there was still a lot of skin showing. I wouldn’t walk around like that in any of Sawyer’s things.
“But…you’re half-naked.”
A smile tilted her lips for a split second before she winced, pressing her fingertips gently to her face.
The early morning and my first regular sleep in days had distracted me from the fact that this woman had a massive bruise on her face. A huge one. I sat up, my attention fully on her.
“Are you alright? JR didn’t?—”
“He would never,” she said before the words could slip from my lips.
Relief rushed through me, but I wasn’t sure why. I never felt at all like JR would ever do something so horrible. Yet, I had to be sure.
“No, this is the product of yet another bad decision.”
“Do you make a lot of those?”
“Unfortunately,” she answered, taking a sip of whatever was in her cup. “Hmm, this isn’t bad. JR says you run an apothecary shop.”
“I do.”
“That must be why the tea is so good. You use really fresh ingredients.”
“You…you like it?”
That flabbergasted me. Most people complimented my tea, but secretly desired coffee. But she seemed to genuinely like it.
“It took a few sips to really catch on, but yeah, I like it.”
I shifted on the couch, pulling the blanket tighter around me. I felt awkward, sitting here with a woman I didn’t know, acting like we were good friends.
“So…JR is your brother?”
“Yeah,” she chuckled. “Foster brother, but real brother in every way that matters.”
The information hit me like a sledgehammer, but before I could process it, she continued.
