“Ma?” a male voice called out from the other room.
“Oh, that must be Brody,” Mrs. Bennett beamed. “I completely forgot I invited him over to try my new scones.”
“Of course she did,” I muttered.
Josie nudged me again, but that didn’t do much to change my attitude. I didn’t like another man being pushed at Josie, not when she was…sleeping on my couch. No other men needed to even enter her mind.
“Josie,” Brody grinned at her as he stepped into the kitchen, bending over to kiss her cheek.
A growl erupted low in my chest at the sight of his lips anywhere near her, and based on the way Brody pulled back suddenly, he heard it.
“Just saying hello.”
“Say hello without your lips touching her,” I snapped.
“My, my,” Mrs. Bennett chuckled. “A little territorial this afternoon, aren’t we?”
“Oh, he’s just afraid I’ll catch the flu and pass it on to him. I’ve been sleeping on his couch ever since Sawyer broughtCuddlebughome.”
“Cuddlebug?” Mrs. Bennett asked, startled by the name.
“Why his couch?” Brody questioned. “Why not someone else’s?”
“Cuddlebug is Sawyer’s disgusting nickname for Scarlet, and I actually started sleeping on his couch when he took pity on me one night when he came home from work and found me freezing in my car.”
“You could have called me,” Brody demanded.
“Why do you have to leave?” Mrs. Bennett asked.
“If I told you, I’d make you blush,” Josie answered, taking a sip of her tea.
“You know you could have called me. I have a spare room where you can sleep. You don’t have to sleep on his couch,” Brody said, shooting me a disgusted look.
“The couch is fine.”
“Oh, you could sleep here!” Mrs. Bennett exclaimed. “I have a spare room, and I would feed you every night. Plus, I’m sure Brody would love to see you. It’s not appropriate for a man and woman to spend time alone together before they’re married.”
The look she shot me could have melted ice, not that I cared. There was nothing going on between us anyway. I wasn’t sleeping with Josie, and even if I was, it was none of their business.
“Really, Mrs. Bennett, it’s fine. I only go over when I’m absolutely desperate.”
“Which is basically every night,” I said, slipping my arm around Josie’s shoulder and pulling her closer.
She did a double-take, shooting me a questioning look.
“Uh…well, aside from the last week.”
“Right, when you ran home in the morning in only my shirt,” I retorted. “I’m pretty sure everyone got the idea.”
Her face flamed red, but it was the anger on Brody’s face that really made it all worth it. Though I wasn’t sure why hewas about to explode. As far as Josie said, neither of them was actually interested in the other.
“My, my,” Mrs. Bennett said, hiding her face behind her teacup. “It does sound like you’ve got quite the adventurous life. So much has happened since the last time you stopped by. That was around the time of the snowstorm, right?”
“Right,” I spoke up before Josie got the chance. “It was a bad storm. I’ve never been this far north during the winter. I wasn’t exactly prepared.”
“Oh, you have to be around here. These storms can be deadly.”
“Well, thankfully, I had Josie to guide me through it all. She made me chili and had plenty of blankets for us to snuggle under to ward off the cold.”
