Wait a second...
I slapped the sheet down with my hand, half shrieking and for some unknown reason, half laughing. "What the hell are you doing?"
Of the ten different ways he couldhave answered, Dex chose to laugh. But it wasn't a regular laugh, it was the lightest, most genuine sound I'd ever heard from him. "Checkin' out that ass," he answered breezily.
"Jeez," I groaned, rolling onto my side to face away from him. My shirt didn't cover my upper arms at all, so as long as I kept my arm clamped down he wouldn't be able to see it. Which only meant that I needed to quit testing fate and get the heck out of the room. "That's inappropriate, Dex."
"Who says?" he answered from behind me. I could hear the sheets rustling with his movement.
My brother, I wanted to answer him but seriously? What had ever given me the idea that Dex would do something he didn't want to? Oh, please.
I sighed and sat up on the edge of the bed, facing the wall. My clothes were piled on the floor and I carefully slid mypantsup my legs without standing up too much.
"You wanna shower before we get goin'?" Dex's voice carried over from the opposite side of the room.
I had no idea what he was doing. Knowing him, probably not getting dressed. I had a terrible feeling he slept in only his underwear. I'd barely survived seeing him in shorts back in Austin. Seeing him in his underwear now that I realized how I—unfortunately—felt for him? Disaster.
"Where are we going?" It was Sunday and the shop was closed.
"My niece's birthday party." It sounded like he'd opened the bathroom door. "I need to stop and get her somethin' or else I'll never hear the end of it."
Now that made me laugh. Dex Locke scared of his niece's wrath? The fact was, I hadn't met his family. I wouldn't know anyone besides him at the party, and just thinking about that made me anxious.
I leaned back to zip up the tab on mypants. "I can just stay here if you don't mind."
His huff was distorted by the distance. "I want you to go."
Crap.
The recommendation just kind of came out. "You sure you don't have anyone else that already knows your family?" The stupid redhead flashed through my brain. Ugh.
"No," he answered too quickly. "You're comin'. So grab your bathin' suit and whatever else you're gonna need at the lake, so we can leave in an hour."
A bathing suit? In front of his family? I'd just come to terms with my arm the day before, but that didn't mean I was ready to have a ton of people I didn't know looking at it weird.
Shit.
"All right." I was such a wuss. Such a big, friggin' coward.
I stood up and slipped my cardigan on over my tank top, grabbing my socks off the floor before rounding the bed. Dex was standing just inside his bathroom, a toothbrush shoved into his mouth, his face still too sleepy.
And the cruel bastard that weaved the fate of people's lives together decided that the beautiful black-haired man with brilliant tattoos all over his upper body, would be standing there in his boxers. The hand on his hip only accentuated the contoured lines of muscle beneath all his tattoos. Damn him.
"You seen my cuts?" he asked through a mouthful of toothpaste.
But of course I was standing there looking at Uriel, the friendly, vibrant octopus that twirled a tentacle around one of his nipple piercings.
I coughed, dragging my eyes up to his bristly beard. "What?"
"My cuts."
"What's that?"
He lowered his chin in disbelief. "My cuts, babe. My MC vest. You seen it?"
The redhead flashed through my memory. Again. I had to fight the urge to call him an idiot for leaving me at his house alone that day. I'm sure my nostrils flared as I plastered a pleasant smile on my face. I'd completely forgotten to tell him about his stupid vest the day before since he'd been so busy with clients. "It's at the shop. Your lady friend dropped it off a couple days ago."
His forehead crinkled. "Who?"
