“You can join us in the great room.Business has been discussed.”He was looking at Winslet as he spoke, but his eyes cut to me for a second.As if I was the business he was speaking of.
I’d already worked that out.I didn’t like not being informed.It was my life, my safety, that this had to involve.
Winslet stood up.“Oh, good.Do we need more snacks?”
Oz shook his head once.“I am having Forge make a takeout order.I’ll send one of the guys to go get it.You’ve made enough.Come relax.Put your feet up.”
Winslet gave her husband a crooked grin.“I’m barely in my second trimester.I don’t need to put my feet up.”
He cocked a brow.“Yes, you do.”
“Are you insinuating that my ankles are swollen?Because I assure you, they are not,” she shot back at him defensively.
He took several long, purposeful strides until he was towering over her.I’d have cowered, but her shoulders went straight, and she tilted her head back to meet his heated gaze.
Oz slipped a knuckle under her chin and leaned closer to her face.“Your ankles are fucking perfect.I’m saying that I want you to rest.I don’t like seeing you tired.”
He brushed the side of her cheek reverently.I looked away, feeling as if I were invading their moment by being in here.I glanced over at Cressida, and she was grinning and nodded her head toward the door.I followed her out, leaving them alone.
“Savelle men,” she sighed with a knowing smirk on her face and a shake of her head.“They are a blessing and a curse to every woman who falls under their spell.But”—she cut her eyes at me—“when they fall in love with you, then you’re the luckiest female on the planet.”
I felt a small pang of … envy.I’d had guys claim they loved me before, but I never returned the emotion.I cared, but not loved.I’d only ever loved Calvin, and I had always compared the men who came into my life to him.They never measured up.
Until now.
Forge was nothing like Calvin.They couldn’t be more different.Yet Forge didn’t pale in his cousin’s shadow.He had his own distinct mark.As if he didn’t need to meet another’s expectations.He knew he had more than most.
I managed a smile at her response in case she looked back at me.The walk to the great room became louder as we got closer.Music—country music, to be exact—and voices.Several of them.Some laughter, which was comforting.I hadn’t known what we would be walking into, but by the sounds of it, this didn’t seem like a serious gathering.More like a party.
As if his presence beckoned me, my gaze scanned the room for Forge, but I didn’t see him.Concerned, I started to ask Cressida when I noticed movement outside.Through the glass doors and floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the back patio, there was a swish of long blonde hair, then Forge.
I tensed.
He was outside, dancing.The two-step.Calvin had taught me how to do it at a country bar we went to in Nashville once.
The smile on Forge’s face as he stared down at her made my chest tighten up.
Stupid, stupid, Elsie.You do not care.You know better.
But I did care.
“Kash is motioning me over,” Cressida said, snapping my attention off the couple outside.“Are you okay, or do you want me to stay with you?”
I blinked, trying to clear my head from the taunting image.“Uh, yeah, um … I’m fine,” I assured her, although I wasn’t.I wanted to go to my room.Write Calvin a letter.Hide from this.
“Go.I don’t think I am staying long.I’m tired,” I added.
A frown puckered her brow.“It’s only seven,” she pointed out.“Are you feeling okay?”
I nodded.“Yeah.Just didn’t sleep much last night.”Which was the truth.It was always the truth.Sleep brought nightmares.They weren’t easing.If anything, they were getting worse.
“Cressida,” Kash called, “let’s go show my brother the real dancer in the family.”
She had a torn expression on her face as she looked from him to me.It was nice that she was even considering not going for my sake.
“I am fine.Go on, before he comes to get you.”I tried to sound teasing and lighthearted, but my voice didn’t quite hit the mark.
“If you’re sure,” she said, giving him a quick glance, then turning back to me.
