“Lucas,” I hissed, “let go.”
Our little disagreement must’ve penetrated the car, because Liam turned his head. I ground my teeth to prevent the whimper and shout building inside my throat.
The girl spun around in her seat, and damn if the whimper didn’t win out, because she was stunning andblonde. It wasn’t Ness but it was also not anyone I’d ever seen before. Was she a shifter or a human? Was Liam breaking his own rules and bringing townies onto the compound? And whatever happened to being exclusive?
I yanked my arm from Lucas’s grasp just as the blonde unclicked her door and stepped out.
“Take him.” Lucas shoved Storm into my arms.
I latched onto the startled baby, startled myself. Storm grabbed a fistful of my hair as though worried he might be swung into yet another pair of arms.
Together, we watched the blonde with unnerving focus. Then my gaze strayed to Lucas’s ramrod posture and pinched shoulder blades. The man who was never quiet nor still wasn’t budging a single muscle. I wasn’t even sure whether he was still breathing. And it hit me why, before the girl’s coat even swung open and revealed a slightly swollen abdomen.
Sarah.
“When did you get here?” His words came out so thinly it sounded like someone had gone at Lucas’s larynx with a meat mallet.
“An hour ago.”
His pale blue gaze snapped from side to side. “Where’s your car?”
“I grabbed a ride with Mattie and Amanda. They’re out at that restaurant . . . Seoul Sister.” Her gaze traveled toward me. After a long once-over, she volleyed over a small smile that made her brown eyes glitter like my garland of stars.
I noticed one of them was slightly red, as though scratched or irritated. Was that why Liam had held her face so close? Looking for a fallen eyelash or a stray contact lens? Probably eyelash since most shifters had 20/20 vision.
Hands lifted Storm from my locked arms. “Sarah. Nikki. Nikki. Sarah.” Liam rubbed his jaw against his squirming son’s head.
“So you’re Lucas’s muse . . .” She stuck out a hand bedecked in rings, bracelets, and bright scarlet nail polish.
Lucas still stood stock-still, as though afraid breathing might blow Sarah away.
Snapping out of my daze, I poked my hand out of my sweater sleeve and reached out. “You’re the muse. I’m just the editor.”
After we shook hands, she crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side, making her kinky, golden curls cascade down one shoulder. “Tongue-tied, honey?” she threw at Lucas.
A warm palm grazed the small of my back. “Let’s give them a little space.” Liam ticked his head toward the hill. “Your parents invited me to dinner.”
My heart peeled itself off the ground and began to slink back up the length of me.
If that’s all right with you, that is?
I gave a jerky nod before turning away from the soundlessly feuding lovers.
As we trekked back uphill, I glanced over my shoulder. “Are they going to be all right?”
“Those two. Give them an hour, a couple things to throw, and a bedroom, and they’ll be just fine.”
“Things to throw?” That sounded ominous.
“Pillows mostly. Although I have seen Sarah frisbee over a book or two. Mostly paperbacks.”
My eyelashes were still glued to my browbone. My parents had gotten into fights, but neither had ever launched anything at the other.
“They never actually aim at each other.” Liam gave me a reassuring smile that didn’t quite do the trick. “One thing you’ll eventually learn about those two . . . they’re loud. When they fight. When they talk. When they laugh. When they love.”
The door of the cabin shut, and just as Liam had predicted, one of Storm’s plush toys sailed through the air and smacked the window above the couch.
“Hopefully, they’ll have gotten it out of their system before I get home, or I’ll need to find myself and Storm some earplugs.”
