He’s unlacing my bodice.
I clutch the material as it loosens and droops, relief flooding through me.
“Shout if you need anything.”He steps out, shutting the door behind him.
I change into a camisole and cotton pajama pants and emerge with the gown bundled in my arms.
“I’ll have that dry cleaned.”He takes it from me and hangs it in a mudroom off the kitchen.
“Throw it away.”
“You might change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
He slides a dish in front of me.Salmon, rice pilaf, and green beans with almonds.The scent of hot food sends my stomach into somersaults.
“Eat.”He makes his own plate.
“You brought me to an island full of naked people.”I lower onto a stool.
“You needed a place to stay.”
I stare at him.At the rain hitting the windows.At the firelight flickering from the other room.And I wonder, not for the first time, what the hell I got myself into.
And why I’m not in a hurry to leave.
He hands me a fork, plops down beside me, and watches me eat like I’m the most interesting part of his night.
The food is too hot, but my stomach doesn’t care.I chew slowly, unconcerned with the dense silence churning between us.
Eventually, he sets down his fork and pulls off his beanie, shaking out a luxurious mop of inky curls.While I was in the bathroom, he removed his boots, socks, and rings and washed the dark makeup from his eyes.
“Spill it, Angel Wings.”His stare draws me in.
“What?”
“Whatever you’re thinking.”
“It’s none of my business.”
“Cute.Let’s pretend you didn’t meet the family at a full-frontal welcome party.Nothing says hello like surprise nudity.”He shudders dramatically.“Good luck un-seeing Kody’s third leg.”
“I didn’t look.”My face heats.
“Denial’s a lovely color on you.I may not be caught up on all the social norms, but I know what you saw—” he directs a finger toward the second floor “—isn’t a paint-by-numbers situation.”
Since he met me in the trigger-happy-bridezilla phase of my life, we’ve established I’m not the standard type.
“Okay.Fine.”I push away my finished plate and twist on the stool to face him.“You refer to Leo and Kody as your brothers, but they’re not?”
“We were raised in the Arctic as brothers.”
“Raised by a psychopath.The news reports said he’s dead.Who was he?”
“He was a Strakh.Monty and Kody’s brother.Leo’s father.And—”
“Your uncle.”
