Millie squeaked with surprise and I quickly covered her withmy body when I heard my brother’s voice just outside the bathroom.
“Flint!” I bellowed, “Get the fuck out of here!”
CHAPTER 10
Ethan
“It’s not my fault, Ethan,” Flint casually stated, trying to hide his humor behind indifference. “Gavin heard Millie screaming and was too afraid to come inside and see what was wrong after the last time he’d entered her bathroom without permission, so he called in the troops.” He jerked his thumb at his chest as though I couldn’t conclude on my own what he meant.
I’d been very patient with my brother over the years. Lord knew he needed it. But right now, it was taking everything I had not to throttle him. I still wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold back, after seeing how upset my mate was. I was doing my damnedest to keep control, but it wasn’t easy.
“You owe Millie an apology,” I ground out, not giving a shit about myself.
This was about my mate. She was still upstairs hiding, five shades of red, because of what my brother had just rudely witnessed.
“Sure. No problem, you want me to go upstairs now, or should I give Millie a few minutes to clean up?” Flint innocently inquired.
“You’ll talk to her tomorrow. Don’t even think about trying to talk to her tonight. You’ve done enough damage already,” I sternly lectured.
Flint grinned mischievously. “I’ve done enough damage? Have you seen your bathroom door? That shit is in pieces, man! Say, didn’t you just give Gavin a ration of shit for doing the same thing to Millie only a few days ago?”
My even temper was legendary amongst those who knew me. However, Flint was about to change all that for the worse.
“Go back to the guest house, Flint. I’m not doing this with you tonight,” I spoke in a rough whisper, pinching the bridge of my nose while counting to ten in my head.
“I’m actually going out. I’ve got a date. I just wanted to let you know I probably won’t be back tonight,” he casually informed me.
A date? What the hell? “You’ve only been in town for two days and you have a date lined up? Who is she?”
Flint shrugged. “Beats me. I just picked her name from a stack of napkins.”
What the fuck was he going on about? “What the fuck does that mean?”
“I’m running late, so I’ll let Millie explain it. Don’t wait up,” he quipped, before heading toward the door for his date.
Millie
I couldn’t make eye contact with anyone at the breakfast table that next morning. Even though Flint was the only one who’d walked in on Ethan and me, I was certain the perv had told everyone else in the house about it by now.
To my surprise, Ethan hadn’t forbidden me to work this morning. I think he felt really guilty about Flint’s behavior and was trying to make it up to me by allowing me to keep my job. At least there was a silver lining.
But I wasn’t completely in the clear yet. My mate had told me if anything else suspicious occurred, I was quitting on the spot. Taking the deal, as it was far better than the one I’d been expecting, I’d agreed and headed out to the garage with Stark.
Thankfully, this blissfully quiet brother of Ethan’s was driving me to work today and I didn’t have to relive the whole traumatizing event of last night all over again in a car ride over to the coffee shop with Flint.
One of the conditions of my parole, I mean my freedom, was that I was to be driven to work in a different vehicle each time I left the house. Between Ethan’s full garage, and our visitors, that was doable for the next several shifts. After that, we’d rotate vehicles to keep anyone potentially looking for me disorientated about my comings and goings.
When I clocked in for work, I noticed my friend Jessica wasn’t there and Catherine said she’d called out because she’d had a wild date the night before. No one else could pick up the shift, so we were understaffed for the day. We were so busy, the girls didn’t even have much time to pepper me with questions about yet another hot man who was weirdly escorting me to work.
I ended up staying an extra hour at the coffee shop because the person relieving me was late. By the time I left, I was dead on my feet and napped on the quiet ride home. Stark didn’t even tease me about it, which I greatly appreciated. I might not know this man well, but his presence was somehow comforting for someone who rarely said more than a few words.
As soon as I stepped into the house, I was overwhelmed by the most delightful, homey aromas I could imagine. For dinner, Ethan and Gavin had cooked us a feast: Chicken parm with pasta and homemade garlic rolls.
Walking over to my mate, I circled his waist with my arms and hugged him tight. “I’m running upstairs for a quick shower, but I can’t wait to dig into this meal as soon as it’s done.”
Ethan wiped his hands on a clean dishtowel and set it on the counter before turning and giving me a proper greeting. Reluctantly letting me go, he said, “It’ll be ready as soon as you are.”
Dizzy with a hunger that didn’t emanate from my stomach, I slowly nodded then headed upstairs to rinse off the cloying scents of the coffee shop.
