The three men stared at her with open mouths, and then they burst into laughter until tears rolled down their cheeks.
“Oh man, this shit’s going to get really interesting,” Zander choked out.
“Where are my groceries?” she demanded, sending Justice a quelling stare.
“I brought them to your apartment and put everything away.”
She nodded and slid into the car. Arms crossed over her chest, she continued to stare them down all the way back to her apartment building.
As soon as she let them all into her apartment, she went into the kitchen and did inventory, making certain Justice had gotten everything she had requested. To her surprise, he’d been very exacting, as exacting as she had been in making her list. He’d gotten every single item down to the nitpicky details.
She prepared the buttermilk marinade for the fish, guaranteed to take all the fishy smell and taste from the flesh, and then set it back in the fridge to soak for a few hours. Then she laid out everything she needed for the fries, homemade hush puppies and homemade coleslaw, including homemade tartar sauce.
It was the extent and full range of her culinary skills aside from baking. Desserts, she kicked ass at. But actual meals? Not so much. So she and her dad had a deal. He made dinner and she took care of desserts. Except for her grandmother’s secret fish fry recipe that had been handed down over several generations. Even her father hadn’t been privy to it, and so Hayley had been forced to learn it on her own andeventually she perfected it. It was a meal her dad asked her to make at least once a week. They even went down to his favorite fishing hole to catch their own catfish. Although Hayley drew the line at cleaning them. That was her dad’s job.
She surveyed the ingredients on hand and then decided on an absolutely delicious Mississippi Mud sheet cake. She would have to remember to ask if Thane would be back the following morning so she could save him a piece and see if she measured up to a Mississippian.
After popping the cake in the oven to bake, she opted to go shower and change her clothes. It had been more humid than usual today, but then tomorrow was supposed to be rain, rain and even more rain, hence the dense humidity that reminded her all too much of the constant humidity in the south.
She breezed past the guys in her living room, smiling when they called after her, demanding to know what she was cooking, accompanied by groans and comments of “whatever it is smells damn good.” She hoped so. As childish as it was, just one time, she didn’t want to be treated to someone’s recitation of all Evangeline’s virtues. And if the food didn’t work and they hated it? She’d kick them all out of her apartment and no matter what Silas ordered she’d never let them back in again.
Satisfied with her plan of vengeance, she hurried through her shower, excited to get dinner started. New Yorkers were notoriously late dinner eaters, but she was too accustomed to eating early. Six was considered a late dinner where she was from. So she and her father always ate between five and five thirty.
She was delighted that she moved far easier today without the residual stiffness and discomfort she’d suffered since the night of her attack. Oddly enough, she’d suffered no nightmares. In fact, she didn’t even think about that night. But then she had stayed with Silas the first few days. She’d slept in his bed, in his arms. She refused to feel guilt, because at the time she didn’t know he was seeing another woman. That was forhis conscience to bear because he should have told her. And well after Silas had left on his business trip, his men had rotated in and out, keeping her busy and occupied. She wondered if that was why Silas had asked them to sit on her—so she wouldn’t be completely alone to deal with the fallout of her attack. She had to at least give him credit for that, because if that had been his plan, it had certainly been successful.
She flashed a smile at the three guys lounging on her ridiculously small furniture—but then they were ridiculously large men—watching a baseball game on the big-screen television mounted to her wall. The TV had amused her when she’d moved in, but after meeting Silas, it made sense that he would have furnished his apartments with things that pleased him.
“How long is it going to be?” Justice asked, his voice suspiciously whiny.
She grinned. “Not for a while yet. Y’all hungry?”
“We weren’t until we started smelling whatever’s in the oven,” Maddox grumbled.
She flashed another serene smile in his direction and then disappeared into the kitchen, determined to torture them more.
Three hours later, the guys had obviously decided to take turns walking into the kitchen to ask her the same question, over and over. When will the food be ready? Every fifteen minutes. Each time she merely smiled and said, “Soon.”
Hastily she set the small dinner table that was stuck in the in-between area between the kitchen and the living room and then eyeballed the chairs suspiciously. They didn’t look like they’d accommodate men the size of Maddox, Justice and Zander. She could just let everyone eat in the living room like they had for the past two days, but cooking her father’s favorite meal had made her homesick and made her miss her dad more keenly than ever. Setting the table for the others gave her the illusion of the family dinners they used to share.
As she set the table, she let her finger run over the plates, aged butstill in perfect condition, that had belonged to her mother and, before her, Hayley’s grandmother. Tears welled in her eyes, and she hastily wiped them away with the back of her hand when she heard the sound of one of the men approaching.
“Hayley?” Maddox said in a low voice.
“It won’t be long,” she said brightly. “As soon as I finish up setting the table, the food will be done and I’ll have it out for everyone.”
“Sweetheart, why were you crying?” he asked in a gentle voice.
To her mortification, his caring tone made her nose draw up and tears stung her lids even more sharply.
“It’s nothing,” she said shakily, refusing to face him. “I was just thinking about my... dad. I miss him so much. I know it seems silly to set the table when y’all would probably be much more comfortable in the living room, but this reminds me of my meals with him. And I guess I’m just missing him more than usual tonight.”
To her surprise she found herself enfolded in Maddox’s massive arms as he hugged her gently to his chest, still mindful of her healing ribs. He didn’t say anything. He simply stood there and held her until she was finished sniffling into his shirt.
Embarrassed, she pulled away, wiping at the evidence of her tears.
“Do you think the others will mind?” she asked, looking back at the table.
“They won’t mind at all,” Maddox said softly. “I’ll go round them up while you grab the food. Take your time, sweetheart. We have all night and no other place we’d rather be.”
