He grins and catches my hand for a second, steering me to the coffee. “If I can find a way to bake something, I will. And a tray pancake is super easy. Can you have coffee? Would you rather decaf?”
I shake my head firmly. “Bite your tongue.”
He laughs under his breath. “Consider it bitten, mama.”
Heat races through me and I jerk my gaze up to meet his face. He holds my eyes, our shared secret look slow and sweet until the oven timer goes off.
“There are Miss Bella’s pancakes,” he says, holding my gaze even as he steps away.
I fill a coffee mug for myself. “Do you have one?”
“Not yet. I was focused on getting breakfast made. Speaking of which, my brother Ridge is going to come blowing through in a few minutes. I think it’s time you meet him.”
I take a deep breath. “Okay.”
“I would normally say his bark is worse than his bite, but he sat outside this house while I was gone last night, and he would have bitten the head offanyone who came close, so I’ll just say, he growls a lot but he’d never bite you.”
Bellamy laughs.
I glance down and she bares her teeth at me. “I should warn you she hears everything.”
Zane taps his forehead in a little salute to Bellamy. “Noted. Ridge will never bite you. But if you ever want him to fight a monster, he’ll do it no questions asked.”
As he slices the big baked pancake into squares, there are light footsteps in the hallway.
Zane holds my gaze as Luna comes in, like he can read my mind.
Yes, I’m thinking about hiding behind my coffee mug until she leaves again.
We’ll tell them it’s mine.
The only way that plan makes sense is if I let Luna see that I’m attracted to her son, which terrifies me.
“Coffee?” I ask her. It comes out a little high pitched and nervous.
“Always.”
I grab a cup for her, then hand it over so she can doctor it herself.
“You were out late,” she says to Zane. “What time did you get home?”
“Midnight.” His gaze slides back to me. “Hope was still up. She made sure I got in all right.”
“Oh?” Luna looks back and forth between us.
I can’t read her expression.
The back door swings open and Ridge strides in. He comes to an abrupt halt when he sees me and Bellamy still in our PJs.
“Good morning,” he says slowly. Tersely.
Luna shifts her scrutinizing gaze to her oldestson, then back to his brother. And then, again, to me.
“Have you met Hope and Bellamy yet?” she finally asks.
He shakes his head.
I should extend my hand.He won’t bite us.
