Page 29 of Shark’s Pride

I clenched my jaw. “But you’re just popping by on your way to fuck over some other generous john?”

The woman took a second to compose herself, breathing in deep. “I realize I’m probably the last person you expected to see on the other side of that door this morning.”

I folded my arms.

“But I’ve come to warn you.”

“Warn him?” The retort belonged to Abbi. She was more beautiful than ever, but I couldn’t appreciate the look because my gut clenched in matching increments to her forehead. “About what?”

As I joined her in swinging sights back to Tawny, the woman returned an equally direct stare. I wasn’t known for my patience or acquiescence, and she’d be smart to remember it now.

“You really need to listen to me, okay?”

With an impatient huff, I answered, “I didn’t shut the door in your face, did I? And really, after the maelstrom you’ve created, I really should have.”

“Again, I’m…I’m truly sorry for that.” Some of Tawny’s conviction drained out with the repentance. “Honestly, Sebastian. I don’t know what else I can say to make you believe me.” She paused, once more going for the back-and-forth stare between Abbi and me. Undoubtedly finding a more sympathetic audience in Abbi, she stammered, “Can I, uhhh, take you up on that tea? I could really use something to calm my nerves.”

“Calm your nerves?” My bark was a result of my own damn nerves, goddammit.

“Of course. Let’s go into the kitchen.” Abbi put her arm loosely around Tawny’s shoulders, bringing on a new conflict of kiss-her-or-spank-her for me. It only worsened as she guided the woman toward the kitchen, quickly looking at me over Tawny’s shoulder.

In response, I shrugged curtly. Right now, only Tawny could provide answers to about a hundred of my questions. So throwing her out, while exceptionally satisfying, wouldn’t serve any practical purpose.

“I’ll put some water on. Bas, do you want another cup of coffee?”

“No, babe. I’m good. Why don’t you sit and I’ll get the kettle started?”

She gave me a grateful smile while joining Tawny at the breakfast bar. It didn’t take her long to realize that she didn’t know her way around my kitchen yet, despite her natural instinct of shifting at once into hostess mode. Or maybe the look was for a different reason—that she was thankful I hadn’t pointed out the newness of our relationship in front of a woman I’d shared a past relationship. “Relationship” being a really loose term here…

Good God. How humorous this whole situation was.

Except that it wasn’t.

On that note, I grabbed a variety of teas for the women to choose from and placed them on a small plate along with the cream, sugar, honey, and lemon. Christ, how did a cup of tea become such a production? I should’ve just tossed Tawny a bottle of water, demanded she answer my questions, and then sent her packing. By the time they finished with the tea, Abbi and I could’ve been into our second orgasm.

More small talk between the women until the water was ready and I’d filled two cups. I set them on the bar…and then took a determined stand across from them.

“Thank you.” Tawny’s voice was still abnormally serene, considering the announcement with which she’d arrived. She chose a tea bag with equal grace, practically reminding me of some Victorian poet as she dunked it.

“Yes,” Abbi concurred. “Thank you for this, Bas.”

She used the chance to catch my gaze with hers, but I answered with a frustrated scowl. I didn’t have a single answer for the curiosity on her face, and that was maddening. I had to do something—had to move.

Obeying the instinct, I fumbled at the apparatus to open the blinds covering the kitchen windows. Since they faced east, a substantial swath of golden sunlight poured in, promising another day of weather perfection for Southern California.

“You really have no idea how lucky we are to have these weather conditions until you have to live on the streets for days at a time.” Tawny’s voiced thought accompanied the gentle steeps she gave her tea bag.

“Explain.”

“What’s to explain?” she volleyed.

“Can I ask how you two met?” Abbi interjected.

“I was a dancer,” Tawny explained with a rueful smile. “He would come into the club I worked at every now and then.”

“Listen, as nice as a cup of tea and a stroll down memory lane may seem to some, it’s not really my…well, cup of tea.” I stared at her with pointed intensity. “And frankly, Tawny, I don’t really remember you.” I winced the moment the words left my mouth, but it was the truth. Tawny wasn’t like Cinnamon. She was pretty but in an ordinary way, especially dressed in a dingy hoodie and faded leggings. Clearly she didn’t have the other dancer’s ballbuster attitude.

“I’m not surprised.” Though the woman’s shrug did hit me as a surprise. “From what the other girls always said, you’re a pretty detached john.”