But that didn’t make her feel any less angry. Or sad.
David was not a fan of Mati’s brothers. To put it mildly.
If it were at all possible, he’d be on his way to Sydney to see that Frankie, and Mati’s brothers, got a quick and intensely memorable lesson in the proper treatment of women in general—and Mati specifically.
He had to count to ten and remind himself, again, that hurling his cheese across the room would not fix anything.
As soon as he finished putting it away for later, strong arms twined around his waist and a forehead pressed against the back of his neck.
“I want to kill them,” Reese muttered.
Mati had announced she needed a shower and disappeared a few minutes ago. She’d showered that morning, which Reese had foolishly pointed out, but Mati had declared it was her day to wash her hair. David would have been reassured if she’d stomped off, but she’d gone silently, just as she’d been moving around his apartment since she’d hung up the phone.
Those assholes had taken all the starch and bluster out of their Matilda.
“I want to kill them, too,” he assured Reese.
“I’ve never really wanted to kill anyone before. This is new for me.”
David was well familiar with the concept. “Welcome to being in love,” he said glibly before realizing what the hell had come out of his mouth.
Reese didn’t move, didn’tbreathe,for a few seconds, but his hold didn’t loosen. Then hehooked his chin over David’s shoulder. “You want to talk about that?”
“Not even a little.” How could he? He had no explanation.
“Fair enough.”
Reese went back to the breakfast bar, his expression thoughtful. Mati came into the kitchen as David was putting the finishing touches on dinner. Neither he nor Reese commented on how long her shower had taken, but when he glanced at her, he realized there might have been more than one reason.
“Holy shit, your hair islong. I’ve never seen it down,” he said, noting it was still wet and she held her comb and brush in one hand.
“I haven’t either—infive years,” Reese said, staring at the tangle of curls swinging around her hips. “It’s lovely.”
Mati smiled. “Thank you. Honestly, it’s a huge pain in the ass and I should probably cut it off.”
David bit back the wholly inappropriatenothat wanted to burst from his lips at the idea of Mati cutting off those long, silky curls. “If it helps, I can brush it out for you,” he offered instead.
“You know how to do that?”
He made a face. “No, I was just going to tie it into knots and see what happens next. That’s cool, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. It was a dumb question. And I would love the help. Thank you.”
“Here, I have an idea,” David said. He dried his hands on his towel, tossed it aside, and ushered them into the living room. He flipped the switch on the fireplace and set the large gas fire ablaze.
He always felt a little goofy about his fireplace having a remote control, but it was better than not having a fireplace at all or dying in a city block fire, so he’d learned to appreciate it.
“This is great,” Mati said, holding her hands out to the flames.
“No bearskin rug?” Reese asked with a sly smile.
David hooked his finger through Reese’s belt loop and towed him in while curling an arm around Mati. He enjoyed everything about the way she melted against him and the color rising in Reese’s cheeks. “I don’t need it to seduce you, I bet.”
“Nope, you really don’t,” Reese agreed, gratifyingly breathless.
Mati smiled. “Is that why you brought us over here?”
“No, actually,” David said. “You two areterriblefor my concentration.”
