“I’m hanging up now. I love you.” They’d grown up with Charlotte in Port Hudson, and now she lived in Colorado and was a bestselling romance author.
“I love you, too. Remember, Crazy, Sexy, Sinful!”
“I don’t want to think about Charlotte writing romance. Bye, Sis.” He ended the call and sent a text to Shea. You might want to check out Twitter. I’ve been outed. Sorry.
His mind returned to Amber. It never drifted far. He’d sent her a text first thing this morning saying he’d had a great time last night, and she’d teased him about having dreamed about Zac Efron. She was a feisty one. He wondered if she’d seen the hashtag, and if so, whether she’d gotten a kick out of him reading the book.
He navigated to Twitter, took a screenshot of the picture and the ridiculous hashtag, and thumbed out a text to Amber. Looks like I need lessons in how to be a secret sexy reader. I hope you’re ready for the rewrites. He added the screenshot and sent it to her. As he navigated to Dawn’s contact information, Amber’s response rolled in. Brindle and Lindsay showed me. I can’t believe you’re reading it! Maybe I should tweet about what you’re really into. A picture of her leg from the knee down popped up. She was wearing a pretty pale green sock with a lace ruffle at the top.
He typed, Only yours, my fiercely feminine wild thing. I have to finish my workout and get ready to meet Shea. I’ll call around 11 your time. Can’t wait to hear your voice. He sent the message, and for a moment he stared at it. The last line had come so naturally, he hadn’t even thought about it. He chalked that up to just another of the many ways she’d affected him. His gaze moved to the picture of her leg and the pretty sock, but he was thinking about her smile, her laugh, and how much he’d hated that she’d spent yesterday thinking he had ghosted her.
He’d make damn sure she never worried about that again.
Another text appeared from Amber. Me too. She added a kissing emoji. Hell if that little yellow image didn’t make him miss her even more. He glanced at the clock and realized it was after five. He needed to get a move on and quickly called Dawn.
She answered on the second ring. “Hey. I have a bone to pick with you.”
“Please tell me you have your pepper spray.” It was after eight o’clock in New York, and he could tell by the way she was panting that she was out for her evening run.
“Nope, and I’m wearing a shirt that says Easy target. Nobody cares if I go missing across the chest.”
“You’re a pain in my ass.”
“You’re welcome. Now, that bone I need to pick—”
“If it’s about the hashtag, I don’t want to hear it.”
“I’m way past the hashtag, and I have a lot of questions about you reading romance. But first I want to know why you didn’t stop by to see us when you were in New York yesterday.”
“I was only in the city for an hour to pick up a few things, and I guess if you saw the hashtag, you know I’m in LA now.”
“That’s old news. Everyone in the world has probably seen the hashtag and knows you’re in LA. But next time you’re in New York, I expect a call.”
He smiled to himself. He’d raised his siblings to speak their minds, and Dawn was tough. But after knowing how bad Amber had felt when she hadn’t seen his letter, he cut his sister some slack. “Sorry.”
“If you had called, I would have told you that Mom has a boyfriend.”
“What do you mean, a boyfriend?”
“I realize it’s an unfamiliar term for you, but for the rest of us, a boyfriend is a man who regularly takes a woman out on dates and diddles her fiddle.”
“That’s our mother you’re talking about.” He paced, rubbing a knot in the back of his neck.
“If you think Mom isn’t getting it on, then you’re living in a fantasy world.”
“Would you stop?” He shook his head to try to delete that thought, but it stuck like glue. “I know she went out with a guy from the school a few times, but she hasn’t said anything to me about having a boyfriend.” He’d called Coach Stewart to check out the guy, and Coach had assured him that Mitch Grayson was a stand-up guy.
“That’s him. Professor Hottie Pants.”
Dash gritted his teeth at the nickname. “Have you met him?”
“Yes. I had dinner with them last night. He’s a total geek with a pocket protector and everything, but a hot geek. I asked him if he had a son Andi’s age. She’d love this guy. I like him, and more importantly, Mom likes him.”
“I just talked to Andi. She didn’t say anything about this.” A text from Shea popped up, and he quickly read it. Already on it. In a meeting. We’ll talk at dinner.
“Andi was worried you’d freak out.”
“That’s ridiculous. Mom’s allowed to have a social life.” Even if he didn’t know how he felt about it.
“The last time you met a guy Mom went out with, you scared him off.”
“That was five or six years ago, and any guy who gets scared off by a few questions has no business going out with our mother.” The last thing he wanted was for a guy to go after his mother or sisters, thinking he could get to Dash’s money. “This guy must be something special if he caught Mom’s attention after all these years.”
“It was four years ago, and Mom has gone out with other guys since you scared that last guy off. She’s just too smart to tell you about them.”
“Are you shitting me? Someone’s got to check out the guys she goes out with. Did Damon or Hawk know about the other guys?”
“I don’t think they care as much as you do, but I don’t think she introduced them to anyone. This guy is different. She lights up whenever she talks about him. I think she’s going to introduce him to everyone.”
He didn’t have time to argue with her about his brothers, much less to get too deep into this conversation. “I’ll call Mom tomorrow and get the scoop.”
“Ask her about the diddling,” she teased.
“You’re making me lose my appetite. Listen, you know that favor I texted you about this morning? Did you have time to take care of it for me?”
“Yes. I got it out right in the nick of time.”
“Thanks. You’re the best.”
“I want you to know that I’m taping this conversation and sending a copy to Andi, Hawk, and Damon, so they’re aware that I am the best.”
“Smart-ass. I’ll say I was coerced. I’ve got to go. Love you.”
“Wait! Why were you reading romance? You were looking for pointers, right? Wait until I tell Damon!” She cracked up.
Christ Almighty. His sisters were going to be the death of him.
“KISS HIM ALREADY!” Amber yelled at the Hallmark movie she was watching while she waited for Dash’s call.
Reno lifted his head from where he was sleeping at the foot of the bed.
“Sorry, buddy.” She reached down to pet him, then settled back against the pillows, eating another spoonful of ice cream as the couple in the movie leaned in so close, she found herself leaning forward, too. Come on. One kiss. Just do it!