“I don’t know what impression he’s given you about us, but we aren’t anything. Truthfully, I don’t even like him, and I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual. The sex was an unexpected surprise—” I clamped a hand over my mouth and turned beet red.
“Well, that’s a starting point,” she reasoned, and I flicked my gaze to Drew, who was watching our exchange without so much as a blink.
“Umm—” I was at a loss for what to say.
“I’ve caught you off guard. Just think about it. He likes you. If he didn’t, I promise you wouldn’t be here.”
Maybe she had asked Drew to show her he wasn’t heartless . . . but it was so confusing. He liked me? That was laughable. If he didn’t, I promise you wouldn’t be here. God, the man was confusing.
“Mama, you’re up.”
The incredible specimen of a man who had been with Drew at Paths of Purpose the other day approached with a stunning woman beside him.
“What did they give you for lunch?” she asked playfully, giving Loretta a kiss on the cheek.
From a distance at the shelter, it had been easy to tell Drew and this man were brothers, their looks were so similar. Up close, there was no denying it. Both were ridiculously handsome but each in their own right. Drew’s hair was lighter, their eyes a different—whoa, I’d seen eyes just like the ones looking at me only a short while ago. Maybe that kid belonged to this brother?
Loretta slipped an arm around my waist as though I was family, and I leaned into the touch despite knowing I should get out of there. “Easton, Mulaney, this is Sonya. She’s with Drew.”
What did that even mean? I most certainly wasn’t with him. Both of their expressions grew wary. I’d learned a lot about reading people over the years. Some were easily fooled and others, not so much. Easton and Mulaney fell into the latter category. I didn’t need to spend any more time around them to know that. “Sonya, this is my other son, Easton, and his wife Mulaney.”
“Hi,” I said, suddenly feeling shy and a little intimidated. I hated that. I didn’t like the way they looked at Drew. I had this urge to stand in front of him to deflect the undercurrent of hostility for the second time today.
“Hello, Sonya,” Easton said, extending his hand. “I didn’t realize my brother was seeing anyone.”
I thrust my hand into his, shaking firmly. “We’re not. Just fucking.”
All the air went out of the room and silence fell . . . until Loretta giggled. All eyes went to her, and she shrugged. “Brutal honesty isn’t such a bad trait.”
Mulaney cleared her throat. “How the hell did you manage to get a woman like this in your bed?” The dig was at Drew. I got the impression she respected my bluntness.
“She hasn’t been in it yet,” he said dryly, throwing a wink in my direction.
“Should we go through all the details?” I asked innocently.
“I wouldn’t mind reliving them,” Drew said, and I got a glimpse of a carefree man like the one in the photograph in his wallet.
“Spare us,” Mulaney grumbled.
“I’m ready to go back to my room now. We can talk there,” Loretta said.
She held on to my arm as we walked back, making me feel special in a way I hadn’t realized I needed. All the people surrounding us were important to her, yet she was leaning on me. Once she was settled back in bed, Drew remained standing while his brother and sister-in-law took seats. Sam resumed his position next to her bed, stretching his neck so he could touch her hand. Like he had reached out to me . . . He knew who needed him and when. It made me recall what Mrs. Quinn had said the day I met her. “You’ve been here less than thirty minutes and already sparked an idea for a new program . . . Animals can be therapeutic . . .” Later, I’d think on that.
“We’re going to head out, Mama, but I’ll be back after I drop off Sonya.”
I reached for Sam’s leash on the floor and gently tugged. Reluctantly, he came.
“Take your time, sweetheart,” she said. “Sonya, I expect to see you again soon. I should be out of here in no time.”
“I have no doubt of that.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Drew
“So the sex was unexpected?” I said as soon as we were in the lobby, waiting for the elevator to arrive. Sam muscled between us, and I gave him another dried cinnamon apple.
She shrugged nonchalantly, and I grinned, grabbing her hand and tugging her toward the stairwell. I wanted her again. There had to be somewhere in this building to make that happen. She put up a fight.
I stopped, my back holding open the door, our arms stretched with her rooted in the lobby. Sam was right back between us, on guard. “That wasn’t permission to do it whenever you get the urge.”
“You’re the one who told my family we were fucking,” I reminded her. What kind of woman said that to a man’s family? Apparently mine. I frowned. What was I doing? I’d already told her we were in a relationship, and now I was thinking of her as my woman? What the hell was I thinking? Yet, I wasn’t walking away. I wasn’t ready to walk away.
“It’s the truth.”
I sharpened my gaze on her. “You’re not truthful often, are you?”
“What did you do to need your mother’s forgiveness?”
She wasn’t going to turn the tables on me that fast. “Do you have any cash?”
She recoiled. “How is that any of your business?”
The elevator arrived, and I decided to skip the stairs. “Because we both need a drink, and you’re buying.”
“I’ve met your mother, and I know she didn’t raise you to be like this.” A hand went on her hip as she stared me down.
“I’m sure you’ll enjoy telling her about it,” I said.
“Oh, she’s going to hear every word,” Sonya promised and then realized what she’d said about seeing Mama again.
“You going to mention how I tried to find some place in this building to fuck you again? Or will you skip those details?”
My tigress groaned and leaned her head against the back wall of the elevator. “You’re right, I do need a drink. And no, I don’t have any cash, but that won’t stop me from taking care of us.” She leveled me with a look. “What good are you, anyway?”
“Judging by the way your cunt clamped around my dick, I’d say really damn good for something.”
She grunted and stalked out of the elevator and the building, dragging me and Sam behind her.
* * *
The bar was a neighborhood place, not a dive but not upscale. Somewhere people could drink a pitcher of beer with their friends or have martinis with a client. Sonya had selected it. There was an apparent method to her madness because we’d passed several other establishments on the way, her swift rejection of each piquing my curiosity.
“Hang out here a sec, then go find a corner table. Order yourself a drink. Start a tab and let me work.” She handed me Sam’s leash.
“You going to use a grandma sob story? Even I could pull that off,” I taunted, and she growled.