“Maybe?” Her eyes shoot a glance toward Mia.
“You’re so busted,” Mia says. Her phone dings. “I’m going to get this.” She taps the table she was eyeing.
“So, Sean King is your brother-in-law.” I confirm what I already know to be true.
“So, you know him?” Amelia pretends to be shocked.
“Stop while you’re ahead. You’re a terrible liar.” Mia rolls her eyes.
“It’s not a lie. It’s a question.”
“That you know the answer to.” Mia shakes her head at Amelia. I have to fight a smile at their banter because it reminds me a little of Neily and me.
“I met him last night. As you and the rest of this city seem to know.” I stand up, taking my notepad with me.
“They are always trying to get pictures of Sean. For some reason everyone is obsessed with who he’s dating.” I can tell she’s trying to downplay it for Sean. He is, after all, her brother-in-law.
“Well, it’s not me. I mean it's me in the picture but we’re not dating.” I look down at the notepad. “It looks like I’ve got everything I need.”
“I’m just saying you can’t believe everything you read.”
“I agree.” She smiles, thinking she’s gotten me on this. “Just like you can’t believe Sean and I are together because we kissed.”
“You know what? You’re right.” Amelia picks up her purse. Her hand goes to her round belly. “You give that man a chase. It’s good for them. Gotta keep our men on their toes.” I go to tell her again that he’s not my man but she cuts me off. “I’ll see you tonight.” She grabs another cookie before heading out the door.
“See you later.” Mia gives a small wave as she follows her friend out. I walk over to Neily, pulling her headphones out of her ears.
“They are related to Sean.”
“He sent in spies!”
“I don’t know. I guess?”
“Did they at least buy some stuff?” She reaches for my notepad. “Damn.”
“They want that table, too, and asked about custom pieces.”
“I like these people.” She hands me my notepad back. “You got a lot of cooking if you want to get that done for tonight. I’d help but—” She shrugs.
“I’d like my kitchen to not catch on fire.”
“You’re never going to let that go. The kitchen didn't catch fire. It was just the stove.” We’ve had this fight five million times and I know we can go back and forth for an hour about it. I don’t have the time, so I change the subject back to the task at hand.
“They want me to stay for the shower. I told them I was bringing a friend.”
“Who? I’m your only friend.” I smack her with my notepad. “Jesus. This Sean guy has made you violent.”
“This is going to take me at least four hours. I need you to run home and get me something to wear for tonight. We’ll have to leave straight from here.” I look to her cell phone that is buzzing on the table. “Unless you have other plans you want to tell me about?”
“Nope. I’m golden.” She hops up from her chair, grabbing her phone. “I’ll go get our crap now.” She pushes her glasses up her nose. “If anyone comes looking for me, you never saw me.” With that, she’s out the door.
She might be joking. She might not. Either way, I don’t have time to figure it out. That would have to wait for another day.
13
Sean
She’s trying to kill me. I watch my girl move about the kitchen, putting an assortment of treats on a bunch of tiny little display cases. Her hips wiggle with every step she takes, causing me to have to adjust my hard cock each time she does it.
“Stop staring at me,” she hisses over her shoulder at me. I almost laugh at her order because that’s not happening. I plan on doing much more than staring at her if she ever decides to fully speak to me again. Sure, she’s not ignoring me completely, but I wouldn’t consider the one-word answers she’s giving me as her trying to engage in conversation with me.
I know my time is limited here with her. Ethan and Amelia made me promise that I would stay in the other room until Alyssa was done setting up. That I wouldn’t crowd her while she was working. I know that my brother didn't believe a word I was saying when I agreed to remain in the other room.
Amelia had soon after gotten distracted by Neily. Something about her designing a custom piece of art for her and she wanted to show her the space. As soon as they disappeared, I headed straight for my girl.
“Never.” I tell her the truth. I hear her little huff of feigned annoyance.
“I need to work, Sean. I can’t concentrate if you’re standing there staring at me. You own your own business so you of all people should know how important this is.” She stresses the own part. She almost sounds a bit hurt. I’m guessing it's because I didn’t tell her who I was. She had to find out from other people.