He took her hand in his. “I’m glad you talked Chelsea and Bo out of a double ceremony. Sometimes they finish each other’s sentences, and I was afraid I might end up marrying the wrong sister.”
Autumn smiled. She’d only met with the twins for a short time, but she thought Julian’s concern was justified. She also thought, given Julian’s fashion risks, it was probably a good thing Bo loved black and white.
“Nice day dress.”
Her brows shot up her forehead, and she let go of his hand. He knew what a day dress was? “Thanks. I got it at Le Frock. A little vintage store on Pine.”
“I know where it is. Last summer I got a sharkskin suit there.”
“Blue?”
“Yeah.”
“I remember it. I bet you look great.”
“I’m the only one who likes it.” He shrugged. “I met Conner a few weeks ago after the Stars game.” His gaze skimmed her face. “You’re different than I would have imagined an ex-wife of Sam’s.”
“Not a long-legged, big-lipped supermodel?”
“No. You’re prettier than his supermodels.”
Autumn laughed. “Right.”
“Seriously. Until now, I thought Sam had horrible taste in women, but you’re a surprise. A gorgeous redhead.”
It was such an outrageous lie, she laughed even harder. She put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a little shove like he was Vince. He was built like Vince.
She glanced up as she heard the shh shh shh of skates on ice. Sam stopped a few feet away within a shower of glittering snow, his blue gaze icy as he looked at Julian.
“Savage is looking for you, jagbag.”
Sam grabbed frozen peas from his freezer and shut the door. He shoved the bag beneath his sweatshirt and held it against his shoulder. He wandered into the living room toward the huge windows and looked out at the city and the bay beyond. When he’d seen Autumn laughing with Julian, touching him, relaxed and easy, something inside him had snapped. Snapped right in two, and he’d cal ed Julian a jagbag. Not that he had any qualms about insulting another man. Not even men he liked. And he liked Julian, but he usual y knew why he was insulting another guy. You can certainly entertain any woman you like here, Autumn had told him the other day. Just as I can entertain whomever I like in my house. Until that day, he’d never real y thought about her entertaining anyone. In her house or anywhere else. Probably because Conner had never mentioned any other man but Vince. So, Sam had always just assumed that there had never been anyone in her life. He’d never wondered if she had a boyfriend, a friend with benefits, or just the occasional hookup.
He wondered about it now, and he wondered why he was uncomfortable with the thought of her with anyone. He’d like to tel himself that it was because he didn’t want his son exposed to random boyfriends. That Vince was already one too many men in his son’s life. There was more to it. Maybe he just didn’t like the thought of someone sleeping in her bed, pressed tight against her smooth skin, in a house that he’d technical y bought.
No, there was more to it than that. He didn’t care about the money he gave her to support Conner. He couldn’t say the same about someone pressed against her skin, though. But of al the men on the planet, he had the least right to have an issue with whomever she pressed against. He knew that, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about her lately.
A lot. Autumn and that weekend in Vegas kept slipping into his memory like a dream that he couldn’t shake. Like a hot, hazy dream fil ed with reckless desire and consuming need.
Maybe it was because he was spending more time with Conner and seeing her more often. Maybe because he was usual y on the road, and these past few days he’d had too much time on his hands and had been thinking about putting his hands on her. Maybe because he hadn’t put his hands on anyone for a while.
Maybe he was just bored.
Whatever it was, maybe it was time to figure it out.
Chapter Twelve
Any Man of Mine:
Does Dishes
Autumn sat at the head of her dining-room table, her head bowed. She held Vince’s hand in her left and Sam’s in her right. Conner sat beside Sam with his eyes closed. “Bless us Oh Lord for Thy gifts we are about to receive,” she prayed as Vince and Sam glared at each other over the stuffed turkey in the middle of the table on her mother’s lace cloth. “May our bodies be nourished and our hearts grateful.” She squeezed her brother’s hand, and added,
“And can we al just get along. Amen.”
Sam let go of her hand and smiled. “Amen. Great prayer.”
“Especial y that part where you channeled Rodney King,” Vince added.