Page 59 of Extracted

If tonight was the last night he got to spend with Gemma, he’d damn well make it unforgettable. “I see you found my shirt.”

She grimaced and took the seat across from him. “Sorry. All I have are dirty clothes, and they’re the last thing I wanted to put on my body. Hope you don’t mind.”

He waved her off. “’Course not.”

She snagged one of the bags and grabbed the container from it. “Smells good. What’d you get?”

He did the same with the second bag. “Fuck if I know.”

Her shoulders shook on a laugh, moving those damn breasts again. “I’m not in a position to complain.” She opened the container and picked up one of the plastic forks. “Can’t go wrong with beans, meat, and rice.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“I think there’s veggies in here too,” she said, as she stirred the sauce.

“Don’t forget the naan bread.” He passed her the foil wrapper.

“Oh my god. This smells heavenly.”

He stabbed his fork into the chicken, which was covered in sauce, and moaned as he took a bite. “Jesus, that’s good. Mind you, anything would taste delicious after the week we’ve had.”

“That’s true,” she said, tearing off a piece of bread and stuffing it into her mouth.

He passed her a water bottle, and she cranked it open and took a sip. He watched her throat bob, and even that made his body hum with desire. Fuck, he needed to get his head examined.

Yeah, sex with Gemma was out of this world—always had been. Yeah, he was attracted to her, and yeah, she was fucking gorgeous. But his raging hormones should be somewhat sated. At least to the point that he didn’t want to rip off her clothes and bend her over as desperately as he had in the closet two nights ago.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, lowering the bottle.

He shrugged and took a bite of naan. “Nothing really.”

“Did you get a hold of Dare and let him know we made it?”

He wiped his mouth and set down the napkin. “Nah, I’ll shoot him a text in a bit. I’m sure Cole told him we spoke.”

“They’re pretty close?” She wrinkled her nose. “Sorry. You don’t need to answer that. I know you want to keep your brothers private.”

He stretched his hand across the table and covered hers. “I trust you. Even if I acted like I didn’t at the hotel in Cali. I get your situation now.”

Her eyes warmed. “Thanks. I wish I had siblings. I hate being an only child.”

He cocked his head. “From my view it can’t be that bad. Having three brothers torment me my whole life hasn’t always been a good thing.” Humor laced his voice. “We’re all close, though. Cole and I just fit better, but Nash and Dare were like an extension of us. Always there. The hardest thing was being young but having to take care of two small kids.”

“What about your parents?” Her gaze searched his face. Part of him wanted to retract his hand, to get back to his meal and comfortable silence. Dodging her curiosity was the easy way out, but some things were just too hard to talk about.

“That’s a loaded question. Maybe I’ll save that for when we make it back to the US.”

Her eyes darkened, and her face fell with sadness.

“It’s just a lot to unpack. I don’t want you to know how crazy my past is yet,” he said with a chuckle, to lighten the mood. “What about your mom? Did she remarry after your dad passed?”

She moved her rice around her container, and he mentally booted himself in the ass for being so tight-lipped. Here she was trying to get to know him better and he fucking shut her down.

“My mom, Carla, lives in the country with her mountain man and would die if she knew what I did for a living. They’re not married, but happy. So I guess that’s all that matters. She met Joe a few years after my dad died. I don’t see her a whole lot due to my work.”

He winced. He might not have his parents, but she was just as alone as he was. “That must be difficult.”

She lifted a delicate shoulder. It looked even slimmer and slighter than usual in his oversized T-shirt. “It is what it is.” She smiled. “Let’s clean up and head to bed.”

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