Page 125 of Awakened by Sin

“Carmen, are you all right?” Mom asked quickly.

“Yes. Sorry, I forgot to call. Mickey and Frederick are with me,” she said as she peeked through the curtains. They sat in their SUV, staring straight ahead. When and where did they pee?

“Where are you?”

She hesitated only a second before she said, “I’m at Marcus’s house.”

“Marcus Fletcher?”

That managed to surprise her mother.

“Yes. He heard about my trouble and offered to let me stay at his place.”

“You’re going to live with Marcus?” Mom sounded stunned.

“He doesn’t live here. He lives in the casino, and I’m going to buy it from him.”

“I didn’t know you two were so close. This is great news.”

“It is?”

“You sound happy, and that makes me happy. Are you coming home tonight?”

Mom sounded supremely unconcerned now.

“I don’t know. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Okay. Tell Marcus I said hi.”

“I will,” she said.

“Carmen?”

“Yeah?”

“I always liked him,” Mom said.

“I know you have.”

“Okay, baby. Have fun.”

Carmen hung up, shaking her head. She had seen Mom and Marcus talking at several get-togethers. He was a natural charmer, and her mother wasn’t immune to him. She listened to her voicemail as she headed toward the kitchen. It was the volunteer from the event. The terrified pit bull hadn’t been adopted.

She paced around the living room. Gavin put her things in storage before selling the house she shared with Vinny. She had no idea what was in the storage unit since she never had the balls to go through it, but now that she had a house to decorate, she was eager to comb through her old belongings. She could imagine several pieces that would be perfect here.

“Hey.”

Marcus gave her a sweet kiss while one hand slipped under her shirt and cupped her ass.

“You had a good nap?” he asked.

“Yes, I did.” She took in his workout shorts and white tee, which was identical to the one she wore. “This must be the longest you’ve ever been away from work.”

He chuckled and gave her ass a squeeze before he let her go. “I come here maybe once every two weeks.”

“How long have you had this house?”

“Almost two years.”

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