Page 55 of Lush Curves

“Bye,” he replied. “Good to see you, for a whole six seconds.”

She grinned, bolted out the door, Jax shut it behind her. And then there they were, Sam and Annie, all alone and staring at each other.

“Hi, honey,” he said quietly. “Can we talk?”

“About?”

“C’mon, Annie. Don’t, OK? Just…don’t. A few things got decided yesterday, and I want you to know. Don’t make this any harder than it already is. Please.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right.” She got to her feet, uncaring that she was still in pajamas and had morning-after-wine-breath. “Can I get you a coffee?”

“That’d be great. Thanks.”

She looked at him, and despite herself, a wave of love and worry washed over her.

“Sit, Sam. You look dead on your feet.”

He nodded, subsided onto the sofa. He accepted the coffee silently, then they just sat for a few seconds, drinking and looking everywhere but at each other. Sam broke the silence by setting down his coffee and clearing his throat, and Annie looked over at him. Waited.

“OK, so… the first thing is that they’re going to live with me.”

Annie dropped her eyes and nodded. That wasn’t a total shock, but it still hurt in some ways. The thought of Kathleen in Sam’s shower, sleeping next door in the guest bedroom, using Annie’s favorite coffee cup – these small, almost stupid things pierced her.

“The understanding is that they’ll stay while we wait for the DNA results,” Sam said. “I swabbed Cindy’s mouth this morning, and I’ll go to the clinic to drop all the samples off as soon as I leave here.”

“How long does it take to get the results?”

“Usually a week or so, but I’m going to pull out my doctor cred and put in a rush. Shouldn’t take more than three days.”

“OK.”

“Once we get the results back, well…” He opened his hands. “Then we’ll see where we are.”

“If she’s not yours?”

“Then they’re out faster than Kathleen can blink.”

“That’s cold.”

“No. She’s got money, she’s got plenty. They wouldn’t be homeless and destitute, baby, I promise you. It wouldn’t be like you and Sarah and Noah being kicked out in the dead of winter, after your slimeball husband sold the house out from under you, alright? I’d make sure they were settled and safe, but that’s as far as my responsibility would go.”

“And if Cindyisyours?”

He paused. “Then – then it gets a tad complicated.”

“They’d live with you?”

“That’s what Kathleen wants.”

“What do you want?”

“You, princess. I wantyou.”

“No.” She backed up a few inches, jammed herself against the sofa arm. “I can’t –”

“Why?” he demanded, his calm and control slipping at long last. “Why the fuckcan’tyou, Annie? Just what the actual hell is goingonhere?”

“Are you serious?”

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