Page 18 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

He’d love to but no reason to be a dick.

He rarely was. Maybe life would be easier if he was one once in a while.

He definitely should have been one to Taylor.

Thanks, Mom, for putting that thought into my head.

“Go ahead,” he said when she sat.

“Bad day?” Vanessa asked him.

“Not really,” he said. “Just thought I’d give myself a little treat before my show starts.” He looked at his watch. “In twenty minutes.”

There, he could put a time limit on this.

“Oh,” Vanessa said. “What is it you’re watching?”

Shit, he couldn’t think of anything that was on tonight. He just scrolled through things recorded and picked something.

“Not sure yet,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of stuff to choose from, but I like to start them at eight so I can get two in before my eyes are shutting.”

She let out this annoying giggle that sent spine-tingling nerves racing through his body telling him to run like the devil was nipping at his ass.

Only he had nowhere to go. He was home.

“That’s funny,” Vanessa said. “You’re joking, right?”

“Sure,” he said, taking another long drink of his beer. He was damn well going to get in the house by eight, even if he had to do the one thing he hated.

Lie.

More like making up a call coming in. Yeah, he could do that.

“I lost a big commission today,” Vanessa said, sighing. “I had them on the hook. I would have stripped and danced naked for them if I thought I could have changed their mind. But I could see they weren’t ready to pull the trigger on the financial investment.”

“Guess that saved you some embarrassment then,” he said. Though he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d do something like that for a sale. “Can you give me a minute? I can’t remember if I left my oven on.”

“Sure,” Vanessa said, getting more comfortable.

Fuck!

He found his phone on the table, picked it up sent a quick text to his sister, and left it right there by the glass door where he’d hear it.

“Was it on?” Vanessa asked.

“No,” he said. “But sometimes I get busy and had a call when I was getting dinner ready.”

At least that part wasn’t a lie. His mother did call him... with his dinner in the microwave though.

“I saw you leave for your run. That would have been horrible if you had it on while you were gone.”

Which meant she was looking for him.

Last month she realized he was here full time rather than short visits. Since then he always felt he was being watched.

So much for the privacy, but it’s not like he was going to drop more money than he had for a weekend place to get the space between houses.

When he’d bought the place, he never expected he’d be here like this.

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