Page 46 of Dubious Match
Her hair is lightly curled down her back, her makeup drawing my attention to her lips. Hollis is stunning, and not doing a damn thing to calm my libido down.
“Can I take your coat, Hollis?” I ask. “I just turned the heaters on in the backyard. You may be warm with it on.”
Nodding, she hands her purse to Mal while she allows me to take her coat.
“That’s a very small purse for a working dinner,” Brice teases her.
He’s right. It looks more like a clutch than anything else. It may hold a phone and a lipstick if that.
“I didn’t think you were serious,” she says, wincing. “I also would feel like I’m being really rude. I shouldn’t have anything come up while I’m here.”
Mal raises his brow as he hands her back the clutch.
“We are feeding you so we can make sure you eat, because we know how easy it is to skip a meal,” he says. Taking her hand, he holds it as we begin walking toward the backyard.
“I’ll grab the food,” Brice murmurs. Remy takes the wine from Mal’s hand and follows Brice into the kitchen while I’m perfectly content to watch Hollis walk.
Yes, that’s what I said. Her high heeled boots make her hips sway in a hypnotic way, and her ass makes me want to bite it. I have no idea how she’s not constantly being asked out, other than the fact that she’s also kind of scary. The memory of her licking her knife is going to live rent free in my brain forever.
While I didn’t have the time to jerk off in the shower, I still did so that I would feel more settled. Did it help? It did until I saw her again. Her apricot and lavender scent alone is making me insane.
Once outside, the breeze helps me clear my mind a bit as I sit across from Hollis. I have to agree with Mal, I was completely ready for her to work and chat during dinner. Sometimes, that’s what we all have to do when we’re slammed with tasks so we’ll be able to relax for at least an hour afterward.
My brain will fixate otherwise and twist up my tongue so I can’t have or follow a conversation.
“It’s beautiful here,” Hollis says, taking in the gentle lighting that bathes the backyard. It’s easy to imagine the flowers in our garden preening as she gazes at them. “This must take a lot of upkeep.”
“Not really,” Brice says, walking out with the lasagna. My brother follows behind him with wine glasses, the wine bottle, and rolls.
Standing quickly, I help relieve Remy of some of the things in his hands. I have no idea how he manages this without dropping everything, but his ability to carry a ridiculous amount of things at once is astonishing.
“Brice is right, the initial plan and planting was what took the longest,” Malcolm says. “After that, the upkeep isn’t difficult. The cold is going to kill everything but the hardiest of flowers soon, and then it’ll come back in the spring. That’s when I’ll plant more flowers. There’s a corner where I'd like to start a vegetable garden too.”
“It just feels really peaceful,” Hollis says with a smile. “This lasagna smells amazing.”
Grinning, Malcolm begins to serve her, and pours her some of the wine she brought as well. We all follow suit for our own plates, and I hum softly in appreciation as I take a sip of the wine. I’m not a big wine drinker, but this one is very smooth with hints of blackberry to even it out.
“So I know you like good food and have a really good taste in wine,” I tease her. Hollis smiles at me as she takes a small bite of lasagna, her eyes half closed as she chews. “What else would you think we should know?”
It’s an open ended, no pressure question. I don’t want to come off as being invasive, and I note Brice’s hidden smile of approval. God, we’re all so wound up, wanting to make a better impression on her.
“I have two best friends, and you’ve already met them,” Hollis says with a small smile. “I grew up with Lars and Caleb. They’re the ones I got into trouble with, and regularly defied my nanny when I didn’t want to do something. Since they were older than me and lived around the corner, I’d just leave the house and have their father call my parents so they wouldn’t freak out.”
“What did your nanny want you to do?” Malcolm asks, intrigued.
“Etiquette classes,” she sighs. “Or there were endless calligraphy classes, a skill I still actually use, teas with my mother’s friends, etc. They just weren’t things I wanted to do. When their sister was still with us, I’d play with her.”
“Was,” I say slowly. “Where is she now?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” she says. “She went missing when she was fourteen, but was found at a club of trafficked omegas only to be taken again. It’s the worst kind of whiplash.”
“Is that why you had an open browser to the dark web on your computer?” Brice asks quietly.
Hollis takes a deep breath and puts her fork down as she nods. Ugh, I hate that she stopped eating.
“It is,” she says. “I’ve been a hacker since I was sixteen years old. One of Caleb’s friends taught me, and it’s how I was able to build my business. I left home at eighteen, found an apartment, and went to work. I don’t always find myself on the right side of the law.”
“It doesn’t sound like the right side of the law finds results,” Remy murmurs. “I found out recently that there are community patrols that have started walking our city’s streets. Do you know who started that?”
