Page 35 of Desire Me
Rae’s expression was hard to interpret as she moved to one end of the sectional to sit. Mercedes gave him a wide-eyed look—fake shock, he could tell, and glowered back—as she settled across from Rae.
“So, Rae, tell me about yourself.”
“No,” Saint growled. His sister’s shock this time wasn’t fake. He didn’t back down. “We’re not doing the quiz thing, Mercedes,” he said, sitting next to Rae and retrieving her hand, which he settled on his thigh. “Rae just got out of the hospital.”
“Oh no.” His sister’s eyes darkened in genuine sympathy. “I’m so sorry.” She was up like a shot, moving toward the sliding glass doors at the back. “Come on, my little monkeys! Come work off that sugar outside.”
The volume in the room sank to soothing quiet as the twins ran out onto the back patio and immediately began rolling down the grassy hill that separated it from the backyard. Rae chuckled. “I wouldn’t want to do that laundry.”
Saint wrapped an arm around her shoulders and slid her closer, right up against him. “Mercedes has five kids,” he said. “She bought stock in stain remover a long time ago.”
Rae smirked his way. “I bet.”
He couldn’t resist kissing the sass off her lips. No tongue, just a quick brush of their mouths against each other, but the touch sent an electric shock through his body. And if the way Rae jerked was any indication, she felt it too. He leaned in, intent on a longer, more thorough kiss, when his sister plopped back into her chair and cleared her throat. Rae jerked again, this time away from him—or at least as far as his hold would let her.
Saint glared at Mercedes. She grinned back.
“So”—Rae squirmed against him, but he refused to give her an inch—“Uncle Iggy.”
Here we go.
“Of course.” Mercedes’s laughter rang out. “He hasn’t shared his middle name yet? Y’all can’t have been dating long then.”
“How long we’ve been dating isn’t your business, Mercedes.” And even if they had been dating long, he tended not to reveal his middle name unless he absolutely had to, but it was either him or Mercedes. “Saint Ignatius Solorio,” he said reluctantly.
“Ignatius?” Rae asked, her eyes wide.
“Ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“No, what’s ridiculous is calling you Saint,” Mercedes threw in. “Which is why his siblings refused.”
Of course they had. He’d been stuck between a rock and a hard place since birth. “My siblings called me Iggy growing up, and it stuck.” Now all twelve of his nieces and nephews (so far) used the nickname. From them, he didn’t mind.
“I don’t know, there’s something dignified about Ignatius,” Rae was saying.
“Yeah,” his sister agreed. “It definitely doesn’t fit him.”
Saint stuck his tongue out at Mercedes, proving her words. His sister laughed.
“Saint has its irony too,” Rae said, looking amused.
“Not in bed,” he murmured, just loud enough for her to hear.
“Ew!” Mercedes screeched. “No sex talk while I’m here.”
“What sex talk?” he asked innocently.
“I don’t need to hear it to know you’re talking about sex. All it takes is the look on your face.” She shuddered.
“You have five kids, Mercedes. You know as much as I do about sex.”
“Maybe more.” His sister winked. “But we won’t get into that.” She glanced significantly toward the open back doors where the kids’ shrieks filtered in.
Rae laughed beside him, her eyes lit up at their antics, and Saint savored the joy on her face. When he glanced away, it was to meet his sister’s speculative gaze. His gut cramped. If he didn’t do something, he’d have his entire family here to check Rae out ASAP.
The solution to that problem appeared as a beep on his security panel. Leaving Rae on the couch talking to Mercedes, he walked over and saw King’s code on the display. When he turned back, it was to find Rae’s concerned gaze on him. He gave her a nod of reassurance as he moved to the front door.
King smirked as he crossed the porch with Elliot and Dain. “That didn’t take long.” He jerked his head toward Mercedes’s car. The trio stopped at the front door. “What’s our story?”
