Page 64 of Love, Always and Forever
“Just the usual. They have a hard time accepting the fact that I’m not moving back. She’s used to knowing every detail of everybody’s life. It drives her crazy not knowing what’s going on in mine.”
“So I’m guessing you haven’t told her anything about me. About us.”
“I have told her that I have a great neighbor who is turning out to be an even better friend.” She pointed her fork at him. “Which, until last night, was all we claimed to be.”
Misha’s face lit up with a wicked grin. “Yeah, we pretty much blew that idea all to hell and back, didn’t we? A few times, as I recall.”
Even though she could feel herself blushing, she smiled right back at him. “Sure did, although we might have to have a few repeat performances just to make sure that line stays erased.”
“Whatever it takes, I’m definitely up for it.”
Amy almost choked on the bite of French toast she’d just put in her mouth. Her eyes automatically drifted south of his bare chest to check the truth of that claim. When she realized what she was doing, she jerked her eyes back to her plate. Wow, he wasn’t lying. The handsome rat who resumed his seat across from her looked pretty smug when she finally got enough courage to look at him again.
The spark of heat in his blue eyes had her shifting restlessly in her seat, a now familiar ache flaring back to life again. He knew it, too. Maybe other women would play it cool, but she didn’t have enough experience to know how. Besides, she’d never been one to play games with people she cared about. And she cared about Mikhail. A lot.
Meanwhile, his gaze wandered a bit as well. “I like you in my T-shirt.”
“I like it, too. In fact, I might just keep it.”
“Be my guest.” He leaned forward, managing to crowd her a bit even though they sat on opposite sides of the small table. “But only if you’ll answer one question for me.”
“Depends on the question.”
“What are you wearing under it?”
“Interesting question.”
“I thought so.” He reached across the table to snatch a piece of bacon off her plate. “Are you going to answer it?”
Suddenly she was no longer hungry, at least not for breakfast. She set her fork down and stood up. “Nope.”
With no further warning, she took off down the hall toward her bedroom. As she ran, she called back over her shoulder. “You’ll have to find out for yourself.”
And much to their mutual pleasure, he did.
—
Mikhail would have preferred to spend the entire day with Amy, but she had to work. So instead, he was manning the grill at his mother’s house for a mid-afternoon barbecue. Tino had just joined him holding two longnecks. Mikhail knew him well enough to beware of brothers bearing drinks he hadn’t asked for.
After handing him one of the beers, Tino launched right in. “So, baby brother. I stopped by your place this morning. Caitlyn had to be at an early meeting, so I thought maybe you and I could grab breakfast somewhere.”
Mikhail flipped the burgers on the grill before answering. “You should’ve called first. I wasn’t home.”
Tino snorted and sipped his beer. “Like I couldn’t figure out that much for myself. What I don’t know is where you were at that early hour.”
“I already answered that. I wasn’t home.”
He checked the burgers again mostly as an excuse to ignore his brother. It didn’t work. To make matters worse, Jack came wandering outside to join the discussion. “How come you didn’t bring Amy with you? Did she get burned out on your company after last night?”
Mikhail gripped the tongs hard enough to hurt, the only way he could keep from planting a fist in his brother’s face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Because right now both of you are skating pretty damn close to me shutting your fucking mouths for you.”
Jack immediately took a step back, the shock on his face too genuine to be faked. “What the hell?”
Okay, so maybe his oldest brother’s intentions had been relatively innocent. Mikhail turned his attention back to Tino. “Stay out of my business. What Amy and I were doing this morning is none of your damn business.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth he wanted to kick his own ass. Tino might have suspected where Mikhail was, but he hadn’t known for sure. He did now. Damn it, he owed her more respect than that. He clamped his teeth shut and went back to staring at the row of burgers on the grill. If Tino or Jack said one wrong thing, all hell was going to break loose even if it upset their mother and his sisters-in-law.
The ensuing total silence coming from both his brothers came as a pleasant surprise. When he finally broke down and looked at them, he didn’t know what to make of the oddly similar expression on both their faces. Something between pleased and sympathetic. He shifted restlessly, unhappy to be under such close scrutiny.
