Page 30 of Accidentally Mine
Before I could take the bags out, Brent was there, ready to help.A moment later, Ernest appeared too.I held out my hands.“Guys.Thanks.But I can handle it from here.”
The two exchanged a look and proceeded to ignore me, stepping around me like I wasn’t even there.They lifted my bags from the trunk and started up the narrow, crumbling path to my aunt’s old brick house.
As they approached the front door, it swung open.
And there was my aunt, holding an old hunting rifle, a menacing look on her face.
“Oh, my god, Auntie!”I shouted, taking a step back.
“You didn’t say she’d be armed,” Brent said, a corner of his mouth twisting up in amusement.
“I didn’t even know she had a rifle.”I squeezed past them, threw open the screen door, and plucked it from her hands.It was rusty, probably not loaded.I thought her ex might have been a hunter, but that was over twenty years ago.“Aunt Marie.Where did you get this?These people are friends.They helped me shop for our dinner.”
Aunt Marie looked over Brent from his dark hair to his gleaming shoes, her eyes shining just as brightly.“Oh, my.Please tell me he’s on the menu,” she breathed out like a sex kitten.
I clapped a hand over my face, mortified.
Then her eyes trailed over to Ernest.“Well, hello to you,” she said in a husky voice, reaching her hand out to him like this was the Victorian age and she wanted him to kiss it.
Oh, my god.This was not really happening.
Ernest grinned, and eyes never leaving hers, bent low and dropped a very sweet kiss on the back of her hand.“You must be Marie.”What a charmer.
It actually would’ve been kind of cute, if it weren’t my aunt.The woman who, until she went on her porn kick, I was convinced was a nun in a former life.
My aunt, not a day younger than sixty-four years, actually giggled.Speechless, I looked over at Brent, my face heating.He smirked at me as I realized he was still holding the groceries.
“Oh.”I motioned him forward.“You can bring those in here.”
I led him through the living room, where of course, my aunt had on another soft-porn movie.Two people, half-clothed, making out in front of a fireplace.Lovely.I caught Brent’s dark eyes lingering on the screen, but he didn’t question.
I needed to get these guys out of here before the movie progressed to full-on intercourse, or I’d never be able to wipe the blush off my cheeks.But more than that, I couldn’t let this progress, for other reasons.
As he brought the groceries in, I concocted my plan.I needed to be curt and not give him any indication that I was interested.Which I already knew would be impossible because my disloyal body had already given him too many hints that it responded to him in ways I couldn’t control.
“Just set them on the table,” I instructed, keeping my voice short.As he did, I wiped my hands on my sweater, trying to still the nerves.“Well, thanks.I appreciate it.”
He didn’t make a move to leave.The kitchen was cluttered with everything imaginable, the result of my aunt’s semi-hoarding, but his eyes didn’t trip over any of that.His gaze was on me.
I wanted to speak, but I willed my mouth shut.If I opened it, I knew I’d start to babble, which I always did when I was nervous.
Curt.Formal.Show him you’re not interested.It’s for the best.
Finally, he said, “Your aunt seems nice.”
I snorted.“That’s one word for her.”Then I forced away everything my heart was telling me and said, “I’ll show you to the door.”
He hesitated, and there was something dark in his eyes I couldn’t quite read.Something mixed with frustration.It made me hesitate.Taking a deep breath, I brushed past him, pressing myself against the wall, avoiding his touch and his gaze.After a moment, he followed.
In the living room, the television screen showed a woman, spread-eagle, as a man mounted her.I tried to pretend it wasn’t happening, that the TV didn’t even exist, but his eyes caught on the screen.Voice low, he said, “I haven’t seen this one.”
I had to laugh.He made it seem like it was high art.“My aunt knows all the epics.”
“Well.Maybe I need to come over for movie night one of these days.”
No.No.If I was going to get out of this town with my heart and other body parts intact, I needed to never see him again.I shook my head.
My aunt was having a grand old time with Ernest in the foyer, discussing who knows what, probably comparing Southie stories or having a dirty joke war.Her raucous laughter burst through the room as she walked in, catching the last bit of Brent’s statement.
