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“Is it me,” she asked, bringing my gaze back to her, “or does your mom seem to have a particular hatred for Sloane? I’m not sure if hatred is the right word, but—”
“Wow,” I said, eyeing her, “I thought you’d be questioning her behavior toward you and not my sister?”
She smirked at me, “Your mother’s insults don’t affect me. Anyone’s insults could get to me if I gave them power over my feelings, but I learned a long time ago in my own family not to allow horrible people to govern my self-worth. Your sister, though. It seems your mother dismisses everything about her presence. I don’t mean to be rude about it, but from my perspective, it feels like your mother must hate her. I know I just met them, but Heidi’s energy in Sloane’s direction is palpable. Do you know what I’m saying?”
“Hate is probably an accurate enough word, I guess. I think it’s close enough,” I said, toeing off my shoes before bringing my feet up to the bed and sticking my arm under my head for support as I stared up at the ceiling. “Heidi’s always had a thing about controlling all her kids, and Sloane was always wonderful and pretending to be her little angel when she was a kid.” I frowned, acknowledging how my mother treated us all, “You see, it wasn’t always the easiest to deal with Sloane. Heidi had moments of giving her the silent treatment and constant manipulation, just like she did with Stephen and me.” I blew out a breath, “However, it was clear that Heidi was trying to mold her, you might say. And even though Sloane did enjoy moments of being the golden child, she’s her own person.”
Nat raised her eyebrow at me as if that description of my little sister with the woman she’d met at lunch didn’t add up. “You lost me?”
“Sloane played perfect child, then grew tired of the control and manipulation and became her own person for a summer after she left the country on holiday.”
“Still lost.”
I smiled tiredly at her. “Sloane proved she wasn’t her golden child after returning pregnant from her little summer holiday.”
“Be black and white about it, man,” she said with a soft laugh. “So, what you’re saying is your mother lost the battle of control and manipulation with her perfect child after Sloane rebelled, fucked a guy on vacation, and came back pregnant.” Nat squeezed my thigh and laughed, “And here she was going on about me ending up on an episode of My 500-lb. Life when she’s got a real-life 16 and pregnant situation happening in her own home.”
“Precisely,” I returned. “The woman can deflect and make your problems worse than hers if you allow her to. You did great dealing with her bullshit at lunch; however, you’re wasting your time if you believe you’re getting through to her.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to just sit there and take her shit. Or have anyone watch me take her shit.”
“And that’s the only reason you’re the only woman strong enough to be fit to be my fake wife.” I looked at her, “Trust me on this, though; waste no energy on that woman. She’s not worth it, and you’re not here for that.”
“Well, I won’t be silenced because you believe I’m wasting my energy on her. I’ll always defend myself if I feel inclined to.”
“And I hope you do. Don’t get me wrong. It’s delightful entertainment for all of us.”
I chuckled, squeezing the bridge of my nose tightly before turning with a quick spin and heading over to the closet. “I’ve got to go down to the office to talk to Stephen and Heidi—speaking of that devil. Will you be okay if I take off for an hour or so?”
“I feel like I should be asking you that,” she said as she unzipped her boots, letting them fall to the floor with a clatter.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with Heidi’s bullshit all my life; it’s nothing new to me,” I said, changing into a fresh button-down shirt. “I’m just hoping I can be as disengaged with her as possible so she can’t sink her claws into me.” My fingers flitted down to my pants, and I began to undo my leather belt.
“Hold your hot ass up,” Nat said, crawling to me over the surface of the bed in a far less graceful way than I’d ever seen her.
I had to physically swallow back the laugh that bubbled up in my throat at the sight of her practically tripping hand over foot to get to me, but the laugh died down quickly at the heat I saw building up in her gaze.
It was remarkable how quickly those eyes could go from the cold center of a crystal to the heart of a flame within the space of a second.
“Baby,” I said, my throat practically closing as she slipped her hand into the zipper of my pants. The way the muscles around her eyes tensed up at the word didn’t escape me; it hadn’t since I’d started using the endearment with her, mostly to test the waters. But I did want to see whether she’d shut me down or whether there was a chance for something else to grow here. If I was honest, I was testing the waters on myself too. I liked this shit. Imagining this whole situation working itself out into a relationship and seeing if I was remotely capable of settling my ass down for more than a minute with a woman was a trip.
“Babe,” I continued, “if we start this now, I don’t think I’m going to make it downstairs.”
“What did I say about using pet names with me?” she said with that sexy eyebrow arch.
I smirked, “They turned you off, and I really need to get my ass downstairs.” I paused and studied her, then I grabbed her chin and bent to catch her bottom lip between mine. I stepped back and studied her dazed eyes, “It suits you, you know?”
“What suits me?”
“That particular pet name.”
“Slow the fuck down with the names,” she said, half serious and half fucking with me. “I’m no one’s baby, woman, or kitten. I’m my own, and don’t forget that shit.”
I eyed her challenge with a challenging expression of my own, “We’ll see about that.” I chewed on my bottom lip, knowing I was, in some strange way, advancing this, “Though, I’m confident you’ll be mine soon enough, lover.”
I finished with a wink, and while Nat was left to figure out her comeback, I’d already changed into my jeans and left the room.
* * *
