AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Oh, please. You're a sweet girl, Claire, but no. I usually only get to prepare meals for Mr. Boudreaux. Eggs, coffee, toast, sometimes bacon.” She rolls her eyes and then laughs. “He's so boring."
"Who's boring?" Remy's deep voice is a new addition to the conversation, causing me to jump. I didn’t hear him come in, let alone sidle up right next to me. He leans his elbows on the counter and Elaine bats him away from her workspace.
"Shoo!" She demands, pointing the knife at him as if she means a threat. But the teasing expression on her face betrays her.
"Fine. I'll pour my own coffee." Remy turns and grabs a mug from the cupboard. His shirt is fitted enough that I can see the hard ridges of his muscles hidden beneath the fabric. His hair is swept back into a perfectly tousled mess that I want to run my fingers through. When he turns back toward us, he’s grinning. "What do I even pay you for?"
If Elaine hadn't laughed, I may have missed the joke.
"You pay me to be your friend." She fires back. "I just cook, clean, and deal with all of your affairs because I pity you."
Remy arches an eyebrow, and I’m not entirely sure that one is a joke. "Touché."
"You look tired." Elaine says innocently, glancing up at him from below her eyelashes.
"I am." He shrugs. "I didn't get much sleep."
I take a sip of my coffee, trying to avoid catching his eye, and nearly choke on it when a woman saunters into the kitchen, wrapped in one of Remy's crisp white sheets. She doesn't appear the least bit concerned to see us all standing there. Her eyes even light up as they fall on Remy.
"Ah! Coffee!" She sighs and reaches for the cup Remy has been holding. Without even waiting for it to cool, she presses it to her lips and takes a long sip, her shoulders slumping in relief as the taste soothes something for her.
The feeling of disappointment that nestles in my stomach is entirely unfounded, but that doesn’t stop it from being there. It also doesn’t stop the heat of embarrassment that washes over me or keep my heart from racing like it’s about to break free from my chest and run all the way back home.
It was only a kiss.
But after sharing that with him, I didn't expect Remy to bring another girl home.
I try not to look at her, but I can't focus my eyes anywhere else. She is beautiful... tall and tanned with wild chestnut curls that are perfectly rumpled up from an apparently adventurous night. Some women ooze sex appeal, while others try to hide their insecurities by having exactly zero sex appeal. This woman is the former, I am the latter.
As if realizing everyone is watching her, the woman looks between us all and then back to Remy. "You don't mind, do you?" Her voice is thick with an accent, sultry and seductive. I can’t blame Remy when even I am spellbound by her.
Remy opens his mouth as though he’s about to say something, but he doesn't get a chance because Rhea turns the corner and cuts off whatever words had been on his lips. "I thought I told you to stay in bed."
Having no memory of any such conversation, I frown and open my mouth to tell her as much. But it quickly becomes apparent that she isn't talking to me anyway. "I smelled coffee." The stranger pouts as if she’s being chastised, but when Rhea snakes an arm around her waist and pulls her in, the pouty lips turn to a kiss. "I'll go back to bed now." She smiles around the room in parting and then ducks out of the kitchen, taking Remy's coffee cup with her.
In her wake, Rhea is the center of attention, which is where she loves to be most. "What?"
"I thought I told you not to bring anyone home?" Remy says, glancing down the hall to make sure the guest is out of earshot.
"Hmm." Rhea helps herself to the coffee and then turns around to shrug at him. "Actually, you said not to bring a man home. I didn't."
Unable to help myself, I laugh. I’m torn between amusement at Rhea's loophole and relief that it wasn’t that curvy brunette keeping Remy up all night.
"Will you be okay on your own for a bit?" Rhea asks, managing to grin while also looking apologetic about abandoning me. "Teresa has to work in a few hours and I wanna make the most of it."
"I'll be fine." I assure her. "Don't worry about me."
Rhea's liner-smudged eyes flick to Remy and then back to me. "Are you sure?"
"Go." I wave a hand. "Knock yourself out."
"Thank you! Love you!" Rhea blows a kiss over her shoulder and skips down the hall.
Before any of us even have a chance to react, the doorbell rings, drawing us all out of our stunned silence. Elaine shakes her head, wiping her hands on her apron. But I see the wry smile on her face as she walks away to answer the door. That leaves Remy and I to catch each other's eye.
"I thought she just walked in off the street." Remy laughs, clearly too stunned to say much else.
I can't keep myself from laughing, too. I want to tell him I'd assumed she was his lover for the night, but I don't want to show my hand. He doesn't need to know that I’ve been obsessing over what he was doing from the moment his warm body had moved away from mine last night. Better to let him think I haven’t thought about him at all.
