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"What? We're all adults here," she said, giving me a lip twitch that told me she was embarrassing me on purpose.
I had gone my whole life without having a parent do the 'embarrassing you in front of a new beau' thing. Mostly because I dated very sporadically and also because my parents were too detached to do such a thing.
My grandmother wanted to make up for lost time.
"Grandma, Duke and I are..."
"Very new," Duke interrupted, giving me a brow raise that said he dared me to contradict him.
And, given that my grandmother was sick and seemed tickled to see me with a man, I didn't have the heart to do it. This visit wasn't about me; it was about giving my grandmother whatever she needed to lift her spirits. So even if that meant fibbing a little, I was okay with that.
"So how's your hip feeling?" I asked, eager to turn the conversation.
She rolled her eyes, waving a hand. "They treat you like a bloody invalid when you break a hip, like it is any different than a leg or arm. Suddenly everyone is giving me calm tones like a dog about to be put down."
"I'm sure they're just trying to make you comfortable," I said, moving to sit down by her feet. Duke went to grab the chair from the corner and move it closer, but settled it beside her nightstand so he wasn't too much in her personal space. Not that I thought she would mind him in her personal space; her eyes kept moving over to drink him in. But it was considerate.
Damn him.
"Is it impossible for you to think badly of people?" she asked, shaking her head at me, but smiling.
Little did she know, I was having some pretty bad thoughts about the man in the room. Along with all of his friends.
"I am going to choose to believe that people who go into the medical field do it because they have a genuine urge to help people."
"You obviously have no idea what a doctor's salary is," she said with a smile. "Anyway, my hip is fine. They stuck some pins in me. I'm bionic now."
"Are you still taking the pain..."
"You are not going to visit with me for the first time since Christmas and ask me about pain medicine. I don't care that I am in a care center. Tell me about your man here instead. Better yet, you tell me," she said, turning to Duke.
"Not too much to tell, Patty," he said and her smile went dazzling. "Grew up in Arkansas. Had some differences of opinion with my family so I left. I've worked in construction since I was seventeen..."
"You have the look of a construction worker. They always have the best muscular build," she added and I brought a hand up to rub over my eyes, unbelievably uncomfortable watching my grandmother compliment Duke's muscular build. Granted it was true. I had seen all of those beautiful muscles. But still. "How did you and my little Penny here meet?"
His eyes cut to me then and he gave me a small smile. "She was lost. I gave her directions."
"To your bed, perhaps?" my grandmother pressed.
"Oh my God, stop," I demanded, but there was no use.
The next several hours went the same way.
And I got the pleasure of watching a man I was undeniably attracted to physically but disgusted by mentally charm my grandmother and discreetly get answers to the questions that she refused to answer me about her pain and pain medicine and how she was eating.
When we left late that afternoon, I had all the information I needed to feel better about her care.
"Come on," Duke said, opening the door. "We need to get back before it gets dark out. I'll feed you back at the compound."
Right.
The compound.
I had almost forgotten that that was an issue I needed to address.
When Duke got in and we got on the road, I swallowed the discomfort and hedged the subject.
"So when do you think I will be able to head back to my life?"
His eyes cut to mine for a second, something flashing across his eyes like maybe he was reading something into the words that I didn't mean to be there. "Well, I paid up your rent for the next two months just to be safe."
"You... you paid my rent for two months?" I sputtered, shaking my head. "Why?"
"Because I wanted you to be able to keep your apartment. It's not your fault that you got wrapped up in this. One thing though, before you move back in, you are letting me put a padlock on that door. Or fucking ten. Your super is a dick."
"Yeah but..."
"They're back early," Duke interrupted as we pulled up to the compound, parking beside another SUV to find Wolf and Renny there. Wolf's woman, the tiny, tattooed, dark-haired Janie, was there as well.
