“Excuse me?” Not so confused now, darling.
“Was he part of your full experience?” I don’t mean for the words to come out cold and derisive. Or fuck it, maybe I do. First El and now that twat. “Maybe you were planning to take him back to your aunt’s house for a cozy fuck.”
“Screw you!”
“Oh, but you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I growl, stepping closer.
“Yeah, well, at least one of us can be truthful,” she parries.
“You deserve better. Don’t you get that? Better than him,” I say, throwing out an arm. “Better than me! Don’t let anyone make you feel like second best, Amelia. Don’t you fucking dare!”
“You haven’t…”
“Haven’t I?” One hand on my hip, I rake the other through my hair. What the fuck am I doing out here, yelling in the street, my head fit to explode? “I haven’t treated you like I should have,” I mutter, making avof my hand over my chin.
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“The fuckin supply cupboard!” I yell.
“You want me to be angry because you left?”
“You should be angry. You should be telling me to go fuck myself.”
She pulls a face and mutters, “I’m getting close. Your sister needed you, Whit. It’s not like you left me to make my way home with my ass hanging out. What do you want me to say? Do you want me to soothe your feelings, your little peccadillos? Tell you that you’re a good man? A good brother? There, I said it. Do you feel better now?”
“No,” I say, taking a predatory step closer. “My peccadillos aren’t small.” A flash of mockery sounds in my head.Better to convince her.“I don’t feel very good about any of this.” She startles a little, inhaling a gasp as she steps back. “Maybe you should ask my sisters what kind of brother I am.”
“I know what they’d say. You’re a good one. Dependable and… and considerate.” I take another step. Mimi takes another back.
“Yes, a good brother. Like the time Primrose fell off her bike. She bumped her head.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if she wasn’t the only one.”
“I picked her up and kissed her knee better. Is there anywhere you’d like me to kiss you better, Amelia?”
She gives her head a tiny shake as though doubting her own ears.
“You’re thinking about it.” I huff an unhappy chuckle. “And God knows you’re not the only one. I would drown myself in you, Amelia. Gorge on you until only your sighs remain.”
“Are you trying to frighten me or turn me on?”
“That’s just the thing. I’m not sure anymore. I’ve tried being brotherly. I’ve tried being a pain. I’ve even tried being considerate, tried to do the right thing, but you thwart me at every turn.” I know these sound like complaints, but they’re actually more like compliments. She knows it, too, as her lips tip upward.
“I don’t think I’ve ever thwarted anyone in my life.”
I reach out, wrapping my fingers around her elbow. “I can only think you haven’t been paying enough attention. Saved by the Bentley,” I add as the company’s SUV pulls quietly up to the curb. I suppose George must’ve spotted us from where he was parked.
“Maybe I don’t want to be saved,” she says softly.
“And maybe I don’t want to fuck you in a cold back lane,” I lie.
I ignore her shock as the car pulls up, and the driver’s door closes with a heavythunkas he slips out.
“Hello, George.” Mimi’s expression reflects surprise as he opens the rear passenger door. “You’re working late tonight.”
“Overtime.” I glance over my shoulder just in time to see him shoot her the kind of wink that would earn a younger man a punch to the ribs.
“Gotta make hay when the sun—moon—shines.” Adjusting my hold on her arm, I turn her toward the rear of the car.
