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“I didn’t say that.” There was no way in hell she’d guessed hat my brother and I didn’t get along.
“You didn’t have to. You skipped over the question altogether, which is what I would have done if you’d asked about my horrible step-sister. Her name is Tessa and she is the absolute worst.”
I was happy to hear about her dysfunctional family rather than talk about my own. “She sounds awful.”
Shannon let out an uncharacteristic giggle and nabbed another bite. “Agreed. She just wants to spend every day shopping, buffing and waxing like some pampered princess and then accuses me of that!” She shook her head and I could see her reliving a particular conversation with her step-sister.
“Did you grow up together?”
“Yes and no. She’s a year younger than me but dad and Teresa have been married since I was seventeen, so long enough to know that we just don’t get along.” Shannon gave an exaggerated shudder and looked up at me. “Now you, tell me about your hated sibling. Older or younger?”
“Older,” I growled. “Is this really the kind of conversation friends have?”
“How else do you propose we get to know each other?” I wiggled my eyebrows and she laughed. “With our clothes on, Miles.”
“Fine. His name is Shawn and he’s my older brother.”
Her smile dimmed at my tone. “And Shawn, I gather, is a bit of a dick?”
I nodded. “The dickest.”
Her lips twitched with amusement and I was happy to see her come back to life, since she’d been so subdued when I first got here. “Word approved and stolen. Carry on.”
“Thanks for your approval.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled and motioned for me to talk. “Shawn the dick.”
I didn’t want to get into this story every again, especially with Shannon, because I didn’t want to see that look of pity in her big green eyes. “Fine. On my last tour, I was engaged to a woman I’d been seeing for a few years.” Surprise lit up her green eyes but she kept quiet. “While I was away, she banged my brother and got engaged to him. They’re now married with two kids.” I held my breath and waited for that look, the one that said “poor bastard didn’t even see it coming.” I hated that damn look.
Shannon sucked in a breath. “What a bitch and a bigger bitch! I mean, what the hell? How do they live with themselves? Disgusting bastards,” she muttered and stabbed the last hunk of lobster and pasta. “Oh. I mean sorry, or whatever.”
I laughed. “Don’t be sorry, I’ve called them both worse. Much worse.”
“Yeah? You have a way with words, Mr. Anderson. Share with the class.”
I shook my head. “I’ve told you my secrets, now you share with the class, Ms. Brinkley.”
Her auburn brows dipped low. “I already told you about Tessa.”
I laughed. “Hating a step-sister is hardly new or news. Try again.” If we were getting to know each other, then I wanted to know more about her too. “Where’s your mom?”
“She died when I was nine, shot in a robbery.” The words were lifeless, so unlike the bubbly woman I’d gotten to know over the past couple months. “I miss her everyday.”
“You resent Teresa for taking her place?”
“No,” she sighed. “I resent her meddling in my life. I miss my mom because she would have taught me what I needed to know about the world, about men. Teresa is…well she is pretty much every guy I have ever dated.”
“Mean?” If I found even one jerk had laid a hand on her, I would track them down and make them regret it.
She snorted and shook her head. “Mean too, but mean I can handle. Mean is easy to walk away from.”
Suddenly I didn’t want to hear more. “You don’t have to, Shannon.”
“I know, but we’re becoming friends, aren’t we?” That’s what her lush mouth said, but the way she looked away said something different. “Maybe I’m an easy target or maybe I just have crap taste in men, no offense,” she grinned.
“None taken. I think.”
Shannon laughed and the sound was musical. Pretty. Feminine like the woman who made the sound. “I’ve had three serious relationships in my life and every single one of them ended over money. Specifically, because I refused to donate or invest in a particular project that was doomed, even though I have so much.”
“What? Is that even a thing?”
She arched a brow. “Men can’t be gold diggers, Miles?”
“Of course but if you have the love of a beautiful, passionate woman, what the hell do you need with money?”
A blush stained her cheeks and Shannon pointed at me. “Careful, Miles, words like that and I just might start to fall for you.” There it went again, that strange look that I couldn’t quite decipher.
“How can that be when we’re just becoming friends?”
