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“Okay. I also love lying out in Mercy Park with a blanket, headphones, and sketchpad. I do my best work under a tree near the statue of Junto Trapp. I love sushi burgers, acoustic albums of The Undisturbed, and camping in Elmshire Woods.”
“Camping? My brother’s going to love you.”
“Who? Liam?”
“Nah. The other one.”
There are more Merchant brothers? Why did that thought come with more interest than was appropriate?
“How many of you are there?” I asked.
“A lot. My dads hopped on top of Mom and didn’t stop spitting them out until they hit upon perfection—me.”
“What a lovely image.” Sunny’s fingers splayed across my shoulders, gently guiding them back and bending me over his knee. “Uhhh,” I breathed, feeling all the right muscles stretch and pop. “How did you learn to do this?”
“Porn.”
I half snorted, half giggled. “You’re the worst.”
“But what I do to you isn’t.”
I smiled at him upside down. “True.”
Okay, maybe I didn’t completely forget how to flirt.
“Miss Blaine.” His husky voice spread over me, tightening my skin as he did the same—lips hovering above mine. “Ready to switch?”
Ready to put my hands on you again under the guise of being helpful?
“Yes.”
We turned around—Sunny hanging over the tub while my palms climbed up his back, kneading that tanned skin into dough. I wasn’t going to sleep with him, or conduct any sort of business beneath my bikini anytime soon. However, the fact remained Sunny was single and interested, and Liam was tangled with a hot doctor and wasn’t trying to get anything other than a hug off me. If there were growing feelings I could indulge—and I wasn’t saying there were—Sunny was the only Merchant brother interested in exploring them with me.
“So...” My breasts pressed against his back as I rubbed his shoulders. “I heard you and Liam say ‘dads’ more than once now. I’m guessing that added s is supposed to be there.”
“Yep. My parents are in what they call a polyamorous relationship. By my dad’s description, they all wanted Mom, and it was either share her or kill the others to have her.”
“Wow. I’ve never inspired such devotion. Your mom must be quite a woman.”
“Well, you’ve met me, so you know the one who bore me could be nothing less than flawless.”
I poked his good side. “It’s amazing how many times you manage to compliment yourself in a conversation.”
“You’ll learn all of my talents during the course of our relationship.”
“Do you mind my asking about your family?”
“No reason I should.”
“How many dads do you have?”
Sunny twisted and put me on his lap. I lost my ability to speak as he massaged me from the front, traveling up my shoulders and rubbing slow circles on my temple. Inches from him, there was no hiding my red cheeks. I prayed he blamed it on the steam.
“Four. Killian is Liam’s dad. St. John is mine. But that never mattered for more than our last names.”
“St. John Bellisario,” I repeated. “I like it. Does he ever go by Sinjin?”
Sunny looked at me in surprise. “Yeah. Exclusively, actually. How did you know?”
“I didn’t know. I stumbled on St. John in a—” Baby book. “In a book,” I finished. “The character went by Sinjin, and I always thought that was a cool nickname. Is it weird that I don’t know anything about your family? River looked at me like I spent history class eating paste when I blank-stared him.”
Sunny laughed. “It’s not that weird. Believe it or not, we’re not looking to be famous. The underworld knows, fears, and hates us, and as long as they do, pretty designers get to live their lives without hearing a whisper from the dark side of Cinco. That’s the future Mom wanted for the city.”
“Still,” I whispered, brushing a droplet from his lips, and not pulling away. “You’re just too... sunny... to be kept in the dark. Somehow, some way, our lives would’ve intersected. If only you weren’t so damn impatient and went by way of bridge.”
Sunny curled around my waist, drawing me in. “What do you want me to say? You’re not the kind of girl to keep waiting.”
I stopped breathing. Stopped moving. Stopped thinking. If I did any of those things, I’d ruin the moment, and the lord strike me down as a fool if I did something to stop Sunny’s lips coming toward me.
“Should I come back?”
He stilled, mouth meeting mine in the barest touch.
“I wouldn’t want to interrupt,” said a smug voice.
“You are a cruel woman, Shonda,” Sunny replied. She had the smug smile to match as she held out our drinks. “All because I said your seafood curry tasted like stale milk.”
“I forgot about that actually.” I was off his lap and shooting across the tub before Sunny grabbed his mojito. “That was for tickling me into dropping a banana soufflé fresh out of the oven. Thanks for reminding me my quest for vengeance isn’t over.”
