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“I told you not to lie to me,” he responded in a low, warning growl.
“I didn’t lie!”
That seemed to give him pause… for a nanosecond. “You said you grew up in foster care. You never said shit about having a brother.”
“Maybe because you never asked!” I shouted. “And, not that it’s any of your damn business, but he’s myfosterbrother. He basically raised me since I was eleven.”
A sarcastic snort worked its way from Rowan’s throat. “And you actually expect me to believe nothing’s happened between you two? Give me a break, Navie. I’m not an idiot.”
I wanted to slap him. No, I wanted to punch him,reallyhard.
Instead, I lifted my phone up and hit a few buttons, accessing my photo album. “Here.” I shoved the phone in his face for him to see. “That’s from last Christmas. That’s Carson, hiswife, Cassidy, and their daughter, Willow.” He looked from the screen to me with a furrowed brow. “Keep scrolling,” I said sarcastically. “You’ll see more pictures of the three of them. I’m in some of them. Cassidy’s Aunt Milly and Uncle Kal are also in some, too. Oh!” I snatched the phone away and scrolled to one of my most recent pics. “And that’s a picture Cassidy texted me last week of herpregnantbelly. Now, you wanna keep accusing me of stupid shit when it’s obvious I have a good relationship with Carson’s wife, or are you ready to pull your head out of yourass?” I finished on a shout.
“I—” he started, but I didn’t give him a chance to continue.
I snatched my cell phone from his hand. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Just a warning. The next time you want to call my brother names, you better be prepared to have the ever-loving shit kicked out of you. There aren’t many people in my life I love, but the few I do, I lovefiercely. I got thrown into the system when I was four and bounced around all alone until I met Carson. He protected me, took care of me. And when my most recent foster family kicked me out the day I turned eighteen, he took me in. He worked two jobs, saving up as much money as he could so that when I came to New York, I didn’t have to struggle.
“And when he met Cassidy and her family, none of them hesitated to welcome us into the fold with open arms. I’d die for each and every one of those people, so I betterneverhear you talk shit about any of them ever again. You understand me?”
“I’m sorry.”
“And I—wait, what?”
He stepped into me and ran his fingers through my hair, locking them together at the base of my neck. “I said I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I just heard you talking to some guy, telling him you loved him, and I got pissed. I should have asked you first, and I didn’t. I jumped to conclusions, and for that, I’m sorry. Oh, and I’m also sorry for calling your brother an asshole. I’m sure he’s a great guy.”
“What’s happening right now?” I whispered.
“Well,” he chuckled, “I woke up this morning without you in my bed, which I wasn’t happy about, FYI. I went looking for you, found you wearing nothing but my shirt, got hard enough to pound nails with my dick, heard you talking to another dude, stuck my foot in my mouth and made an ass out of myself, and now I’m trying to apologize. That about sum up our morning so far?”
“Uh…”
“But I’d much rather get back to the part about you wearing my shirt.” His tongue snaked out and ran across my bottom lip, sending a shiver throughout my body. “Please, for the love of God, tell me you aren’t wearing anything underneath.”
As his face came closer, mine leaned further away. “Seriously, what’s happening right now? Did I wake up in an alternate universe or something?”
He pulled back, looking as confused as I was feeling. “What are you talking about?”
I struggled against his hold until he finally let go. I needed space if we were going to talk about what happened between us. I couldn’t think when he was touching me. I couldn’t afford that kind of distraction.
“Rowan, it was just one night, right? I mean, you don’t… I thought…”
“You thought what?” he asked agitatedly as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I thought…” Oh, God, there was no way to say what I had to say without coming off like a raging bitch. Sucking in a lungful of air, I pushed forth, the awkward tension in the room putting my nerves on high alert. “I thought you didn’t do repeats. I mean, I saw how you dismissed that woman on my first day and I just assumed…Gah!I planned on being gone before you woke up to avoid this very conversation! I’ve never had a one-night stand before. It’s not like I know proper procedure. Cut me some slack!”
His jaw ticked as he grew stiff. Oh, damn, he was pissed. “You thought this was a one-night stand?”
I shrugged. “Well… yeah.”
“Jesus Christ!” he boomed, and I immediately went on the defensive.
“Come on, Rowan! Your track record with women isn’t exactly classified. You can’t be mad at me for being confused. Put yourself in my shoes.”
He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he ran his hands through his sexy, sleep-rumpled hair. His abs bunched and I found myself licking my lips hungrily as I watched his muscles flex and release.
“You’re right.Shit,” he hissed. “I’m sorry.”
It was right then that something dawned on me. My heart began pumping at a frantic pace at just the thought. I didn’t want to be hopeful. Iknewbetter than to hope. But, God, could he really…?
