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“You want Ma to meet her?” Kitty squawks. “You and Lucas always complain about how she—”
Before she can blurt out the truth about how Ma cooks for our one-night stands, I snap, “It’s weird, but not this time. I figure Ma will like Belle and vice versa.”
Kitty blinks at me while Belle blushes. It’d be cute if it didn’t make me want to fuck her, but I’ve already been cockblocked by a front door and my sister—it isn’t safe to get a boner now.
“I thought you were in L.A.—”
“Well, you can see that I’m not.” A thought occurs to me. “But if Lucas comes around, tell him you didn’t see me.”
A catlike smile curves my sister’s lips. “I’ll tell him thoseexactwords, I promise.”
That smile tells me I’ve fucked up somewhere, but that’s when this two-act play turns into a Broadway production. A door down the hall opens and my ma calls out, “Cade, is that you?”
“Jesus fuck,” I mutter, unsure if this could get much worse, unless… “Is Lucas having a late dinner with her too?”
“Nah,” Kitty says with a smirk. “You missed him.”
Thank God for small mercies.
Still, I’m a momma’s boy and I ain’t ashamed to admit it. Lucas got tough because Da whipped him into shape. Me, I got whipped by a rolling pin and a towel around the head.
Shooting a look at Belle, I grace her with a grin. “I know this is early, but… want to meet my ma?”
12
BELLE
“Wait. Your mom?” I blink at him, but he’s as cocky—read unhelpful—as ever.
His grin widens. “Yeah.”
His sister ducks between us, staring at her brother like he’s grown a second head.
“Are you crazy? You can’t take Isabelle to meet Ma right now.” Kitty crosses her arms as he frowns at her. “No offense, Isabelle, but you’re covered in snow!”
“Since when do I listen to you, Kitty?” he retorts, not letting me answer.
Deciding to wade in before this becomes a sibling battleground, I smile kindly at Kitty. “I think you’re right, Kitty—”
“Ha, just took someone with a lick of sense to realize it.”
“—maybe meeting your mom in the morning would be better.” Snuggling into his side, I try to distract Cade. “Take me to your apartment? I’m starting to feel cold.”
He shoots me a concerned look then starts to run his hands up and down my back—
“Holy fuck, Cade. Down, boy.” Kitty’s loud voice makes us both look over at her as she holds up a hand, steps around our suitcases, and walks toward the door. “Sorry,” she says around a snicker. “I, just, I mean, wow, Cade. At least let me leave before you start getting boners in front of me.”
When she winks at me then, with another laugh, walks out the door, I realize that she reminds me of Dolly, one of my besties back in L.A.—zero filter.
“Nice to meet you, Kitty,” I say to her retreating back, surprised to find that I mean it.
Cade scowls at her as the door shuts behind her. “Okay, Ma’s tomorrow’s problem.” He rubs my cheek with his thumb. “Just give me two minutes so she isn’t standing on her doorstep for too long.”
I watch him leave, studying his ass, which is impossibly hotter thanks to my beer goggles. The man’s practically edible when you’re stone-cold sober. Now, I want to eat him up more than I needed that club sandwich earlier.
I blink when he returns—he really meant it when he said two minutes. Without a word, he takes my hand, grabs our baggage, and walks me down the hallway toward the elevator.
As we climb in, I ask, “So everyone has a place in the building?”
