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He watched her walk away and could not help but admire the seductive, graceful way she exhibited. Taking a sip of his drink, he also admired that he had been firmly put in his place.
He had not meant to see her tonight, but now that was a possibility, he could not wait. Tossing back the drink, he went to the bar and tried concentrating on the people around him.
Chapter 10
She was unnerved to see her brother waiting for her when she arrived home some hours later. His unremarkable cop jeep was parked in the circular driveway, and he was sitting on the porch, the red glow of the cigar piercing the shadows. She had left before Deacon, with the understanding that he would be dropping by her place when he left.
"I did not expect you." She murmured as she walked up the steps.
"I was in the neighborhood." He pitched the cigar over the rail and stared at her. "Fancy get up."
"I was at a fancy party with the girls." She sat on the swing next to him. "Were you in the neighborhood or checking up on me?"
"Both." He turned sideways to look at her. "I am pissed as hell at the stunt you pulled the other night and thought about letting the grudge drag on for a week, but I happen to love you." He shrugged.
"I happen to love you too." Reaching out, she rubbed a hand up and down his arm. "And the good news?"
"We found a surrogate. She is twenty-nine years old and has done the surrogacy thing before, which is good, according to the doctors. Her record is solid, and she does not have any history of insanity or any criminal records in her background.
It does not appear she will want to keep the baby after she delivers. And she has kids of her own. Four-" he shook his head. "She is a single mother; her husband died two years ago, and she needs the additional income. Lori likes her."
"And you?"
"I don't know her, and I am a cop, which means suspicious as hell and not the trusting type. We will see. Any funny thing and I am all over her—kids or not. Lori is happy and already planning the frigging color scheme of the nursery.
I am telling her to slow down, but she is not listening." He shrugged again. "I want her to be happy. Telling her I do not mind it, just being us two for the long haul is not making a dent."
"She blames herself for being unable to give you a child." Delores reminded him quietly.
"And that's utter BS. I love her and accept her for whatever. Anyway, the deed is done. I had to humiliate myself by jerking off into a cup."
"Too much info."
"I suffer, you suffer." He grinned at her.
"Why should I suffer?" She asked plaintively, leaning into him. His arm came around her, and they stayed that way. "Remember our tenth birthday party?"
"How could I forget?" He was running his hands up and down her arm slowly. "You were a spoiled bitch back then and insisted on hogging all the attention."
"I was not!"
"You were. Mom and I had just started living with you, and Dad and I were still reeling from the fact that we were uprooted from our home and dumped with strangers. It did not matter that Dad laid out the red carpet or that he had been decent to me whenever he visited.
You wanted strawberry shortcake and insisted on it. You also wanted pink balloons and fricking pink and white ribbons all over the damn room.
Your birthday and mine coincide with June 10th and 12th, hence the decision to keep one birthday party. You would not allow me to have anything that was mine. And being daddy's little princess-" he winced when she poked him in the ribs. "You got your wish."
"You ruined my beautiful pink tulle dress."
"I just improved. Too many damn ruffles and lace." He corrected.
"And you slashed the balloons and ribbons."
"That much pink was giving me a toothache."
"And to top it off, you ruined the cake."
"I just wanted to have a taste."
