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"Megan, this is Emmy, my sister. Emmy, Megan."
"Nice to meet you, Megan. Has my crabby brother been giving it to you?"
Her cheeks flamed so brightly she could feel it in her ears. "Um …"
Emmy cocked her head just a bit and burst out laughing. "Well, now I really need to know what's been going on." Stepping closer to her, Emmy continued, "I meant giving you grief. He can be a real sorry soul sometimes, but the bright red of your cheeks tells me you two have been involved in much more."
"Um. I ..."
"Leave her alone, Em." He turned his dark gaze to her, a bit of mirth in his expression. "I told you she was a force."
"Well, now that we've got that out of the way, here you go." She handed grocery bags to both of them and grabbed two herself and headed into the house. Ford closed the tailgate of her SUV and smiled at her as he followed his sister into the house.
Her panties dampened with just his smile. To say “Oh. My. Gawd.” would be an understatement. His kind smile was breathtaking. He probably didn't even realize what a picture he made.
Numbly following them into the house with the groceries, she worked to focus on not tripping—on her words or her feet. All this before her first cup of coffee; it was going to be a long day.
Chapter16
He'd need to keep his distance. That's what he knew right now. Three times he'd kissed her, and each time, his feelings became jumbled into a mash of something he couldn't describe. First of all, his life was a mess on its own. Secondly, he had to leave here—and soon—to find Bobby Ray, if for no other reason than one of the women standing in his kitchen right this minute. Emmy. She and Dawson trusted him to bring Bobby Ray to trial, and he'd do just that. His parents deserved that. And third, Tamra. He still had that wreckage to clean up, but he was more determined than ever to extricate her from his life. Bringing another woman, even one as special as Megan, into that chaos, was crazy.
"So, tell me what the plan is?"
Emmy and Megan both looked at him, waiting for a response to Emmy's question.
Taking a deep breath, he responded, "I want to get Megan secured up here where she won't be found by Marcus and his happy henchmen, then I'm going back down to South Point to bring in Bobby Ray."
"Okay, good." Emmy took charge, always, which is what made her a damn good attorney, but sometimes she could be over-bearing. His back stiffened as he recognized overbearing Emmy coming out. He poured a cup of coffee for Megan and slid it across the counter to her, along with a sugar bowl and creamer pot. He glanced at his sister, who held up her neon green covered cup she almost always carried. Nodding, he warmed his own up with a topping of fresh coffee from the pot. He watched Megan smile when he slid her cup to her then slowly poured a dash of creamer from the pot into it. She drank her coffee just like he did, cream no sugar.
Her delicate fingers wrapped around the cup which seemed an effort to warm her fingers from the cup but maybe she was holding on to something in case Emmy began barking out orders for their lives.
"So, when will that be? Tomorrow, the next day? And what do you need Dawson and me to do?”
"Em, slow down." His eyes flicked to Megan, and his heart sped up when hers locked onto his. He'd just noticed that her hair was an auburn pile of curls on top of her head and it softened her features, almost making her look like a younger woman in her early twenties. He knew otherwise from Waylon's file, which stated she was forty-two. The soft column of her neck exposed how petite her bone structure was. The line of her collarbone made his fingers itch to touch her creamy skin. Those green eyes always seemed to stop him in his tracks. He'd tossed and turned last night remembering the way she looked laying on the bed in the other room, the way her eyes beaconed him to touch her, kiss her, fuck her. He'd seen it there, or maybe he'd imagined it because that's what he was thinking. But she was too vulnerable right now, and he didn't want to make that mistake again. The last time had been disturbing, to say the least.
"Well, it seems I may have interrupted something here this morning since you two can't stop making googly eyes at each other, so I'll just say this. You need to get rid of Tamra and get on with your life. You need to get this house out of her name and into yours only, and you need to bring peace to Mom and Dad. With that, I'm off to a soccer game this morning. Dillon is starting. I told him you couldn't make it because of work, but we're hoping you can make it next week."
Taking a breath and turning to Megan, his sister beamed at her. "Please join Ford at Dillon's soccer game next week. He's pretty good and he just loves his uncle."
Picking up her cup, she strode around the counter and hugged him tightly. "I used your bank card to buy the groceries. Change the password on the gate, please, it's been two weeks. See ya." And with an absent wave, she was out the door.
Turning to Megan, he was shocked at the change in her features. Tense wasn't a strong enough word, and the air seemed to crackle with anger and hostility.
"Who's Tamra?"
Clenching his jaw, he inhaled; the time was now. "My wife."
"Your wife? You're fucking married? You kissed me. Three times. In your wife's house. In the house you share with your wife?" Each 'your wife' was punctuated with a hint of disgust.
"It's not like that."
"It never is, is it? Men always say shit like that when they've been caught cheating."
"I didn't cheat."
"You thought about it."
Raising his voice, he nearly hollered. "You don't know what I've thought about. You don't know anything about me."
