AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When he had me against him, he bent his head and whispered near my ear, “Relax.”
I wanted to laugh. As if I could relax. That was the absolute last thing I would be able to do this morning. Blaise tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and grinned down at me, as if I’d said that aloud.
Someone cleared their throat, and Blaise’s eyes left mine to look toward the sound of it. I knew it was one of the rodeo squad at the table, but I didn’t know which one.
“Should we be expecting Melanie to show up, pitching a damn fit?” Huck asked.
I recognized his drawl. His accent was so similar to a Texan’s that I wondered if he’d always lived in Florida or if he had spent the first part of his life in Texas.
Blaise shook his head, and then his eyes came back to mine. There was a flutter in my stomach this morning when he looked at me. Sure, I’d felt something before, but today, it was more. I was so going to regret this.
“Do you want jelly on your biscuit?” Gina asked.
She shouldn’t have to make me breakfast. I stepped back from Blaise to go take the plate she was holding and finish what she was doing.
“Whoa,” he said, reaching for my arm this time to pull me back to him. “Where are you going?”
I waved my free arm toward the stove, where breakfast was laid out. “To make myself a plate.”
He frowned. “I told Gina to.”
That annoyed me. Was Gina the hired help? And if so, did she have to wait on all the women he brought over here? I wasn’t like them. I didn’t require someone serving me. I was starting to feel cheaper by the minute.
“I am perfectly capable of doing it,” I told him, pulling my arm free, then turning to go take the plate Gina was holding.
She grinned at me like she wasn’t sure if I was crazy or not.
“Thanks,” I told her, then turned to the stove to see cheese grits, sausage links, scrambled eggs, bacon, white gravy, and biscuits. Did they eat like this every morning?
When Huck began talking about the bike he’d been discussing when I walked in, I was relieved that their attention was moved off me. I finished putting things on my plate, no longer sure I could eat. I should have just asked to go back to Moses Mile.
Taking the plate, I turned and found Blaise watching me. Pausing, I looked at him, waiting for him to say something. He smirked, then pushed off from the island he’d been leaning on to walk over to me.
“I’ll be in later today,” he said to Huck, who had just asked if he’d be by the shop. “I’ve got some things to handle first.” He led me over to the table and pulled out a chair for me to take, then sat at the one next to it.
“Fuck it,” Levi said, leaning back in his chair. “If no one else is asking, then I am.” He looked at me, then at Blaise. “What is going on?”
Blaise lifted his eyes from me to meet Levi’s. “She’s mine,” was the only response he gave.
I set the piece of bacon back down on the plate and turned my head to look up at him.What did that mean exactly?This conversation was about me. That I knew, but I was not Blaise’s. Even if we were together,she’s minewas a psycho, controlling way to describe it.
“I’m reading that signal loud and clear,” Levi replied. “I think we all got that. But when did I miss how this happened?”
Blaise’s eyes narrowed, and the room suddenly felt tense. I glanced around and saw that I wasn’t the only one who felt it. No one spoke.
“When it becomes family business, then you’ll know. Right now, this is my business,” Blaise said in a low, commanding tone.
Levi didn’t seem concerned. He shrugged, as if that was an answer. I, however, still didn’t understand what was happening.
A small alarm bell went off, and Huck stood up quickly and walked out of the room. I took a bite of my bacon while waiting on someone to say something because the silence made it hard to eat.
“Now, it’s family business,” Huck announced as he walked back into the room. “Trev just drove through the gate.”
Blaise muttered a curse, then stood up and picked up my plate. “Come on.” It was an order, not a request.
I stood up, and before I could ask what we were doing, he started walking away with my food. Either I could stand in here with these people I barely knew or follow him. He hadn’t left me much of a choice. I did as I had been told. I found I had been doing that more and more with Blaise, and it annoyed me.
We were at the door leading down to his cave when he stopped.
