Sawyer, Rita - Her Mr. Wrong [What Are Friends For 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (10 page)

“Not yet.” Only because Jenny hadn’t told him exactly where they were going, otherwise he would have.

As they drove through town, she searched the stations on the radio. He’d never seen a man play with another guy’s presets, but his sister did it all the time, so he figured it was a girl thing. He decided to look at it a positive move. If she was setting stations, that meant she planned on being in the car more than just tonight. He turned off the main road and drove deeper into the suburban neighborhood. Little houses were nestled in with bigger ones. The driveways had minivans or SUVs in them.

“I don’t see any restaurants around here.” She pointed out what he already knew.

Slade pulled into the Jenny’s driveway and parked right behind her car. “We’re making a stop first.”

He got out of the car and walked around to open her door. She didn’t move to get out. He held out his hand and still nothing. She glanced up at him and shook her head. Slade laughed, which earned him a nasty glare.

“Whose house is this?”

“My sister’s. She’s expecting us.”

“Fine.” She slapped her hand into his and let him help her out of the car.

Slade didn’t release her hand, as they headed up the walkway to the door. He found it funny that she didn’t try to tug it free. The door opened before they reached the steps.

“Uncle Slade’s here,” Conner shouted, jumping up and down in the doorway.

“Thank God!” he heard Jenny say as he opened the door and ushered Amy inside.

Jenny was rushing around, wearing just a robe. Matthew sat on the floor smacking his blocks together while Conner tried to show him how to build a tower. Jenny spotted Amy standing by the door. In a move that surprised them all, she grabbed Amy’s arm and dragged her up the stairs. Slade looked at the boys, not expecting an answer, but he wouldn’t have rejected one, either. Conner shrugged his shoulders, while Matthew chose to throw a block in his direction.

“That means he wants you to play,” Conner explained.

“Whoo-hoo.” Slade scooped up the block and joined them on the floor.

It took Slade and Conner a good ten minutes and countless attempts, but they managed to build a wall around Matthew. There was no way Slade could hear what was going on upstairs above his high-pitched laughter. Hell, he almost missed the doorbell. Slade got to his feet and went to the door, with Conner hot on his heels.

“Elias!” Conner shouted as Slade opened the door.

“Dude, you grew again.” Elias held up his hand, and Conner slapped it. “I thought your mother told you to stop.”

“She did, but I can’t stop.” He shrugged as if it didn’t really matter.

“Well, pretty soon you’ll be able to get stuff off the top shelf instead of me.”

“Really?” Conner’s smile would have stretched from ear to ear if it were possible

“And just how often are you fetching stuff for my sister?” Slade’s tone had Elias’s gaze snapping to his.

“Once or twice a month.” Elias walked over and scooped up Matthew, who was waving his arms madly in the air.

Though the boys seemed really happy to see him, Slade wondered why he was there. “So what brings you by?”

“Jenny and I are going out to dinner and a movie.” Elias tilted his head a little. “I thought you knew.”

“You?” Slade couldn’t believe this. Elias—one of his best friends—was the one who asked his sister out. “I knew she had a date, but she wouldn’t tell me with who.”

“You’re not mad, are you? I did ask your permission.”

“I think I would remember something that important.”

“You were a bit distracted at the time.”

“Jenny’s the woman who had you tied in knots?” Why hadn’t Slade put it all together? He wasn’t against the match, just surprised.

The sound of Jenny’s and Amy’s giggles as they came down the steps had them all turning. Jenny came around the corner first. She had on a little, black dress with hot-pink lace at the top of her breasts and at the hem. The ribbon at her waist and in hair matched it perfectly.

“Wow.” Elias was echoed by both boys.

Jenny blushed, which only made her look more stunning. Amy moved to Slade’s side. Her earlier frown was replaced with a huge smile. They were going to have a talk about what happened upstairs, and he figured he was going to owe her a thank-you or two.

The phone rang, and Jenny lunged for it. “Hello.”

Slade watched as her smile fell, and she said, “Oh, no, I completely understand. I hope you feel better.”

She hung up the phone and stood with her back to them for a few moments. Slade moved to go to her, but Amy grabbed his arm and held him in place. He glanced at her, and she shook her head.

“That was Martha from two doors down. She was supposed to babysit tonight, but she’s feeling a bit under the weather.” She turned to Elias. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to reschedule.”

“Nonsense,” Amy interrupted, before Elias could response. “Slade and I can stay here and watch the boys.”

Jenny shook her head and glanced at the floor. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t. I’m insisting. Don’t forget, as a guest in your home you want me to be welcome, so you should let me do as I ask.” Her smile told Slade she was going to give in on this.

His sister must have known it, too, because she caved in. Slade had to wonder if Amy knew what she was getting not just herself, but him, into. Elias handed Matthew to Amy and held out his hand to Jenny. She slid hers into it, and together they walked out the door. Slade hoped they had a better time than he and Amy were about to have. He loved his nephews, but he knew what a handful they could be.

It didn’t take more than ten minutes for him to realize Amy knew exactly what she was doing. She took her shoes off and got right down on the floor to play with the boys. Her playful and caring way had the boys eating out of her hands, but she was tricky, too. She managed to get them fed and ready for bed without a fuss. Hell, she even got them to eat their veggies, something he’d never been able to do himself. More importantly, he knew she wasn’t doing this to impress him. She was doing this for his sister, and she seemed to actually enjoy playing with the boys.

This woman called out to everything in him. It was so powerful, it couldn’t be one-sided. That would be wrong on so many levels. If she didn’t feel at least a tenth of what he felt for her, he’d never trust his instincts again. Once she was done reading Conner one more story, they were going to talk. He poured them each a glass of wine and sat down on the couch to wait for her.

“I’m starving,” she said as she came down the stairs.

“I could order something.”

She shook her head, declining his offer. “Let’s see what we can find.”

Slade picked up the glasses of wine and followed her into the kitchen. He could talk while she cooked. As she went through his sister’s cabinets, he was pleased to see how well stocked they were. She found everything she needed to make spaghetti and tomato sauce.

“How’d you get to be so good with kids? Did you babysit a lot?” He stood back out of her way, as she filled the pan and carried it to the stove.

“Not growing up, but I watch my four brother’s kids all the time.” She opened a can of sauce and dumped it into a smaller pan. “They each have a couple boys. Unlike my mother, taking care of kids just came naturally for me. I can’t wait for Lainey and Dianne to have little girls for me to spoil.” She licked the sauce off her finger.

Slade lost his train of thought for a minute. “Do you want any of your own?”

“I’d like a few.” Her half shrug intrigued him.

“How many is a few?” He walked over to the cabinet and took out two plates.

“Three or four. Hopefully all girls.” She dumped the box of pasta into the boiling water.

“How many bathrooms do you have in that tiny house of yours?” He set the plates on the table.

“One.” She smiled as she stirred the sauce.

“I had to share a bathroom with Jenny growing up, and that was a battle. I can’t imagine sharing one with four girls.”

“Five,” she said.

“What?”

“Unless you’re thinking about having four girls and no mother, you’d be fighting for shower time with five girls.”

“I could share the shower with my wife.” He waggled his eyebrows, and she laughed.

Slade and Amy worked side by side. Okay, she worked, and he got in the way, to bring the meal together. When they finally sat down, Slade moved his chair so close to hers that their thighs touched. It wasn’t close enough, but it would have to do for now. They both talked as they ate, regardless of the fact they had food in their mouths. For boxed pasta and canned sauce, it was pretty fabulous. Slade thought it might have had been just because he was eating it with her.

“How about you go pick a movie, and I’ll load the dishwasher?” he suggested as he carried their plates to the sink.

“Okay.” She practically flew from the room.

Slade laughed as he put the left over spaghetti in a bowl and stuffed it in the fridge. He wasn’t going to leave a mess for his sister to come home to, but he hurried through the chore. As he rinsed and loaded the dishes, he heard Amy laugh in the other room. His sister had an eclectic collection of movies, but he knew the majority of the DVDs she had were either kid or family friendly, or chick flicks.

He walked into the living room, which was only lit from the TV, and found her curled up in the corner of the couch watching previews. Slade sat in the opposite corner and smiled at her. She smiled back and pushed off the arm of the couch and onto her knees. Slade held himself still, willing to let her do whatever she wanted. She crawled over and curled up against his side, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

The movie started. She’d chosen some sappy love story. Slade tried to pay attention to what was happening on the TV, but with Amy running her hand up and down his thigh, it wasn’t easy. With each pass, she moved her fingers closer and closer to his now-throbbing cock. He hoped this was heading where he thought it was, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure they should do this here.

He covered her hand with his. “You’re teasing a tiger.”

“It’s only teasing if you don’t follow through.” She giggled, turning her hand over under his.

“The kids are sleeping right above us.”

Amy merely shrugged. “My nephew sleeps in the same room as my brother and his wife, and they still manage to have sex.”

“Are you sure about that?” Not that he really wanted to know if her brother was having sex.

She nodded. “I’d know if my brother wasn’t getting it at least semi-regularly.”

“How?” He couldn’t stop himself from asking, since he doubted her brothers talked about stuff like that in front of her.

“He’s usually the friendliest one out of them, but when Laurie is holding out, he becomes a real bear.”

“So we can?”

“As long as you’re quiet, and quick, because who knows when Jenny’s going to come home.”

Slade didn’t need to be told twice. He reached for the buttons on her blouse as she went for his belt. It didn’t take them long to get each other naked. Staying quiet was a whole lot harder. He’d had the urge to crow like a rooster when he got her down to the hot-pink, see-through bra and barely-there thong. But now that she was naked beneath him, he couldn’t be happier that the scraps of material were tossed somewhere with the rest of their clothes.