Page 133 of The Complete Truth Duet
He stood at the door, holding it open until I walked through it, at which point he proved that he had no concept of time whatsoever because he placed his hands on the small of my back.
At which point my body followed suit, proving that it had no desire for time, by arching into it. Dammit!
“Oh, thank God, you’re back,” Penn said as he ushered me into the open living area.
Drew was sitting on a barstool while Catalina hovered over him, putting a bandage over his left eye. I caught sight of Savannah, Isabel, and River huddled together on one of the brown overstuffed leather couches, and when all of their heads turned our way, I shot them a reassuring smile. Isabel and Savannah returned it, but River was too busy watching Penn as though she were waiting for him to disappear. God, how long could I delay telling her that Lexy was actually Penn’s wife? She was going to be crushed, and after the last few weeks, guilt was not something else I wanted to add to her plate.
“Is everything…okay?” Drew asked, flicking his gaze between me and Penn.
Penn walked straight to the fridge. “Yeah. Cora needs time. I don’t. We’ll be fine.”
I shot him a glare that I hope singed his chest hair.
His response was to lift a beer in my direction. “Drink?”
I could use a drink. Dammit squared.
After stomping over, I snatched the open bottle from his hand. “The jury is still out on whether we’ll be fine, Shane.”
“Penn,” he corrected. “And we’ll be fine, Cora.” He twisted the top off his bottle, clinked it with mine, and then tipped it to his mouth for a long pull. Asshole didn’t even try to hide his beautiful, beautiful smile.
Desperate to get away from him for fear that my body’s next move was curling into his side, I walked around the island and stopped beside Catalina. “How bad is it?”
She gave me a quick once-over. “It’s just a gash. It’ll scar, but he won’t die.”
“Good. Good,” I said just before poking him hard on the bandage.
Drew jumped away, cradling his eye. “What the hell, woman?”
I stabbed a finger at him. “That was for lying to me.”
He swung a hand out to Penn. “That was his idea!”
“Hey!” Penn objected. “Don’t blame me for all of this. You were the one who wanted me to make her think I was stealing all her money.”
I bulged my eyes at Drew, switching the beer in my other hand before going in for another poke.
He dodged it. “Shit, stop.”
“Oh, this is just the beginning, Drew.” I prowled toward him. He backed away, but I kept advancing until I was all but chasing him around the kitchen. “You watched me cry for days. You sat there with a front-row seat while I fell apart. You better sleep with one eye open, because when I’m done with you”—I pointed to his bandage, taking great pride in the way he jumped back—“the only scar you’re going to have is my fingerprint right there.”
Catalina and the girls giggled.
However, Drew’s mouth fell open. “Jesus, you’re scary.”
“You have no idea,” Catalina said and then snapped her fingers. “Sit. I’m not done with you yet.”
“You gonna be able to protect me from her while you finish?” he asked Catalina, keeping his gaze locked on mine as he meandered over to the stool.
“Probably not,” she replied, flashing him a teasing smile. “But if you hurry up, I’ll give you an extra layer of gauze for padding while you sleep.”
Just as he sat back down, I lurched toward him, my finger poised.
He shot right back to his feet, throwing his hands up to block his face. “Come on. Quit. This isn’t funny.”
The twitch of my lips on a night when I’d thought it was impossible said otherwise.
Cora
“You can fuck right the hell off with that shit,” Catalina whisper-yelled while pacing a hole in Penn’s hardwoods. Her straight, long, brown hair floated behind her with every turn. “You didn’t live with that monster.”
Drew’s nostrils flared as he watched her every movement, his fists opening and closing at his sides. He’d been staring at her all night. But this was different.
Unable to sit still, he’d abandoned the couch at least twenty minutes earlier and was currently leaning against the wall at the mouth of the hallway, constantly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “No. I didn’t. But I promise you, if the man is still getting an hour of time under my fucking sun and three meals a day, it’s too much for me.”
I looked at Penn, who was sitting on the couch adjacent to mine. We were on opposite ends, literally as far away as the seating would allow.
“Still nothing?” I asked him, incredulous.
His blue gaze lifted to mine, but he said not the first word. He’d been silent since this argument had started.
