Page 64 of Cuffed (Everyday Heroes 1)
I snicker at the thought of Big Sticks and how that has a whole different connotation now.
Should I just stay here and wait them out instead of face them? But then what? They walk in here, find me, and I end up looking like a damn heel?
The longer I stand here and listen to the two of them bicker like kids, the worse my nerves hum with the thought of what they’re going to think when they see me—little Emmy who suddenly up and disappeared years ago. That’s the kind of attention I don’t want or like.
So I react.
With a glance in the bathroom mirror, I grab some lipstick from my purse, do a quick fluff of my hair so I don’t look like a complete disaster, and then suck in my breath. When I’m fairly certain I don’t look like a hot mess anymore, I waltz out of the bedroom with my head held high and a smile on my face.
“I knew he was hiding something when I called him this morning. The son of a bitch.”
“Hey, that’s mom you’re talking about,” the other says.
“Whatever, dude. You know what I mean. Grant went and got himself laid last night. I wonder—”
“Actually, I was the one who got laid last night,” I say as I enter the room and draw two pairs of eyes my way. I love the shocked O’s their mouths fall into. Slack jaws on hot men are always a good thing—whether it’s from some lacy lingerie or from putting them in their place. I walk right up to one of them—because they look too damn similar for me to venture which one is who after all these years—and grab the piping cup of coffee from his hand. “Thanks for making this for me. I appreciate it.”
His eyes widen, and his li
ps sputter into a shit-eating grin as I take a tentative sip of the steaming heaven without breaking eye contact. “Hello, Emerson.”
“Hi. And you are . . .” I feign ignorance to set the precedence that I have no past with them. It’s hard enough as it is with Grant, so I need to make sure we start this off on the right foot.
“Grady Malone,” he says and then lifts his chin toward Hot Malone number three. “And that’s Grayson.”
“Ah, the infamous Malone boys. Now, I’ve met you all again.” I narrow my eyes and study both of them in the same way they are studying me. I can see the similarities. The little boys they were beneath the men they have become. “Thanks for the coffee. A little light on the creamer for my liking, but now you know for next time.”
I flash a dazzling smile as they laugh. “He was right,” Grayson says to Grady as if I’m not in the room. “She is feisty as hell.”
“Always.” I wink and walk over to where my sandals are perfectly lined up side by side near the front door. “I need to run so I’m not late for work. Grant asked me to lock up. Since you obviously have the keys to help yourselves as you please, can I trust that you can handle that instead?”
“We’ll lock up. No worries,” Grady says and then smirks. “It’s the least we can do.”
“Thanks. I’m tired.” I turn the handle on the front door before adding, “Your brother really knows how to keep a girl up all night.”
With that, I walk out the front door, shut it behind me, and don’t spare a look back as I stroll down the street toward the bar where my car is still parked.
The ringer of my phone comes through my speaker on my car, and I know who it is before I even glance at the screen. I contemplate not answering. If I pick up, it will sound as if I want to go back on the rules I made last night. We shouldn’t feel as if we need to do the obligatory morning-after call to make sure things aren’t awkward.
Then again, if I avoid him, doesn’t that just prove to him—and me—that I can’t handle what happened when following my own rules.
“Get a grip, Em,” I mutter as I jab my finger at the car’s display and answer the call.
“Hello?” I say as if I can’t already see it’s him on the Caller ID.
“Good morning.” I’m not sure why I expected there to be a smug sound in his voice, but there isn’t. “Hey, I know you’re probably on your way to work, but I just wanted to apologize for my brothers. Sometimes they come over and steal my coffee. Other times they just want to harass me for no reason. I didn’t expect them to stop in this morning.”
“It’s okay,” I say with a smile, remembering their shocked faces.
His chuckle fills the line. “I don’t know what you told them, but somehow you managed the impossible.”
“What do you mean?” I make a right turn onto the highway and smile when a police cruiser passes me. It isn’t Grant, but it still feels like it is since his voice is in my car.
“The two of them can never agree on a single thing, and yet, when I talked to them earlier, they both decided they are head over heels when it comes to you.”
“What?” I laugh.
“Yep. I believe gutsy was their word of choice.”
