Heated Rush - Leslie Kelly [57]
Tiring of the let’s-compare-balls game, Annie pushed right between the two of them, bending over to reach into the back of the car for Wally’s crate.
“Let me do that, darlin’.”
“Oh, God, you brought the beast?” Jed asked, sounding dismayed. Heaven knew why. It’s not like the shoes Wally had christened for him had been Italian, and he most certainly stepped in worse here on the farm. So Wally had piddled in his boots once. Or twice….
“What was I supposed to do, leave him home alone to be miserable and starve?”
“He could have pounced on a burglar if he got hungry,” Jed said, eyeing the cat warily.
Instead of just grabbing the crate, as Annie had intended to do, Sean actually opened the top of it, reaching in to scoop Wally out. The animal should have been skittish and aggressive after being cooped up for a couple of hours. In the past, he’d even bitten Annie once or twice after a long road trip.
Instead, Wally curled against Sean’s chest and tucked his head beneath his chin, delicately licking his paw and glaring at her older brother.
Jed gawked.
And Annie suppressed a grin. The mere fact that Sean had won over Wally should send a signal about her new “boyfriend” and just how much a part of Annie’s life he was.
Even if he wasn’t. Not for long, at least.
Don’t think that way, she reminded herself as a sharp stab of something like disappointment thrust into her belly. She had at least another day and a half with the man. And she needed to make the most of it. Because it was all she’d ever have with him.
He’d made that clear. She’d accepted the terms. End of story.
Till tomorrow night only.
Oh, did she wish they didn’t have to spend the bulk of that remaining time here.
“Come on, before he sends down reinforcements,” Jed said as he turned toward the house. Her brother was so stunned by Sean’s friendship with Wally that he forgot to be a belligerent asshole about seeing Sean’s hand stuck up Annie’s skirt. Instead, he silently led them up the driveway toward the porch, where the other Davis men stood at attention.
“Good grief,” she muttered. “Why didn’t you all just dig out the shotguns and start picking the chew out of your teeth with hunting knives?”
Beside her, Sean snorted a laugh, but Jed just kept walking. “Here they are,” he called. “Annie had to stop and say hello to her furry and feathered friends before greeting her own family.”
Huh. No mention of Sean’s mouth on her hip. That wasn’t too surprising. Jed might be a bossy big brother, but he was not a loudmouth.
Then again, he was probably keeping his mouth shut for his own benefit. He knew Annie well enough to expect serious payback if he made a fuss.
No way would he want her to spill the beans about the Christmas Eve rendezvous, which had taken place right beside their mother’s beloved antique nativity set. Baby Jesus and all the angels and shepherds must have gotten quite an eyeful. As had Annie, who’d crept downstairs for a late-night sneak peek at the presents after everyone had supposedly gone to bed. Instead, she’d gotten the kind of peek no woman ever wanted to get of her own brother’s backside.
Eww.
“Here’s our girl!” Her father came down from the porch, followed by her brothers, and they all encircled her for big, boisterous hugs meant to remind her that she was the little woman and they big, strong men.
She was passed around the group for more macho embracing. If one of them squeezed too hard and picked her up until her toes dragged the ground again, she was going to puke right over his shoulder.
God, was she glad Sean was no he-man.
“Well, are you going to introduce us?” her father asked, his chin up as he gave Sean a once-over.
Sean had been a darling asking Jed to call him Murph, but there was no way Annie could say it all weekend without laughing. Sounded too much like Smurf. And a cuddly, fuzzy blue creature he most definitely was not.
Nor could she bear to call him by that other—awful—name, Blake, that brought with it such vivid reminders of humiliation,