Quade's Babies - Brenda Jackson [33]
“Just what’s going on here?”
Five pairs of eyes turned toward her, and unsurprisingly it was her cousin Sebastian who spoke. “This guy claims he’s your babies’ daddy. So we figured before he could be allowed in the family, he had to prove his worth by playing a game of cards with us.”
Cheyenne frowned. It was on the tip of her tongue to say that there was no way Quade would be a part of the family regardless of his card-playing skills. Instead she asked, strictly out of curiosity, “And how did he do?”
It was Morgan who leaned back in his chair, smiled and said, “Not bad. In fact, he won all of our money, which means he’s definitely in.”
“Besides,” Donovan said, grinning, “we’ll let him in anyway since motorcycle-racer extraordinaire Thorn Westmoreland is his cousin.”
“I really like your cousins,” Quade said as he and Cheyenne stood together at the door after seeing the Steele brothers out.
Closing the door, Cheyenne glanced over at Quade. “And it was obvious that they liked you, as well. Which has me curious as to what you told them.”
“About what?”
“About us.”
Quade smiled. So she was thinking of the two of them in terms of an “us.” “I didn’t tell any of our secrets, especially the details of how we met on the beach that night. I figured that part really wasn’t their business. Besides, they were mainly interested in knowing where I’d been the last nine months.”
Cheyenne headed toward the kitchen area. “Although my family asked, I never gave them your name.”
“You didn’t know my name. At least not all of it.”
She glanced around the kitchen, seeing how clean it looked, appreciating his thoughtfulness in taking care of things while she slept. “I could have asked the hotel to check their records for the information.”
“They wouldn’t have told you anything.”
She looked over at him. “Why not?” She wondered if he would admit that he had been there on government business that night…just as she had been. No information about him would have been given out, because it would have been considered classified.
“They just wouldn’t have.” He then quickly changed the subject by asking, “Does the kitchen meet with your approval?”
She smiled over at him. “Yes. Thanks. You really didn’t have to do it. And I see you even folded the baby clothes.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Cheyenne. I enjoyed doing it. And I checked on the babies periodically and they seemed to be doing okay.”
“Usually they sleep through the night. Every once in a while Troy might take a notion to cause problems, but otherwise, it’s smooth sailing for the rest of the evening.”
“And what time do they wake up?” Quade asked putting litter from the table into the garbage.
“Too early. Try around five in the morning.”
“Whoa. That’s early,” Quade said as amusement lit his eyes before he turned to her refrigerator.
“I’ve gotten used to it,” she said, and not for the first time noticed how Quade seemed to dominate the entire room. His back was to her as he put a couple of sodas away, and she realized he looked just as sexy from the back as he did from the front. Her heart jolted when she remembered earlier in her bedroom how the front of that body had pressed against hers.
Thinking it was time to shift her thoughts elsewhere she said, “Is Thorn Westmoreland really your cousin?”
Quade glanced over his shoulder at her and chuckled. “Yes, Thorn’s my cousin. Have you read any Rock Mason novels?”
“Of course. I read as many as I could get my hands on while I was pregnant. Why?”
A smile touched Quade’s lips. “Because Rock Mason’s real name is Stone Westmoreland. He’s Thorn’s brother and my cousin, as well.”
She blinked. “You’re kidding, right?”
He shook his head, grinning. “No, I’m not kidding. I’m dead serious.” Quade wasn’t exactly sure why he was enjoying seeing the look of shock on her face so much. She looked totally beautiful whenever a bombshell hit her.
“Wow, that’s great, and I really mean it. He’s a fantastic author.”
“I’ll mention you said that the next time I talk to him,” Quade said, before turning back around to the refrigerator. “Aren’t