"No, it's fine. Great, even," Rob hurriedly replied, and I got the feeling I hadn't kept my disappointment very well-hidden. He grabbed a sandwich himself and took a big bite. His hum of enjoyment seemed more genuine.
"We're just used to Blaine," Greg said, a wide grin spreading on his face as he picked a buttered scone off the cake stand. "The most you get out of him is a lukewarm beer after a hit."
I paled at the reference to the other part of their job, but caught myself before I could freak out. I knew what they did-being a delicate flower about it wasn't going to do me any good right now.
Rob gave him an elbow to the side. "Don't talk about that in front of a lady, eh? She don't wanna hear it."
"It's not like she doesn't know," Greg muttered.
Rob rolled his eyes-a move that looked surprisingly comical due to his general physique. It's not often you get the delight of seeing a six-foot tall, four-foot wide criminal wearing a leather vest roll his eyes like a teenage girl. "You'll have to excuse him. He's never held on to a lady friend long enough to know the basics."
Greg gave him a baleful glare and muttered what were undoubtedly profanities under his breath, but I latched on to the conversation changer with both hands.
"And you? Have you got a girlfriend?"
"A wife, going on five years now." His face lit up with pure reverence, and I found it impossible not to instantly like him a whole lot more. A man who lit up like a Christmas tree at the mention of his wife had to have some good qualities tucked away, no matter his chosen profession. "And two wee ones, four and two."
I smiled at his obvious pride. "Boys or girls?"
"One of each." Rob took a sip of his tea and his gaze turned somewhat sly. "What are you hoping for? Once you and Blaine get to the baby-making?"
I choked on the tea that'd been on its way down my throat. Greg helpfully thumped his fist against my back, making me cough and spit the offending liquid up.
"Uh … yeah, I don't think there'll be any babies in our near future." I got up to get a paper towel, using the spillage as an excuse to turn my back on them while I got my breathing under control. Just the thought of raising a child with Blaine made every hair on my body stand on end. It wasn't that I didn't want kids, per se, but in a forced marriage to a criminal I was planning on running away from the first chance I got? No thanks.
"Pity. I'd like to see Blaine with a couple of rugrats." Rob chuckled and winked at me "Think it'd do him some good."
I managed a smile. "I take it it straightened you right out, then?"
Greg guffawed. "I don't know about straightening him out, but he did blow a big heist because he insisted on swinging by a pharmacy for the kid on his way to the checkpoint. Months of planning down the drain. Blaine nearly took both our thumbs for it."
Rob's ears reddened until they were nearly the same color as his ginger hair. "Penny had an ear infection. What was I gonna do, not get her the meds she needed? Just you wait until a lady is dumb enough to let you put a baby in her. You'll see your priorities straightened out right quick, too."
I lost track of time as I sat with the two bodyguards. They told me a few stories about their crew, and despite knowing what they did-even if they spared me the illegal details-I found myself genuinely enjoying the chat. Perhaps it was because I‘d been so starved for company, but the more I listened, the more I realized that both men were actually decent people. They were warm and sometimes funny, and it was obvious they saw each other and the rest of their crew as family.
Despite having grown up in a family similar to the Steels, I'd never known this type of bonding to occur within the ranks. It had always seemed like my father ruled his employees with fear and threats, and every one I'd met before I ran away had been mean and scary.
It surprised me to find that Greg and Rob obviously had plenty respect, and perhaps even a measure of fear, for Blaine and his family, but both seemed to have a loyalty to the Steels that went beyond the threat of their power.
A point that was proven just before six when the sound of the front door opening and shutting made both men reach behind them to what I guessed were their concealed weapons, but when Blaine appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, they both returned to their tea and cake with a casual "Hey, boss."
Blaine took in the scene in front of him with first one, and then-at the sight of the now raided cake stand-both eyebrows raised. "I see you're having a tea party, rather than guarding the front door."
Rob shrugged and swallowed the final bite of his cake. "You said to look after the lass. Ain't no reason we can't do it from in here."
"I offered them tea," I added. "They've been helping me carry all the furniture in."
He turned his head then, and I swallowed automatically under the weight of his full attention. It was the first time we'd even been in the same room since we shared that pizza and agreed to try to get along, and it would seem all the time apart had made me forget just how intense his presence was.
After everything that happened with the wedding and the night that followed, I'd been too emotionally unstable to dwell much on our drunken mistake. But seeing Blaine now, after a week of getting to terms with my current situation, brought everything that had happened that night rushing to the surface. Every touch of his hands against my skin, every moan and every thrust played out for my mind's eye in high-definition while I stared at him, until I could feel my own pulse in my cheeks, my blush was that impressive.
Why, why, had I not just left the bed before things got out of hand? It had been hard enough to deal with him when I could still deny my rampant attraction to him-now that he knew just how much my body reacted to his, I found it near-impossible to look him in the eye.
Blaine seemed to notice my flustered state, because his soft lips pulled up in a devious sort of smirk. "So I see."
What was that supposed to mean? I rubbed at my neck, irritated that I let myself get so affected by him. With as much dignity as I could muster, I turned away from him to face the two bodyguards. "Do you guys want to stay for dinner? I was going to make lasagna."
"No thanks, love." Rob stretched his arms out before getting off the bar stool he'd been perched on for the past few hours. "The missus's expecting me home soon, and Greg's got another job to get to. Thanks for tea, though."
I tried to hide my disappointment. It had been so nice not being alone all day. "Well, thank you for helping me today. See you tomorrow, then."
I walked them to the door and sighed when it closed behind them, leaving me alone in the hallway. Guess I could always spend the night reading. Again.
"I'll have a bite of that lasagna."
Startled, I spun around and blinked in surprise at the sight of Blaine's looming figure. He was leaning against the doorway to the dining room, with the same little smirk playing on his lips. "That is, if you don't mind the company."
*
Chapter 11
Mira
"I thought you'd gone upstairs."
It wasn't the brightest of comments, seeing as he obviously hadn't disappeared up to his room as he usually did the second he got in the door, but it just flew out of me before I managed to stop myself.
"Well, I didn't." He crossed his arms over his chest as he straightened up a bit, making the leather of his black sleeves tighten over his muscles. "So maybe we can give the new dining table you bought a spin, eh?"
Huh. I nodded and attempted to straighten out my frown. It was funny, really. I'd found it easy enough to relax around Rob and Greg today, but something about Blaine just put me on edge, as if his mere presence disrupted the magnetic charges in my body, yet I was pretty sure my two bodyguards had just as horrible crimes on their consciences as my new husband did.
"Okay, I'll … call you when it's ready."
"Need a hand with anything?"
I blinked twice before I managed to pick up my jaw. Had Blaine Steel just offered to help me? In the kitchen, of all places? Not at all something I would have expected from the bad boy stereotype he otherwise seemed to fit so perfectly.
"Er, no thanks, that's all right. It won't take me long," I finally managed. "Thank you, though."
He shrugged and turned around, leaving me to stare after him as he disappeared up the stairs.
As much as I'd been surprised by Blaine's offer, I desperately needed some time to get myself together again before I spent any length of time with him. This was the first time I'd get a chance to work on getting him to eventually trust me, and I needed to keep my wits about me for that.