For the Love of Sin(11)
She rolled her eyes and swatted at his hand. “You know, it’s almost what you deserve. Are you sure you don’t have a split personality? It amazes me how a complete jerk could do something so, so—” she glanced at Rocky, then back at Troy “—nice.”
Troy grinned. “Just a backwater country boy keeping you on your toes.”
After Troy got the Horge family settled in to his apartment and tossed most of his belongings in the backseat of his car, he noticed Senada’s light was still on. Reluctant to face the hot little motel room that was waiting for him, he rang her doorbell.
He heard footsteps, followed by a long pause. She was probably trying to decide whether to open the door or not. He mugged for the peephole.
The door whisked open, and Senada stood there in a long silky-looking white robe holding a bowl of cereal. At that moment, he coveted both the body beneath the robe…and the cereal. His stomach growled.
“Hello to you too,” she said.
“Noticed your light was still on,” he said, edging forward.
She looked at him and sighed. “Rocky’s family all moved in to your apartment?”
“Yeah, and I didn’t ever get those burgers you promised. It’s hell being a hero.”
Senada sighed again and held the door open with her shoulder. “Okay, come on in. Rice cereal or frosted corn flakes?”
“Both,” he said, walking through the doorway toward the dining room. “Just give me the box. I’ll eat the cardboard.”
She chuckled and poured a big bowl combining both cereals, then added milk. “Here. What’s Rocky’s mother’s name? I thought I’d take a bag of groceries over tomorrow.”
“Maria, and she’d really appreciate it. They’ve got a few things to tide them over. Stuff I bought a few days ago.” Glancing at Senada, he recalled his conversation earlier that day with Lisa and fished the photos out of his shirt pocket. “Take a look at the triplets. I swear, those babies change every day.”
Senada reached for the pictures and smiled. “They’re adorable. Oh, and Lisa cut her hair.” She squinted her eyes. “Is Brick losing his?”
Troy laughed. “No, that’s just a shadow, but I’ll pass on your observation to him. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”
She met his gaze and arched her eyebrow. “He never liked me.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
She shot him a look of disbelief.
“More terror that you were going to find someone for Lisa before he could get his stuff together.”
“He almost lost her.”
“Yeah, but look at ’em now.”
Senada sat in the chair next to him and shook her head. “It’s hard for me to imagine having a family like yours. I don’t think I could handle it. Do you ever feel stifled?”
Troy thought about that as he crunched his cereal. “Every once in a while, but we’ve had to hang together during some tough times.” He glanced at her and wondered about the pensive expression on her face. “What about your family?”
“We’re a lot more independent. My mother died when I was pretty young, and my father and I aren’t close.”
“So what do you do at Christmas?”
She tossed him a chiding look. “I’m not alone unless I want to be.”
He’d bet she wasn’t. Troy allowed his gaze to fall over her again. Her breasts made his hands itch to touch them, her waist was small, her hips slim but well curved. And her legs, well, he thought, looking at the bare tanned limbs, her legs were designed to shred a man’s restraint. But it wasn’t so much the physical package that set Sin apart from other women. It was her attitude. She was the most natural, unselfconsciously sexy woman he’d ever met.
Taking another bite, he shook off his useless thoughts. “I can’t even begin to comprehend a holiday without too much food, too many kids and an argument over who gets the last piece of pie.”
She grinned at him. “And since you were the youngest brother, I bet you didn’t get that last piece of pie very often.”
“Until lately,” he conceded, then switched the subject back to a troubling thought. “I know you’re as independent as they come, but don’t you ever wish you had someone to unload on?”
A lost expression flickered across her face, quickly replaced by a trace of irritation. She stood and took both their bowls to the sink. “It’s all about what you learn. You learned to depend. I learned not to.”
He followed her to the kitchen. “Sounds like a complete lack of supervision. I can just imagine what kind of trouble you got into when you were a teenager. Now, if you’d been a Pendleton, we would have locked you in your—”