Followed by Troy.
“Hi, honey, I dragged my mute brother along for dinner since—” Brick, the biggest of the Pendleton brothers, broke off when he saw Sin. Distrust and reluctant affection warred in his gaze. “Well, well, look what the wind blew in.”
Lisa fluttered to her feet. “Sweetheart, Sin’s just been telling me…”
Sin knew Lisa was talking, but she couldn’t have repeated a word. She was too busy staring at Troy. She was so immobilized, she wondered how she managed to breathe. Inside, she was sweating and swearing. She wasn’t prepared for this. She’d wanted to take a shower first, compose herself, practice in front of a mirror.
She gave herself a hard mental shake. She was Senada Calhoun. Cool, in control, she could reduce most men to stuttering. She held all the cards in a relationship. She said when. She said how. She said goodbye.
At that moment, she couldn’t form the word boo. And she was about as mighty as Jell-O.
Suddenly, Lisa stopped talking, and she and Brick were alternately staring at Sin and Troy.
Holding her gaze, Troy nodded. “It’s good to see you, Sin. You doing okay?”
She cleared her throat. “Yes.”
“Good,” he muttered, and looked away.
She waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t. Lisa gazed at him searchingly and began to fill the silence. “Sin’s had a long drive, so I thought we’d go ahead with dinner and…”
Brick gave Lisa a kiss and squeezed her against him, then picked up two of his babies. Troy took the one Lisa held, and within minutes they all sat around the kitchen table.
“Where are you staying, anyway?” Lisa asked as they began to eat.
“A hotel for now,” Sin said, ever conscious of Troy’s presence. Why wasn’t he saying anything?
“We’ve got an extra room,” Lisa said.
Brick blanched.
Senada laughed. “That’s okay. I’ve got a trailer, so I’ll need to make a quick decision about where I’m going to live.”
“Live,” Brick echoed, glancing at Troy. “So you’re really back?”
“Yes. I am.” She looked for Troy’s response, but when there was none, she felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. Perhaps she’d overestimated his feelings for her.
Troy played with his triplet nieces and remained quiet the rest of the evening. Senada grew distressed. Concerned that she would be unable to hide her feelings, she decided to leave. She thanked Brick and Lisa, tickled the three little girls under their fat little chins and gave a quick nod to Troy.
“G’night.”
He finally met her gaze. “Glad you’re back, Sin, for however long you decide to stay.”
Senada paused, taking in his statement. It told her everything. He was afraid she was going to leave. “I’m here to stay, Troy,” she told him, feeling a smile climb out from inside her.
“For good.” Because she just couldn’t resist, she lowered her voice to a purr. “Come by room four thirty-three at my hotel tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. if you want to see something you’ve never seen before.”
Then she walked out the door and let Mr. No-Talk chew on that for a while.
At three minutes till seven, Troy rapped on Senada’s door. Ever since he left Sin, he’d had to do everything but break his fingers to keep from calling her. He felt as if he’d gone through a meat grinder, and it was all he could do to put a good face on every day. His brothers were nagging the living daylights out of him.
He hadn’t counted on falling in love with the modern-day equivalent of Mata Hari. He swore under his breath. How the hell was he supposed to find a way to get her to stay with him? He swore again.
Sin opened the door and stared at him, her brown eyes wide with emotion and questions. “Come on in,” she murmured.
Her hair was damp from her shower, and she wore the silk robe he’d taken off of her so many times. “A lot has happened since I last saw you,” she said, heading for the bathroom. “I went for a ride with my dad, and we’re speaking again. I have you to thank for that.” She met his gaze. “Thank you.”
Speechless, Troy stood outside the bathroom. “I didn’t do any—”
“Yes, you did. You knew better than either of us did how much my dad and I needed to reconcile our differences.”
He shrugged, still bowled over by her gratitude. “Okay.”
She stepped inside the bathroom and gazed at him expectantly. “Well, are you coming or not?”
Confused, he stared at her. He’d always known Sin was a little sideways, but this was— She lifted a syringe. His internal protests died and he stepped inside.