Obsession(22)

Marj grabbed Julie’s arm. “We’re terribly glad you stopped by, Julie, but I’m afraid we’re going to be totally overworked on the ranch for the next few months. Harvest time is coming and all. So please don’t drop by unless you’re invited.” She led Julie out of the family room toward the foyer.

I couldn’t help a laugh. I couldn’t believe had Marj actually said that, especially after keeping her there until I arrived. I still wasn’t sure what that had been about.

Talon looked at me. “So what are you doing here, anyway?”

“Marjorie called me. Said it was an emergency.”

Talon cocked his head. “I can’t say I’m not glad she’s gone, but I don’t think this is an emergency.”

“Clearly it wasn’t. So I guess I’ll be going.”

Marj ran back in. “Oh, no, you’re not leaving. You said you hadn’t eaten, so you’re going to have a big plateful of Felicia’s tamales.”

“Haven’t you guys already eaten?” I eyed the plates in the sink in the kitchen.

“We have, but we would love to sit down and have a glass of wine with you, wouldn’t we, Tal?”

The left side of Talon’s mouth quirked up. A pseudo-smile. “Sure,” he said. “We can sit down and have a drink.”

“Why did you insist on keeping her here, Marj, and then unceremoniously kick her out?” Talon asked.

Marj dodged the question and feigned a yawn. Right. “I just realized I’m exhausted. So why don’t the two of you go out on the deck, and maybe you can get in the hot tub later? Jade, you eat your meal, and Tal, pour her a glass of Ryan’s Rhône blend. It’s her favorite.” She made a quick exit.

Subtle, Marj.

I looked at Talon. His lips were still quirked up.

“Some kind of setup, huh?” I said.

“You don’t have to stay.”

“Are you kidding? She dragged me away from an appointment, and I’m starving. I can’t resist a plateful of Felicia’s tamales. But honestly, you don’t have to sit with me and eat. I’m perfectly happy eating alone. I was going to be alone tonight anyway.”

“This is stupid. I’ll go get Marj to hang with you.”

My heart sank a little, but I hid it from Talon. “That’s fine. Tell her I’ll be out on the deck.”

I went to the kitchen, where Felicia presented me with a plateful of yummy tamales drenched in green chile “Here you go, Miss Jade. I’ve missed you around here.”

“I haven’t been gone very long yet.”

“I know. But I miss you anyway. It was nice to have another body around.”

I smiled. “Thanks. And thanks for dinner.” I took my plate out to the deck and sat down at one of the patio tables.

I dug into the tamales. Felicia made them in a Venezuelan style, with black and green olives, pork, and some carrots and peppers. They were then smothered with her green chile sauce. When I first came to the ranch, I had assumed Felicia was Mexican, because her Mexican food was so delicious and she had the darker Hispanic coloring. Turned out she was Puerto Rican, but she knew how to cook so many wonderful things. Her Italian cuisine was as good as anyone’s.

I didn’t look up when the French doors opened, assuming it was Marj.

Turned out it was Talon. He set a glass of wine in front of me and then took the seat across from me at the table.

I swallowed my mouthful of tamale, my pulse quickening. “Where’s Marj?”

“She wouldn’t come. Insisted I come out here and keep you company.”

I nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me. I…told Marj about us.”

He bit his lip. God, sexy.

“I know.”

“She hasn’t…talked to you about it, has she?”

“No. She’s my baby sister. It’s not really something brothers and sisters talk about. But she made it pretty clear when Julie showed up today that I wasn’t available.”

“Really? And how did you feel about that?”

“I have no interest in Julie, blue eyes. I never did.”

My skin tingled all over and I suppressed a smile. “But you fucked her.”

Talon let out a chuckle. “I’ve fucked a lot of women, Jade. You know that.”

“Have you fucked any since you and I…” I wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence. Since he and I what? I could’ve said fucked, but what we did was so much more than fucking. Was it making love? It was on my end, but I had no idea how he felt.

He cleared his throat. “No, I haven’t.”

I widened my eyes. Warm happiness blanketed me, along with some surprise. “All those nights you went off to Grand Junction? None of them ever ended in…”