Wyatt-1(Lane Brothers, Book 1)(17)
The only thing I’ve loved in years is Goofball.
Goofball!
“Wyatt!”
Oh God, my poor Goofy! She’s been alone all this time without food or water or anybody to talk to.
Wyatt comes running into the kitchen just when I’m about to have a fit and takes one look at me, only to shake his head.
“I told you she was a lot to handle.”
“Oh shush! Your mother was awesome and you know it, you fool.”
“Okay. I’m lost then.”
“Goofball!”
“No insults,” he mutters, his brows drawing down.
“No. Goofball. My cat. She’s going to—”
More laughter.
“Relax, baby, I would never leave a defenceless animal to starve. Sheesh, what you take me for, woman? I had Miah grab him and leave him with Ma.”
My heart settles once more and I can breathe again. Goofball is my baby. I raised her from a little half-dead ball of fur that I found abandoned in an alley behind a dumpster.
I love that pussycat like my own child. Of course, I have to because she was the only thing that saved me that first year when I got so lonely that I felt like I’d go mad.
Who the hell am I to think he’s a killer when the man can’t even bring himself to abandon a cat.
Softy.
“She,” I mumble, feeling unaccountably shy all of a sudden.
I’m not afraid of him anymore and it’s opening up a gap for my hormones to start raging and…
“Huh? Baby, you okay? You’re looking feverish,” he says, his concern making me blush even more.
I don’t know why. The man has seen every inch of skin I own and then some, if the way I woke up is anything to go by, and that should make me mad.
Instead, I find myself wondering if he liked what he saw. The scars, included.
He’s stalked closer while my mind wandered, and I find myself having to slap his hand away when he reaches to check me for a fever.
“Quit it. I’m fine. And Goofball’s a she.”
That’s right, turn shrewish because that is so attractive to a man as easygoing as this one.
“Hmm. Okay. So, you spoke to Ma. You feeling better now, baby?”
The insides of my cheeks are probably going to bleed, I’m biting them so hard.
“She says you have a freckle.”
No! No, you do not want to see the freckle, Ellie. Take that back.
Too late. He grins wickedly and raises a brow, causing my blush to deepen.
“I’ll show you any freckle, hair, or…skin you want to see, baby. All you have to do is ask.”
“Really? I’m trying to have a conversation with you, and that’s all you get from it? Immature much?”
Do not laugh, Ellie.
I want to so bad, though, when he sticks out his bottom lip and looks up at me through his lashes.
“You’re mean.”
“Nope, just trying to survive, Lane. Just trying to survive.”
The joking expression falls away fast and he comes closer, bending to look directly into my eyes.
“You’re not just surviving anymore, baby. You’re going to live. Now, let’s go play some pool and you can tell me everything my nosy-ass mother had to say. Oh, and that freckle? It’s a lot higher than Ma remembers. I’ve grown to be a big boy.”
Chapter Six
Wyatt
I’m definitely in love now if I wasn’t before. This is it, the deal is done, and all because after beating me at pool (yes, I’m man enough to admit she kicked my ass and hustled me like a pro), she helped me make lunch and drank a protein shake without giving me any shit.
That caught me on her hook, and then she reeled me in when she spent a half hour on the phone while Ma told her how to make her chocolate chip cookies.
My favorite.
That sealed it for me—her immediate affinity for Ma. It’s necessary for them to like each other since my family is clannish and sticks together. The house we live in is huge, and each of us have an entire wing with separate entrances for privacy.
We’re close, though, so I expect that once Ellie is home, she and Ma will spend a lot of time together. Hopefully Ma can take her shopping and turn her into one of those crazy females who love to spend.
I like the thought of her spending my money on stuff that’ll make her happy and feel secure in her femininity.
The only dark spot to this day of firsts for us was when Jared called and told me he got her files. The therapist she worked with after her recovery didn’t believe in putting such sensitive information on her computer, so my brother was forced to call in a favor and have one of his buddies do a quick in and out.
That was yesterday, and the file has been delivered straight into my hands. Ellie’s still sleeping since it’s only just dawn, and here I sit in the office, scared shitless at what I’ll find if I open this shit up and look deep.