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“So what about this?”

I held up a cute little strappy top I remembered all too well. My tongue had stuck to the roof of my mouth when she wore it around to Mum and Dad’s.

“Shows my tits off too much.”

“I remember…” I muttered.

“Oh, you noticed, did you?” she asked, the faintest trace of a smile forming.

“Sporting a boner under my parent’s dining table was a really uncomfortable experience I didn’t think I’d be having this late into my twenties.” I shook his head. “So yeah, not that top. What about this?”

It was a white button up much like mine, though tailored to fit a woman’s frame, not a man’s.

“That’s the shirt I wear when applying for loans or shit like that.” She plucked it from my grip and tossed that on the bed too.

“OK.” Me suggesting things was getting me nowhere. Jamie knew what she wanted to wear. She made that decision every damn day without input from anyone and I needed to remind her of that. I sidled up, wrapping my arms around her. “If we were going to Mum and Dad’s today, not your brother’s, what would you wear?”

I felt her stiffen against me.

“I can’t?—”

“Just show me that outfit first before you say no.” I kept my tone light. “Doesn’t commit you to wearing it. Just show me.”

Jamie moved slowly, and I barely concealed the sense of satisfaction that rushed through me as she leaned down and picked up a pair of cutoff shorts from the floor, then another white shirt.

“Probably… this.”

It was so completely her. The cotton fabric was covered with delicate embroidery and pin tucks in the bodice that made it feminine but the material kept it light and casual. It would sway around her as she moved, and yet the semi-translucent fabric would hint at the banging body beneath it. The shorts had been worn soft, the denim well broken in, so she’d be comfortable.

“That’s what you’re wearing then.”

“But—”

“You can put it on or I can.” I stared at her, daring her to argue. “Choose the latter, please.”

“I can dress myself,” she said and then she took my breath away. The new clothes joined the others on the bed as she wrenched her shirt up and over her head.

Fuck…

I think I mumbled something to that effect as her bra and all that bare skin appeared. Her lips twitched as she caught me staring, but rather than respond, she pulled the top on and then shimmied out of her sleep shorts and into the denim ones. A highly skilled stripper couldn’t have held my attention better than Jamie did right now. Putting on those clothes seemed to do more than just cover her. My girl was back. Her fingers flicked down her front and then she smiled

“Should we get this shit show on the road?” she asked.

I shook my head and then thrust out my arm.

“Hey, how bad could it be?”

I was just about to find out exactly how bad things were with Jamie’s family.

Chapter 37

Jamie

This wasn’t normal.

Most people didn’t scan the roads on the drive over to their brother’s place with a growing sense of trepidation. They didn’t cling to the ‘oh shit’ handle the whole way there, despite Hayden driving at a sedate pace. He glanced my way, taking in the muscle tension thrumming through my body, but didn’t say a thing. That observation had my fingers uncurling, forcing me to take longer breaths in an attempt to calm myself, because this all felt like an overreaction.

It was just my family, I thought as we pulled up. I stared at my brother, Steve’s, house, and then forced myself to open the door. They were annoying, sure, but everyone’s family were. Hayden took my hand as we walked up the driveway, the sounds of music and kids having fun getting louder as we approached. I’d walk into the back yard, say hello to my brothers and my sisters-in-law, hug my niblings and?—