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She hung up before he could come up with an excuse not to come—like an urgent flight to the Arctic.
Later that evening, he phoned Erin. It was Saturday night, and she should have been there with him. Instead, she was at home curled up with Buzzy, and her voice down the line sounded tired and a little unsure. His heart clenched. Even though he didn’t deserve a woman as good as Erin, he couldn’t stand the idea of losing her simply because her big brothers didn’t like it.
He tried to make light conversation, make things feel normal and natural between them again. “How did the article turn out?”
“Pretty well, considering I had to hide the fact that I know who the anonymous donor is.”
He liked that some spirit was coming back into her voice. He grinned. “So you didn’t out me?”
“Of course not. You already know I’m not going to sell someone out for the sake of a story. Anyway, who doesn’t love a closet philanthropist? Frankly, the dogs and cats don’t care. So long as they get the money, they’ll wag their tails for anybody who seems friendly.”
There was a pause and he gathered his nerve. “Your mom phoned and invited me for breakfast tomorrow.”
“Invitedmay not be the correct word. That was asummoning.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I got that too. Are you going?”
“Of course. Aren’t you?”
He thought about it. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not sure my health insurance will cover getting beaten up by an A-list celebrity, a chart-topping rock singer, a billionaire app developer, and two guys who build houses for a living. They might say that walking into that house was assuming far too much risk.”
Erin was silent for a few beats, but he could tell it was because she was considering her words. Finally, she said, “Whatever you do, I support you. But I want you to come.”
There was an awkward moment when it came time to hang up where Jay wanted to say, “Okay, love you, good-bye.” Instead, he settled for, “I’ll be missing you tonight.”
“Me too. More than you know.” And then she was gone and he was left alone with his thoughts.
He tried to settle down and read. It was useless. He couldn’t focus on a single word, especially when he found anRfrom the Scrabble game under the chair and could think of nothing but how that little square of plastic had gleamed against her beautiful breast. How had they gone from sex to Scrabble to his being hauled in front of the whole Davenport family to account for himself in so short a time? He’d barely done half the thingshe wanted to with Erin in bed, and now he wondered if he’d get another chance to see her at all, never mind see her naked.
So, it was in a very pensive mood that he finally gave up on his book and went to bed. His big bed seemed awfully lonely without Erin in it. Even Nelson seemed to be missing her and Buzzy. He leaped up on the bed and curled up beside Jay.
Jay didn’t have the heart to push him off. Frankly, he needed the comfort.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
When Erin got to breakfast the next morning, deliberately arriving a little late, it would have been easier to cut through the heavy rye bread her mom had picked up at the bakery than through the atmosphere in that kitchen.
All her brothers had ganged up in one big, angry cloud. There was no sign of Jay yet—clearly he aimed to be even later than Erin. Or not turn up at all.
Her father came over and gave her one of his bear hugs. With a kind expression, he asked, “How you doing, kiddo?”
How was she doing? She had barely taken in the knowledge that Jay Malone loved her and she loved him right back. Now she had to defend that love, so new and so precious, against four angry men.
She shrugged. “Okay, I guess.”
Her dad patted her back. “You’ll be fine.”
Betsy made time to come over and give Erin a hug, and then Mila made it clear she was siding with Erin. “I’m proud of you, sis. You gave Jay a chance.” She glared across the room at their brothers, who had already taken their places at the table.
Erin followed her gaze, crestfallen. “And look how that turned out.” All the lightness and happiness of the last days was being crushed under the thunderous gray cloud of her brothers at their protective worst.
“Is it serious? Because from the expression on your face, it looks serious.”
Erin swallowed. “Mila, I told him. I told him about college.”
Mila nodded, her mouth set. “That tells me everything I need to know. It was the right thing to do.”
Erin managed a small smile. Even though her quiet, people-pleasing self was feeling like she might curl up and crawl away from all the dark looks being thrown at her, Mila was proud of her. And that was huge.