Page 51 of Family Affair

He crouched in front of her and put his warm hand on her knee, half-on half-off the material of her skirt.

“Just a touch of a headache.”

“Tea won’t make it better,” he sounded like an expert, gazing at her with a sort of curious regard.

“Tea makes everything better.” She smiled weakly. “On the second thought, I’m not even sure Dan’s got any tea.”

“Probably not. But I know what will make you feel better. Mulled wine.”

The mention of alcohol made her shudder. “Ross, honestly, I don’t feel like drinking wine right now.”

“It’s a very old, very special recipe. A hundred percent satisfaction guaranteed. The headache goes away, and you’ll wake up tomorrow feeling like new. Trust me.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t do anything to you that I wouldn’t do to my own family.” Was it her imagination or did his smile turn a touch evil?

Arguing with Ross seemed like too much effort. Feeling miserable, Coco rested the back of her head on the wall behind her chair and closed her eyes as Ross moved away to work on his self-proclaimed wonder drink. Actually, a warm drink sounded nice, be it tea or wine or even tap water. She was thirsty and out-of-sorts.

“Now, love, it’ll get better in a moment.” Ross put a thick ceramic mug in front of her with a slushy red concoction that smelled of spices. “Drink. You have to finish the wine while it’s warm.” He stuck a straw in the mug and guided it to her lips.

Coco took a sip and almost groaned. Warm and rich, the wine slid smoothly down her throat, chasing away the nausea and almost making her human again.

“Told you, nothing beats it. Keep drinking.” Ross hovered close by.

She took another sip, a hefty one this time, and savored the cardamom-y taste on her tongue.

“Do you have to be sick to drink it?” she mumbled and sucked more wine through the straw.

Ross’s warm masculine laugher washed over her, rich and intoxicating like his wine. He started wavering in a funny way when he laughed. To think of it, the kitchen cabinets were wavering, too, but Coco disregarded it. Her headache almost gone, she was enveloped in a cocoon of warmth and well-being.

She felt rather than saw Ross move around. Her attention was riveted on the curious clouds that formed in the open space, as if the air itself thickened and, though still transparent, became dense enough to see with naked eye.

It got darker. Ross dimmed the lights? The fluid manner in which the liquid air stirred and flowed held her enthralled as she finished her drink.

Suddenly, the airy clouds parted allowing more light, and some awareness filtered in.Hewas here.

The snippets of their conversation reached her brain through lots of static.

“…the fuck… give her?”

“… feel better soon.”

“…home. Dan?”

Laughter. “…shitfaced.”

Hands were touching her knees again, and she knew it wasn’t Ross. The hands were warm and rough, and stayed on top of her skirt. He was shaking her lightly, telling her wonderful things. She nodded and giggled at something. Funny. What was he saying?

If he touched her legs under the skirt, would his hands burn her skin?

A moment of clarity returned. Coco pried her eyes open and focused on Cade who was leaning in front of her. Everything looked hazy and radiated halos.

“I’m better, I’m fine. I need to go home. Really, I’m better.” His silhouette slowly straightened up.

Coco meant to get up, too, but she couldn’t feel her legs. She looked down to see if they were still attached. Yes, there they were. She tried again, and this time the signal from her brain reached her lower extremities. She stood up.

Actually, it wasn’t that bad, she didn’t feel shaky at all. She took a step forward.

The next thing she became aware of was her nose. It hurt, smashed against the front of his shirt.

“No more walking, Coco. Relax, I'm taking you home.”