Page 183 of Heartless

Ron shook his head and headed back to the kitchen.Garrett joined the women, and one of them yelled, “Big bear’s here!”

Sienna’s sexy legs detached from the group, and she finally came toward me.Slipping her fingers through mine, she lifted a wide smile.

“We were making plans for an anniversary hike next year.”

“Are you going to do it?”

She giggled.“I have a year to talk myself into it.”

I kissed her smiling lips.“Let’s go, baby.”

****

While I set her bagin the hallway of her condo, her cell rang from her purse.Like she’d done in the car, she checked the caller and ignored the call.I followed her into the kitchen where she set her phone on the counter and put the kettle on.When she pivoted to face me, I caught her hand and caged her against the counter.

“Who’s hassling you?”

She nibbled on her bottom lip.“Gabby.She wants to make peace.She wants us to be friends again.She’s missing me.But all I hear is, ‘me, me, me.But no apology.’”

The cell pinged, this time with a text.Several texts.Bending over the island, her index finger swept up over the device’s screen, and she frowned.

“She says she has urgent news about Nigel.”

Fuck.I had to tell her.“He’s in hospital.”

Her eyes snapped up.“He is?”

“Yeah.”

“So, it’s happening,” she murmured.

Then, she curled her arms around my waist and laid her cheek on my chest.

That shit was bound to affect her.I held her close and kissed her head.“Talk to me, baby.”

She shifted back.“That’s the thing.I have nothing to say.I’m sad because someone I know is dying, but that’s it.”

The chime of her cell went off again.She let out a groan and turned it off.

That pissed off quietness overtook her tone.“What I don’t get is why freaking Gabby is all in my space about it.The day I buried my mother she left for a family vacation in Australia she could have easily delayed by one day.And her explanation was that she felt weird around sad people.Meaning me.”

Christ, that woman was a cunt.

“You’re angry with her.”

After a short pause, she shook her head, and the corner of her mouth twisted.“I’m angry with myself because I saw who she was, but I completely ignored the signs.So, I miss the idea of her.But I really loved that idea.And now she’s apparently shaking her pom-poms for Team Morrison.”

I buried my hands in my pockets to stop myself from laughing.“Apparently.”

The whistle of the kettle made her jump.After removing it from the hot plate, she reached for a mug and tossed a teabag in.

“And then there’s you,” she said with her back to me.

“What about me?”

Pivoting to face me with her mug in hand, she frowned.“She tried to jump your bones.”

She had to stop being so fucking funny.