Page 21 of Indecent Lies

Surprise stung his nose.

“You don’t have friends?”

She scoffed and twisted her fingers together, nervously. “Of course I have friends, Tait. I just don’t have friends who would side with me. They all love Ronnie; thought I’d made it big by marrying him. You know how it is, the only ambition a girl of Harrison wants is the eligible man, the car and the endless credit card.”

“This guy couldn’t give you that?”

“I don’t care about those things. I made a mistake, so I left. He’ll thank me one day when he’s married to someone who can love him back.”

“Ronnie…” a memory unlocked from Texas’ head and he rumbled a laugh. “Don’t tell me it’s Ronnie Pitstop?” That lanky drivel of piss was a few years younger than Texas and Mal, and about as annoying as a tick on the cock.

She nodded and Texas’ laugh couldn’t be held back.

“Poppy…” he went right on laughing, resting on the island top. “Your married name would have been Penelope Pitstop. You would have had to take up wacky racing and wearing pink all the time.”

She had a twitch to her bare lips. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I went through that for six months already from everyone. I told him I couldn’t take his name, that did not go over well with daddy.”

“You were together for six months?”

She shook her head. “Just over a year. He proposed six months ago on vacation.”

He ruminated on that with a low, almost silent hum.

She was saved another grilling when the buzzer made her jump.

“Relax, it’s the food. I’ll run down and grab it. You want to get plates out. They’re in the left cabinet.”

His belly was already growling like a bear as he came back carrying the paper sack full of steaming food to see her arranging plates, napkins and cutlery on the island top. He didn’t even know he owned napkins and he rarely had company over so he didn’t figure a woman had bought them.

Maybe Zara. She liked doing small things for the brothers.

His chest burned. Only, he wasn’t a brother any longer. He wouldn’t get those sweet touches from his prez’s old lady.

“You didn’t have to do fancy, it’s just takeout.”

She turned a blush on him, “sorry, I can put them away.”

“No, it’s fine. Sit, we can talk and eat.”

“There’s not much else to tell you, Tait. I was getting married, changed my mind and ended up here, went to the wrong motorcycle place, had to be bought. I need a place to hang for a while, you know that already.”

“We’re not exactly friends, Poppy.” He pointed out, eating directly from the Styrofoam container. The bacon and maple syrup exploded on his tongue and he moaned appreciatively. He could eat these things day and night. “How would it look to your fiancé if you shacked up with me.”

What the fuck.

He was actually considering letting her?

Texas was not a roommate kind of guy.

Not a woman with gorgeous tits roommate especially.

He had a girlfriend, maybe five years ago. His attempt at getting over Addison and all those fucked up twisted feelings he had for his brother’s wife.

The girlfriend had wanted to move in after four months and that was the beginning of the end for Texas. That relationship went down in flames soon after.

He liked peace and quiet and knowing when he came through his own front door, he was blessedly alone.

He chose that.