Page 50 of Pursued-

“Okay,” I whisper, and then I kiss his lips.

A light knock on the door makes me draw back.

“What?” Sasha says to the door before I have the chance. “I’m in charge,” he reminds me.

I lean back against the headboard as the door opens, and Trick comes in with a plate of waffles covered in a mountain of blueberries. He bends forward, touches the top of my head like you would a toddler’s, and hands me the plate.

“There’s no fork,” I murmur.

Trick picks up a blueberry with his fingers and pops it in his mouth.

My brows rise.

To Sasha, he says, “I’ve been out. Let’s have a word.”

“Wait,” I say, reaching for his forearm.

Sasha rolls from the bed. “I’ll tell you the important things when I get back.”

“‘Vil, can she get dressed?” Trick asks, retrieving a small white shopping bag from just outside the door.

Sasha nods. “You’ve been busy.”

“Nah. Just some things to get by,” he says, setting the bag on the bed.

“Might take her to Boston later for clothes. You free?” Sasha asks him.

“Yeah, unless I’m on something else for us.”

Sasha’s eyes cut to him for a moment and then he heads into the bathroom. Trick goes back out the bedroom door.

“Jeans are still wet,” Sasha says to me when he emerges. He steps out of the room naked.

I choke on a blueberry, staring at the door. We’re on the main floor. Zoe and C are already up and in the kitchen. Men are strange, I decide. I think about giving him the blanket, but then decide not to worry about his nakedness.

“I’m not in charge of him. I don’t need to worry about anything today,” I say out loud. “It’s my day off from worrying.”

I set the plate down on the bedside table and look in the bag. There’s a dove gray silk cami and panties that have tags on them. I hold them up, and they look like they’ll fit. Under them there’s a graphic T shirt with a heart made of pink flowers and a small white knit skirt that he must’ve gotten secondhand. Are they a child’s clothes?

I can’t afford to be picky at the moment, so I remove the tags with my teeth and put on the silk underwear. They do fit.

I’m pulling the T shirt over my head when the door opens. I jump, but then relax because Sasha’s alone. I smooth the T shirt down and slide on the short skirt.

“That’s what he got you?” Sasha says, shaking his head.

“I think he bought this from Goodwill. Must have been the only thing in my size.”

“No,” Sasha says.

“No?” I ask, fingering the skirt’s pretty knit pattern. Its elastic band is tight enough so it stays on my hips, though my belly button shows. I put my palm over it. I didn’t expect a T shirt and knit skirt to feel sexy, but it does. “It was nice of him.”

“He feels bad because he blew me off.”

My head jerks up. “When? How?”

“I told him you only left with Leone because he used some kind of leverage. Trick thought I believed that because I wanted to. So while I was pacing and making calls, he was fucking around, watching YouTube or some shit.”

“Well, what was he supposed to do?”