Page 13 of Almost Perfect
“Nice to see you out. Everything going well so far?”
“Going great.” All except the wholeCalla can’t feed herselfissue, but that wasn’t his problem.
“Glad to hear it. Let me introduce you—this is my mom, Jane Saint. And you know my brother, Wyatt.”
I took his mother’s proffered hand. “So nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure’s mine. Are they being hospitable?” Her brows raised in expectation, a sweet mother waiting for rave reviews about her towering, handsome sons.
I glanced at Wyatt, irritation and a little temptation to tattle on his rudeness earlier slicing through me. Ignoring that petty impulse, I told her the truth. “They’ve been lovely.”
Jane Saint looked completely pleased with this news. I smiled, feeling the residual effects of her motherly satisfaction.
Wyatt cleared his throat, his eyes flickering over me before he spoke to his mother and Warrick. “We should be getting inside.”
“Don’t let me keep you. Have a nice evening.” I stepped back with a raised hand.
“Holler if you need anything!”
Warrick’s cheery parting words rang out in the space between me and Wyatt. Warrick ushered his mother inside, and Wyatt turned his body, but his eyes caught mine and held. My stomach tightened in response to that serious gaze.What was his deal?
“Night, Ms. Rice.” And then, he slipped into the bright glow of the restaurant.
Shaking off the mystery that was Wyatt Saint, I stepped up to the takeout window just in time for a man to hand me a giant bag filled to the brim. Jake pulled up right on time, and I slid into the back. We chatted for a few minutes but eventually fell silent. All the way up the canyon, I thought about the strange pull to follow after the Saints and go inside the warmth of the place instead of traveling this road back to my house all alone.
It made no sense. I’d come here to get away from people and pressure. I’d longed for solitude. But these people I hardly knew had what I didn’t right now… maybe what I’d never had.
Something in my belly twisted and pawed at me for attention but I shook it off. Must be hunger pangs.
Yes, definitely hunger pangs. Not something else.
Notanythingelse…
SIX
Wyatt
Warrick’s little smirk made me want to shove a bowl of salsa in his face.
I didn’t, of course. I hadn’t done something that childish since I was, well, a child. I’d always kept it together, even when his knee bouncing under the table and that little twist of his lips told me he desperately wanted to say something, and he just knew it’d be cute when he did.
“Out with it,” I said, not giving him my full attention even though I knew exactly what I’d order and had no use for the Guacmenu.
“What are you so bouncy for, War-baby?”
My mother’s continual use ofbabywith Warrick’s name, even though he was rounding the corner to thirty and weighed well over two hundred and twenty pounds, would never cease to amuse me or please him.
“Did you recognize her, Mom?” He dropped his voice low, at least.
“Ms. Rice? Can’t say that I did. Should I? She’s certainly striking. All that long, dark hair and that perfectly creamy skin. She’s just gorgeous.”
Warrick raised his brows at me, then ducked his head close to our mom. “She’s a musician. Super famous. You’ve heard of Miss Mayhem?”
Mom’s eyes went large, and her mouth made a littleo. It should’ve been comical, but I was still stuck onall that long, dark hair and that perfectly creamy skin. Yeah. She was flat-out gorgeous, and getting an even better look at her just now from a few feet away had only intensified my reaction to her despite what I knew about her.
“I have! That’s her?”
“Shh!” Warrick pulled her into a side hug in their booth, then whispered, “No one can know. I’m not blowing this.”
