Page 30 of August Heat
“We had a couple of dates. That doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere.”
“For God’s sake, Chevy, it’s like you don’t know how dating works. I’d never guess you were in a relationship before.”
Siobhan slammed a pillow over her head. “Get off my ass about it!”
She should have known Gabriella would march over and rip the pillow off her niece’s face. “I know one thing for sure, hon, and that’s you shouldn’t string a nice young lady along like she’s your puppet. If you’re not going to call Krys back about the cat, the least you could do is call her and tell her you’re done talking to her. That way she won’t keep calling the landline like some lost little puppy that only wants your attention.”
Lost little puppy?That didn’t sound like Krys at all. That sounded like Siobhan, who wandered through her own personal life like a dog let off its leash. She had enjoyed the freedom at first, of course, but once she realized she was disconnected from her home, her family, she looked around in fear and wonderment. Where was she supposed to go? How would she get home? Was there a chance at starting over again, assuming she survived these trying times?
Or would she be caught by the dog catcher and sent away for good?
“Bah.” Gabriella washed her hands of it. “I can’t deal with you right now. I have to go into town and get us some food. Somebody’s been eating through our stash of chips. Like they’re hermealor something.”
“Don’t get the really expensive ones, okay?” Siobhan meekly called after her. “No sense wasting money on the name brand when the store brand does a good enough job.”
A grunt told her that her aunt was leaving the room.
Siobhan didn’t bother rewinding the tape of her favorite movie. She got up and headed across the hall to use the bathroom. While in there, she decided that it was high time to take a shower and get some of the blubbery sweat off her body. By the time she stepped out, fresh and clean from her shower of woe, she realized that somebody was downstairs.
It did not sound like Gabriella’s footsteps.
Indeed, her car was not in the driveway when Siobhan glanced out the bathroom window. She saw another car instead.
A familiar car that did not belong to either her or Aunt Gabriella.
“What the hell?” Siobhan fluffed out her hair and made sure her thin bathrobe was tightly tied before stepping out of the room. The footsteps continued to pound on the floor beneath hers. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, everything she feared had come to light.
Krys stood outside the front door. She hadn’t helped herself inside, although odds were strong that Aunt Gabriella hadn’t bothered to lock the door when she left. Simply put? Krys’s footsteps were so heavy in those boots of hers that they practically smashed through the fragile porch wood.
She didn’t say anything. Nor did she pound on the screen door. She merely paced back and forth, as if trying to think of what she would say when she finally called Siobhan down from her tower.
Siobhan would catch her unawares. That was the only upper hand she had as she swung open the door and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Krys hadn’t been prepared for Siobhan’s presence. She was less prepared for nothing more than a bathrobe.
To be fair, that hadn’t been part of Siobhan’s plan, but she was committed now, wasn’t she?
Your final test is to see if you can keep your eyes on mine, Madison.For someone like Krys, that could be the hardest challenge of her life.
Chapter 15
KRYS
There were half a dozen things Krys anticipated when Siobhan finally showed her face. A bathrobe thin enough to show off some of the goods wasnotone of those things.
Holy hell…Was this a joke? Krys came down here to make a case for living creatures, which may or may not have included herself.Not to instantly forget everything I was about to say because I suddenly have a hot woman in front of me.Siobhan was always hot, yes, but never before had Krys seen her wearing so sexy. This was a woman who wore jeans and sweaters. Maybe a light jacket, if she were feeling frisky. Her lab coat did plenty for propriety. What would Krys learn next, though? That the woman she had fancied since first seeing herdidn’tsleep in footie pajamas or baggy T-shirts? Did she sleep in cute, silky negligees, too? Or,gasp,in the nude?
Get a hold of yourself!That wasn’t a flirtatious look on Siobhan’s face. If Krys wanted to accomplish anything, she better keep her eyes off those nipples and on Siobhan’s ticked countenance.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
Ah, yes. Utterly accusatory. That was the way to go.
Siobhan barricaded the door with her body, arm slinking up the frame and ankles crossing. Those bare toes dug into the vinyl flooring beneath her feet, but Siobhan didn’t seem to care if it was clean or dirty. She only had eyes for Krys. Angry, dagger-like eyes that were not in the mood for her crap.
“I didn’t realize I owed you any time on the phone.” Siobhan said.
“You got a problem with me?” Krys knew how to be intimidating… to the point that she was keenly aware of her body language when she took a small step forward and loomed above the woman before her. She didn’t want to intimidate Siobhan. This wasn’t a shake down or promises of retribution if she didn’t get her way. Yet that didn’t mean Krys would back down before the woman who thought she could play obnoxious games.
