Page 62 of Lone Star Country Protector
“Simple. We don’t have a relationship to discuss.”
“Really?” Jules asked. “Is that what you think? Because I had no idea my little brother was so oblivious.”
Attraction didn’t make a relationship, he wanted to point out. And Blakely had been clear about not seeing herself trust another person.
“It takes two to tango, Jules.” And he was a one-man show.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Are those bagels I smell?” Blakely stretched her arms and made a show of waking up. Was she being too obvious? She hadn’t intended to eavesdrop on their conversation, but she woke up at “We don’t have a relationship to discuss,” and it had felt like the wrong time to make it known she could hear.
If not for her bladder forcing her to get out of bed, she would have pretended to be asleep for the rest of their conversation. However, she had to go.
Throwing off the covers, she stepped lightly on the tile flooring.
“Yes,” Jules said with a look toward Dalton. “Help yourself.”
“Bathroom first,” Blakely said before disappearing into the adjacent room. She wished she could crawl through a crack in the wall and disappear after hearing Dalton tell his sister about their non-relationship. Clearly, the woman had picked up on a vibe between Blakely and Dalton.
Were they that obvious?
So much for playing it cool around other people. Blakely couldn’t contain her attraction when she was one-on-one with Dalton, but she thought she was doing a decent job of covering in front of others.
Maybe not.
Their chemistry was undeniable. So much for being stealthabout their past. Now, there were questions—questions she couldn’t answer. Trying to be with Dalton didn’t work. Trying to stay away from Dalton didn’t work.
Right now, she was a big ball of contradiction. He must be confused as hell.
Blakely made a quick call to check on her sister before freshening up. Then, she joined the siblings in the next room.
“How’d you sleep?” Jules asked, and Blakely was grateful for the general question. She couldn’t answer personal ones right now. Not when she was just as confused as everyone else about the nature of her and Dalton’s relationship.
Blakely was handed a bagel and a cup of coffee almost the second she sat down. “Better than anyone should in a hospital.”
The comment elicited a couple of laughs and a nod from Dalton, who probably didn’t sleep much more than a few minutes here and there.
And then he turned his attention toward his sister.
“Jules, can I ask you a question?” Dalton started before adding, “It’s off topic but important.”
“Go ahead,” she urged. “You know you can ask me anything.”
“Did you know about our mother being in contact with our grandparents all these years?” he asked in a direct question.
Jules sat there for a long moment, quiet. She stared out the window and shifted in her seat.
“I did,” Jules admitted. She shot a look of apology toward Dalton, who looked like he’d just been betrayed by his best friend.
“Am I the only one who didn’t know?” he asked.
“I’ve never discussed it with Camden,” Jules said. “So I can’t speak for him.”
Based on the look on Dalton’s face, the response didn’t exactly offer much in the way of reassurance.
“What about her?” he asked. “Are you in touch with her? Do you guys…what?…talk on a regular basis or something?” The rim of his cup suddenly became real interesting to him.
“Not really,” Jules admitted.
