Page 36 of Saving His Heart
With a devilish gleam, he grins at me, and I feel my body respond.How can his expressions alone cause such a reaction?Mercifully, the car ride is short, and we arrive at our building just a few minutes later.
“Why don’t I come up with you and get you set up in bed with your IV? It’s been a long day, and you’re going to need your rest.”
“Trying to get me into bed again so soon? You know, if you want round two, all you have to do is ask.” With a wink, he retakes my hand and leads me into the elevator.
“What?” It comes out a few octaves too high. “No, I’m serious. We should have done it on the plane—”
He laughs. “We diddo iton the plane, sweetheart.”
Why does his use of sweetheart make my insides tremble?
“You’re ridiculous. I’m being serious here, Preston. We should have administered your meds on the plane.”
“So am I, Emory. I can’t wait to get you undressed again, and since I have these …” He pulls my thong out of his pocket.
“What? You jerk? I looked for those for almost fifteen minutes.”
“Oh, I know! I had the perfect view, and it’s had my shaft hard ever since.”
The elevator door pings open, and he makes a run for it, but I’m close behind.
“Don’t you dare, Preston! Give me back my underwear right now,” I yell, but run into his back when he stops short. That’s when I get the sensation of being watched. I’m about to move when his hand slides behind him to reach for mine. Once he has my hand in his, he steps to the side. If someone could die of embarrassment, I would do it right this second.
“Ah, hey, everyone. What are you all doing here?” Preston asks, holding my hand in a death grip. I try to shake free, but it only causes him to clamp down harder. Peering around him, I see all his friends and what I can only describe as a pack of Preston’s. I assume they are his brothers because the family resemblance is astonishing.
“Preston Michael Westbrook,” comes a voice from behind us.
Preston goes stock still, so I give his hand a gentle squeeze in silent support. Preston’s eyes are flying around the room, searching for someone to blame, when he glances down and gives me an apologetic smile. I open my mouth as a regal-looking woman comes around the corner, wiping her hands on the apron she is wearing, and I immediately clamp it shut.
By the use of three names, I’d guess this is his mother. She is beautiful and graceful. She could easily have just stepped out of a magazine.
“You have a live-in girlfriend, and you don’t think to introduce us or even mention anything to any of us?” Walking over to greet us, she ignores Preston and instead lets her gaze land on me.
If I could shrink into the furniture right now, I would. I’m fully expecting a tongue lashing, but she’s smiling at me when I finally make eye contact.
“Oh, my dear boy,” she says while never taking her eyes off of me, “she is gorgeous! Hi, Emory, I’m Preston’s mom, Sylvie. It is so lovely to finally meet you.”
I’m bouncing between her and Preston, not sure what to say, when she reaches in and envelopes me in the biggest motherly hug I can ever remember receiving.
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Westbrook.” I’ve just gotten the words out when there is a collective hiss from the crowd.
“Oh, there’s no Mrs. anything around here, Ems. I learned that the hard way,” Lanie informs me. I hadn’t even noticed her in the corner.
“She’s right, my dear. Just Sylvie will do.”
Preston takes a step toward the front door. “Okay, can you guys just give us a few minutes? It’s been a long day, and we were not expecting any of you,” he says pointedly. “I’m going to run Ems down to her apartment so she can change and have a breather before the inquisition starts.”
“Oh, there’s no need for that, Broken-heart. We’ve got everything takin’ care of, ya know?”
My head is on a swivel, trying to find where the older voice came from. Preston apparently already knows.
“GG? What do you mean?”
“Oh Broken-heart, don’t go lookin’ so worried. I got here this mornin’ to see all my great-grandbabies, and that demon spawn, Seth, told me I gotta stay with you. So I got Grumpy-growler over there to show me around so I could choose my room. He has his panties twisted up real good, that one.”
“GG, there is nothing wrong with my underwear,” a Preston clone grumbles.
“Ha! Yeah, right, Easton. You’re the grumpiest asshole I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something,” Lexi yells from across the room.
