Sway (17 page)

fluttered and squeezed him as her

fingertips met her clit. And then

moments later she sucked in a

surprised breath as she came all

around him.

And it was more than he could

withstand and he followed her,

headlong, letting climax take him as

he snarled her name.

He sat back and took her in.

Candlelight suited her features. She

wore the earrings he’d given her

earlier in the evening with a dress

he’d picked out for her. That was

something new, something he hadn’t

done before.

But when she showed up wearing

something she knew he’d like, or

wearing something he’d told her to

wear, it got to him in ways he

couldn’t have begun to articulate.

He’d begun to leave notes telling

her which panties to wear, or what

blouse. Even if he wouldn’t see her

that day, he knew she’d obey. And

that got to him.

“I can’t believe I’ve never eaten

here before.” She paused to sip her

cocktail.

“I come here often. It’s not very far

from our Seattle office so my older

brother and I end up here for dinner

at least once a week or so. Business

lunches are good here as well.”

“It’s very old-school steakhouse in

here. I love these big booths.”

He liked them too. He had her all

to his self this way, as they were

tucked out of sight unless someone

was seated across the way from their

booth or in that general area.

She’d done something with her

hair, victory rolls she’d called them,

and together with the dress and her

makeup, she looked like she’d

stepped out of a vintage photograph.

But with a modern edge.

“Which brother is this?”

“Jonah, he’s the oldest.”

She smiled. “Are you two close?”

“Yes. There’s only a year between

us. So we competed a lot.”

She laughed. “I bet. If he’s like

you, I can only imagine all the

taciturn competition. Two alpha

males with big giant brains locked in

friendly combat. Which sounds like

the plot of a book I’d totally read. I’d

like to meet him.”

He took her hand and kissed the

palm. She didn’t take him too

seriously outside the bedroom. He

liked that. Submission in sex was one

thing.

But

he

didn’t

want

a

submissive woman in any other way.

She poked fun at him and still

managed to make him feel like a

superhero.

“We should get the rest of this to

go.”

Her smile changed, deepened,

dripped with sensuality and it sent a

shiver over him.

“Levi. Hey.”

He tore his gaze from her, that

filthy fantasy about what he planned

to do to her once they got back home

dashed with the cold water of reality

as he took in the sight of his brother

and his new wife.

Mal looked back and forth

between Levi and Daisy, one brow

raised. Gwen, on the other hand,

stared at Daisy, who sent Levi a look

that told him he’d better handle it or

she would.

“Mal. When did you get back?” He

and Gwen had gone to Hawaii for a

week after the wedding. “You look

nice and suntanned.”

“Just this afternoon.” He turned a

genuine smile in Daisy’s direction

and held his hand out. “I’m Malachi

Warner. Levi’s youngest brother.”

“Daisy Huerta. Nice to meet you.”

She looked around him after they’d

finished

shaking

hands.

“Congratulations to you both. Levi

tells me you’re newlyweds.”

Gwen frowned and glared.

“Stop talking about us as if you

know us,” she snapped at Daisy

before she rounded on Levi. “Who is

this?”

“You need to lower your voice

and remember your manners,” Levi

said, attempting not to lose his

temper. “This is my date. She told

you her name. Rein it in.”

“Rein what in? Are you her dad or

her boyfriend? What sort of example

are you setting anyway? You’re a

Warner! You don’t take your young

little bed friends to dinner in a nice

restaurant where anyone can see you.

It makes us all look bad.”

Daisy jerked back. “Excuse me?”

Gwen turned her gaze to Daisy.

“Look, he’s not the marrying type, so

if you’re thinking he’ll be a nice

shiny

cash

machine,

you’re

incorrect.”

Daisy’s demeanor chilled to icy

cold. Her face implacable, her back

ramrod straight. She looked like a

fucking queen right then. “You’re not

only rude, you’re so off base it says

far more about me than you. Though

your fascination with your brother-in-

law’s affairs is quite interesting. Is

that why
you
got married? Because I

was raised to take care of myself.”

Before this devolved any further,

he shot a look to Mal. “You need to

get this moving elsewhere. Your wife

is out of line.”

Mal put his arm around his wife’s

waist and attempted to steer her

away.

“This is an old, established family.

You’re not their kind. Look at his

choice in wives, why don’t you?”

Daisy scooted to stand and Levi

did as well, quickly inserting himself

between them, his back to Gwen.

“Let’s go.”

“Stop acting like you’re going to

prevent me from punching her in the

face. I’m not the one who needs to

chill out.” She looked around Levi’s

body. “If by their kind it means I need

to be a bigoted bitch, I’m grateful for

it.” She grabbed her bag and shoved

Levi out of the way, storming from

the room.

“We’ll talk about this later,” he

told his brother while tossing down

some money. “You’re an ugly bitch

sometimes, Gwen.”

He rushed out to find her crossing

the street already. He ran to catch up

and she gave him a look that would

have sent a lesser man running the

other way.

“I apologize. She’s rude and

wrong.” He took her arms in his

hands and held her, wanting to say

this where she could see his face.

“She’s wrong, Daisy.”

“My god, what the hell?” She kept

walking, eating the pavement in long

strides even in her sky-high heels. “Is

this some sort of time warp back to a

movie set in the fifties? I’m not your

kind? And what does that mean?

Mexican girls needn’t apply to have

your precious white babies? Hm?

Oh, I get it, her assumption is that

because I’m brown that I must be

fucking you to trick you into marrying

me so I can have your money?”

All of that was most likely exactly

what Gwen had been thinking. But it

wasn’t what
he
thought, damn it.

“What does it matter? I don’t

believe it. Where are you going?”

“To catch the ferry home. I’m done

with this evening.”

He caught her again. “Why? I’ve

said I don’t think the way she does.

She’s not my wife, she’s Mal’s wife.

I’ll deal with them both another time.

I’m sorry you were attacked and

offended. But why punish me for

someone else’s ignorance?”

“Speaking of wives, how is it that

we’ve been together for nearly two

months and I have to hear about this

wife of yours from everyone but

you?”

“I don’t have any plans to do this

on a public sidewalk. If you want to

talk about all this, let’s do it in

private. My car is at the ferry dock.

Let’s catch the ferry and talk about it

when we get back.”

“Whatever.” She turned and kept

walking.

And voila, she was 100 percent,

magnificent, pissed-off woman. He

stood there stunned for long moments

and then hurried to catch up.

“That’s our first whatever. What’s

the present for that?”

Her brows flew up and he knew

he’d missed the joke mark by a mile

with the present comment.

“I don’t need your presents! I’m

not with you for presents.”

The ferry had a line of cars, but

luckily the walk on lane was empty

and so no one was around to watch

him realize it had been a long time

since he’d dealt with a pissed-off

woman who wasn’t his mother or

someone else he just ignored. How

this woman felt was important.

“Do you think this is news to me?”

He guided her to a pair of seats at the

back of the ferry, near the windows.

“I’m

trying

to

lighten

the

conversation up. Just teasing. Why let

a person like Gwen ruin our night?”

“It’s not about her. Not entirely.

You duck the subject when it comes

up. You hold back with me.”

“Just because I don’t want to fight

in public like a television cop show

doesn’t mean I hold back. There’s a

time and place for this stuff.”

She looked out the windows, her

body shifting away from his.

“We were having a good time

before that mess happened. I already

told you I don’t agree with a single

thing she said. I’ll be talking to my

brother tomorrow about this.”

“You make me irrational,” she

muttered. “I’m not irrational. But you

make me irrational.”

He tried not to smile. “I don’t

make you irrational.”

“Fuck off.”

He couldn’t help it; that made him

laugh.

Then his phone rang and when he

looked he noted his mother’s number

and sighed, putting it back in his

pocket.

“Are you cold?” He took his

overcoat off and draped it over her

shoulders.

She wanted to cry.

It was stupid to be mad, she knew.

But she was mad anyway. Because of

his stupid sister-in-law and his stupid

past he never wanted to tell her. Up

until that moment, she’d been awash

with her feelings for him.

She’d gone and fallen in love with

Levi Warner and then that horrid

woman went and ruined it all.

Because she couldn’t pretend

anymore. Couldn’t pretend she didn’t

want to meet his family because he

wanted her to. No more pretending

that he wasn’t avoiding the subject.

Oh, she understood that he didn’t

want to do this in public. She didn’t

either. He made her irrational plain

and simple. She needed to talk to her

friends about it, to work it through.

But the big alpha male at her back

wasn’t going to let her walk away

with all this unsettled between them.

She didn’t say anything else as

they

made

their

way

toward

Bainbridge. She texted Mary, but

knew he could see over her shoulder.

I just finally met some of Levi’s family.

Mary replied nearly instantly. Oh

yeah, how was it?

One of them was nice. His wife was a vicious

bitch who seemed quite alarmed by a young

Mexican clearly whoring herself to get Levi’s

money and family power.

He growled behind her. “You

know that’s bullshit.”

“Then stop reading my texts.”

Oh no, she did not! Do you need me to bail you

out of jail?

She laughed. Thank goodness for

Mary.

He put his chin on her shoulder.

I’ll call you later to tell you the whole story.

At least tell me he defended you. If not, you

need to kick him to the curb.

He made a sound and she was torn

between shrugging him off her

shoulder and turning around to

reassure him.

He did. Sort of.

“Not sort of. You know that.”

“Why are you reading over my

shoulder if you get pissy about what

I’m saying?”

“My life used to be simple.”

“And now you have a twenty-four-

year-old in your bed. Women come

with complications, Levi. We don’t

just animate the moment you decide

to notice us.”

“I never said any such thing.”

Sort of?

He’s reading over my shoulder now. She made