Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it.

I closed my eyes and drew a deep breath into my lungs, blowing it all out on a rush before I looked up at him again and said, “Fine.”

“Fine, what? Fine, I’m walking out that door and saying goodbye, or fine, you’re gonna quit pushing me away and let me be your friend, or whatever the hell this plays out to be while you’re here?”

I shrugged one shoulder helplessly as I muttered, “Sit down. Stay. Hang out.”

He tipped my head up with a finger under my chin, dipping down so he could look me in the eye. He squinted one eye, screwed up his face in a ‘meh’ kinda look and said, “Not quite the reaction I was looking for, but I guess I’ll take it.”

Then he smiled, kissed the tip of my nose, and sauntered over to the bed, settling against the headboard and kicking back, making a show of lifting his arms and locking them behind his head.

I growled, my hands going to my hips as I glared at him. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

He grinned. “Yup. That’s pretty much my nickname.”

I rolled my eyes, but a smile still teased my lips.

He patted the bed beside him and I shook my head. “We’ve been down that road before, remember? Not tonight.”

He rolled off the bed. “You’re right. In fact, I should probably quit while I’m ahead, so…goodnight, Dani.”

He leaned in and caught my mouth in a quick, hard kiss and then was gone. He poked his head back in, catching the door before it closed on his face. “Think about that offer. I still have the extra room.”

I didn’t get a chance to answer before he pulled back again and closed the door softly behind him.

I threw my hands up in the air, mumbling to myself. Clearly my life wasn’t complicated enough, but what the hell, right?

When I finished berating myself, I straightened up the room and grabbed my pajamas, slipping them on before taking off my makeup and throwing my hair up in a messy knot. I had just slipped into bed with the intent of losing myself for a few in a book on my Kindle, but my phone rang. I grabbed it from where I’d plugged it in on the nightstand, trying to silence it so it didn’t wake Kade. I cursed myself for not turning off the ringer like I normally did. My new normal, anyway, since we’d been living in a hotel for almost two weeks now. Longer if you count our trip here.

“Hello?” I kept my voice quiet.

“Were you sleeping, yet?” Calland asked on the other end, just as softly.

“No. I just laid down, though. Was gonna read a little bit to wind down.”

“What are you doing tomorrow night?”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “Nothing. I don’t want to leave Kaden with a sitter again for a little while.”

“I didn’t say anything about leaving him anywhere. I like kids, which is a good thing considering I have two nieces and three nephews with another on the way. Niece or nephew, that is. Don’t know which, yet. Plus, did it seem like I had a problem with him being around all day?”

I sighed. “No, but…wait. Your sister is pregnant, too?” I asked, surprised, as what he said caught up to my exhausted brain. Emma hadn’t mentioned anything about it that day. Maybe he meant one of the others.

He paused for a second before answering, “No, I don’t think so. Not that I know of, anyway.”

“Uh…but you just said you have another on the way…”

“Yep. Allie’s pregnant, remember?” he said, slowly, like he was waiting for me to make the connection.

“I know, but I thought she was just Emma’s best friend?” I was trying to put it all together in my brain, but it just wasn’t clicking for some reason.

“Allie is like my sister. Pretty much all my life, she and Emma have been inseparable, so she’s been just as much of a sister to me as my actual sisters. All of ‘em total pains-in-the-ass. But I love them.” He paused again. “And you can never tell them I said that.”

I laughed. “Oh, trust me, that’s probably the first thing I’ll do if I ever see them again. Or meet the other two, one of which is Leah, I presume? I think that’s the only other name that was mentioned today. No, wait! Chloe, too. So those are your two other sisters?”

“Nope. Only half right. Leah is one, Jenna is the other. Chloe is another one who’s like my sister, but she’s newer to the group. It’s a long story…but she’s Allie’s husband’s sister.”

“And Allie’s husband is Jackson?” I asked, still trying to get everything straight.

“Yup. And Luke’s brother, Brandon, is married to Chloe, who we already determined is Jackson’s sister. And Allie and Brandon and Jackson had a thing for a while, but then Allie got pregnant and Jacks was in an accident, but then Brandon kissed Chloe, but really it was Chloe that kissed Brandon…you get the idea.”

I stared at my phone in bewilderment, trying to decide just where things went wonky in that conversation. “What? I, uh, no. No, I don’t get the idea because I’m not sure I understood everything you said.”

Calland snorted with laughter. “Like I said, it’s a long story…and a pretty convoluted one, but I’ll fill you in as we go.”

“Ah.” I left it at that.

“Back to tomorrow,” he said, smoothly changing the subject. “I have to work until six. After that, I’ll swing by and pick you up, you and Kaden can come hang out at my place for a while, we’ll order in some dinner. Chinese sound good?”

And there he goes, using the information he dragged out of me against me. “Chinese?”

“Mmhmm,” he said silkily. “Chinese.”

I hadn’t had Chinese in a while.

And it sounded fucking delicious.