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“Like I said, you look beautiful.” He turned her around andlowered his head to hers as he heard the back door open.
Relief flooded through his system. Josh was back and in thenick of time. He kissed Nic, holding her tight and giving Josh time to coverhis tracks.
She couldn’t know what he’d done. She would run, and Grimwould get his stupid heart crushed because she was the one. He knew it deep inhis bones.
“Hey, sorry I’m late. I had to go to two different stores toget beer. The gas station was out, so I went to the grocer. You two findsomething to do?” There was a smirk on his face as he leaned against thedoorjamb. His best friend looked completely innocent. Well, innocent when itcame to stealing and putting his nose where she didn’t want it. Not so innocentwhen it came to his eyes going over every inch of Nicole’s body. “Though I’lladmit I liked your rope dress better. But I suppose you can’t wear it todinner. If you do it, then the dads are going to want to do the same with Mom,and we need boundaries. So many boundaries.”
Nic’s jaw dropped. “You knew they would invite me todinner?”
Josh shrugged. “You’re here at six p.m. on a Sunday, andthere’s a seat at the table for you. So many of my friends have had Sundaydinner with my family. It’s no big deal. They’ll barely notice you’re there.They’ll ask a few polite questions and then my dadswill discuss how the Cowboys played and what their playoff chances are, and Momand Liv will talk about the latest book they’ve read. You might want to listenin. Those conversations can get wild.”
“Josh, do they think I’m a friend or do they think I’m thechick you both slept with last night?” Nic asked, her lips in a frown. “Fromwhat I can tell, everyone in town likely knows by now. You carried me away.”
“Did you?” Grim wished he’d been there. “See, that seemsgallant of you.”
He would have picked her up and cradled her to his chest andbeen her knight in shining armor. Everyone would have known Nicole wasprotected by him.
“He threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes,” shecorrected, and seemed to include Grim in her general displeasure. “Sort of likeyou carried me around like luggage.”
Grim frowned Josh’s way. “You’re supposed to treat her likea lady. When you need to abduct her because she’s being stubborn, you pick herup gently and cradle her against your chest. So everyone sees her pretty face.”
Josh shrugged him off. “Well, at the time her face was moreangry, and I was worried about her use of language. They got to see her prettyass. You’re the one who carted her around this afternoon, so maybe don’tjudge.”
“There is a time and place, brother. When she’s in my ropes,I get to do whatever I like. When she’s on the street and we’re in the vanillaworld, we should kidnap her like gentlemen.”
Nicole’s head dropped, her hands covering her face as shelaughed. “You’re both crazy.” She swung her head up, the frown replaced with ajoyous smile. “And you can’t kidnap me. Also, Grim is right. There is a timeand a place, and I liked the rope thing way more than I thought I would. It wasa nice way to spend the day.”
Josh had come in the back door, so he would have walked byNic’s purse. He would have put back whatever he’d taken. Grim kissed Nic’sforehead. He’d pushed her enough for the day. “Go get your lip gloss. We needto head up to the big house.”
Josh looked down at his watch. “Damn. It’s later than Ithought.”
“Yeah, I should probably get home.” Nic kept looking for away out.
He didn’t intend to give her one. “They’re lovely people,and I’m pretty sure tonight is enchilada night. You do not want to missBenita’s enchiladas. They’re delicious.”
She turned to Josh, a pleading look on her face. “You reallywant me to meet your parents?”
He moved in and cupped her chin, staring down at her in thatoverly serious way of his. “Now more than ever.”
She sighed. “Fine. I’ll be ready in a minute.”
Grim waited until he heard her walking down the hall towardthe bathroom. “What did you find?”
Josh kept his voice low. “She’s been living in her car, andI think she slipped up earlier.”
He knew exactly what Josh was talking about. “Childswood. It’s not a high school. I would bet it’s thename of the town she’s from.”
“I called Harlow.”
Grim nodded, approving of the decision. If he’d called inher dads, they would loop in Jack and Sam. This was his and Josh’s problem.“Good. I got Nicole to agree to come to Austin with us later this week, but itwas a close thing. I think she plans on leaving us when her car is fixed. Butshe doesn’t want to. She feels like she has to. It’s almost like she thinksshe’s protecting us.”
“Well, she’ll find out it’s a two-way street.” Josh glanceddown the hallway. “I have no intention of allowing her to leave. Something’sgoing on, and when we figure it out, we solve the problem for her and then shewon’t have a need to leave. Her car is going to be harder to fix than shethinks. Al hasn’t even ordered the part yet. It’s an old car, so he might havetrouble finding one.”
“You have to be careful tonight. She’s skittish,” Grimwarned him. “We need more time with her.”
“Yeah, I’ve got a plan for that, too,” Josh said.
He shouldn’t be surprised. He’d been thinking about theproblem. “We bring her back here after dinner and fuck her until she fallsasleep, and then one of us drives her to work in the morning and picks her upand brings her right back here.”
