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“Don’t be smart with me.”
I made the next turn toward the hotel. “I kept a woman I care about from being victimized by Devlin. What’s wrong with that?” I knew exactly what he thought was wrong, but I’d make him spell it out. It was clear who the ringleader was in accusing me of ratcheting up the feud.
“When it comes to the welfare of this family, you have to think with your head instead of a lower part of your anatomy.”
“I was using my head. I got Devlin away from her without getting physical.” It had been quite a feat, I thought, to get him to leave on his own.
“We were getting this battle between the families calmed down before you went and picked a fight over this girl. We don’t mess with their girls. You know that. Breaking that rule cost your brother Casey a stay in prison.”
“She’s a woman,” I corrected him. “And not any woman, but one who’s special to me. They’re the ones interfering here. All I did was protect her.”
“I’m not happy about this,” Dad said, as if he hadn’t spelled that out clearly enough. “We’re not done talking about this, either. In the meantime, keep your head down and for God’s sake, don’t cause any more trouble.” He hung up before either of us said goodbye.
He’d call back. I’d bet on it.
I parked at the hotel and went inside. After a wonderful evening yesterday, this was shaping up to be a less-than-stellar day. Turning off my phone to avoid Dad’s next call was tempting, but it wouldn’t accomplish anything.
CHAPTER25
Angela (Four dayslater)
It had beenfive glorious days since Boone had rescued me from Devlin’s clutches and asked to start over as a couple. And, yes, I’d been counting the days, savoring them.
When we’d finished sexy times last night, I’d zonked out as quickly as turning off a light switch. It had been like that every night since he’d suggested we get together again. I’d slept so soundly after each bout of phenomenal sex that I didn’t even know yet if he snored.
We had to slow down from this level of intensity sometime. But just thinking about it renewed the throbbing between my legs. The man was an insatiable machine, and I loved it. With limited time before Grace came back and I had to move on to Florida, I intended to treasure every second with him. I knew these memories would be with me forever, and every time I brought battery-powered Lance out, I’d have a library of experiences to relive.
I started cleaning my fourth room of the morning. After this, I planned to go to lunch and get a little laptop time to work on the project that would get me away from maid duty and back to my true calling. I used to complain about sore shoulders and aching wrists, but no more. They were a lot better than constantly cleaning up other people’s messes.
I had free time today because Boone had said he had a meeting at lunch, though he hadn’t explained any more than that. I blamed his lack of explanation on sleep deprivation.
* * *
Boone
It had beenwonderful to wake up this morning wrapped around Angela again—all except the wet tongue to the face courtesy of one of Grace’s mutts. That dog needed a good gargle with mouthwash.
It had been five days since I’d kicked Devlin out of The Boathouse and claimed my girl. So far, nobody’s prediction that I’d fanned the feud had come true. Old Earl hadn’t arrested or threatened any of us, that I knew of. Devlin was no more of a dick than he’d always been, and he hadn’t sought revenge or approached my girl.
My girl.
The words would have felt foreign a month ago, but now I couldn’t get them out of my head. Or rather I couldn’t get the woman they described out of my head.
In less than a week, nights with her had changed my entire outlook on life. I could kick myself for all that we’d missed together because of me—well, my reaction to the Pollocks fucking with me would be more accurate.
They still hated us, and the reverse was true, but the world hadn’t ended, so it seemed like we could finally relax. And Dad was done berating me, or so I’d thought. This morning a call had come that meant I was wrong about that aspect of things.
So, at lunch time, I pushed my way into The Peanut Barrel for the meeting Dad had requested.
“Out back,” Sonya said as I walked in. “Your food is already there.”
“It better have real meat in it.”
She held up her hands. “I fill the orders; I don’t decide them.”
Mom had called this morning to tell me I was meeting Dad here for lunch and not to talk to anybody at all about it, not even family. Nothing she could have said would have been more ominous.
She hadn’t answered when I’d asked about the meeting topic, which was par for the course if I was getting reamed. But it had always been Dad doing the chastising without involving Mom. This was new and much worse if he wanted her to back him up. Like a double-barreled shotgun, it seemed Dad and Mom both intended to tell me how badly I’d screwed up.
