Page 104 of Their Ruthless Sadist

I frowned. “What?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I think something’s different.”

I waved her off. “Don’t be ridiculous. Nothing’s different.”

“You’re smiling more,” she teased.

“I’m always smiling.”

“If you say so.”

Not wanting her to throw out some of that psychobabble she was fond of, I motioned toward the stairs. “After you.”

With a grin, she jogged up the stairs, and I followed close behind.

“My brother’s treating the three of us to breakfast,” Jamie announced when we were on the main floor.

The cowboy grinned from his spot in the kitchen. This week, he’d taken to cooking Tank’s food, coming up with dog-friendly meals that had shocked the shit out of me. Tank certainly didn’t object to the new dishes he’d been given. While the cowboy would deliver Tank’s breakfast to him, I handled his dinner. The pretty boy had contributed by spending an hour outside in the evenings, throwing the ball until Tank could hardly walk from exhaustion.

I’d gone to the office with Tank every day this week while they were getting back into a regular routine with Trent. Although I wanted to take them to the office simply because I could play with them all damn day, I’d taken a step back and allowed them to get back on some sort of schedule. Oddly enough, it was working for us.

From what I’d gathered from Justin and Ben, the restaurant was underway, the interior demolition already complete. As for the gym, the last of the tenants who had previously occupied those two floors would be moving out at the end of the month. Once that took place, they would be full steam ahead on it, too.

“Where’re we going?” the pretty boy asked when he came down from taking his shower. His smile was bright when it landed on Jamie.

“There’s this diner,” Jamie began telling them. “The waitress flirts with Zeke. It’s kinda cute.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m gonna shower. Be back in a minute.”

While she started rambling about pancakes and shit, I went upstairs to take care of my morning business. Twenty minutes later, I returned to find the three of them sitting at the kitchen table sharing coffee.

Jamie spun around to look at me. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. I’m driving!”

“The hell you are,” I grumbled. I’d seen my sister drive. No way was I getting in a car with her.

“Can’t blame a girl for trying,” she said with a giggle.

She seemed in an even better mood than usual, and I couldn’t help but wonder what had her so chipper. Jamie always had a quick smile, but this was different. She was different.

“How many brothers and sisters did you say you had?” Jamie prompted the cowboy when we were all piled in my truck.

“Four brothers, three sisters.”

“And what do your sisters do?”

“Two are in the military, one owns a bakery.”

“Ah, so she got the cooking gene, too?”

I peered in the rearview mirror to see her wide smile as she stared over at the cowboy.

“She did.”

“And what do your brothers do?”