Page 331 of A Matter of Time

He drove to the diner, hopped out of the car, ran in, and was back in minutes with two slices of key lime to go.

Even as I was carried into my apartment, my legs wrapped around his waist, his hand patting my ass, I noticed the two quarters in the jar on the counter. I put my hand on his cheek and smiled at him.

“What?” he asked as he put the bag with the pie in it down on the counter. “I don’t wanna sleep on the couch.”

I shook my head as the tears welled up in my eyes.

“Oh, for crissakes,” he grumbled, leaning in to kiss me. “Like I ever wanna sleep without you.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed tight, my mouth ravenous on his. His deep rumbling laughter, sounding so content, was not lost on me.

TEN

The only part that was fun was watching Aja. Her eyes went from Dane to Sam, back and forth, watching them both, wanting to miss nothing. It was like watching tennis or volleyball, except the only thing flying between them was words. When Dane yelled, she grimaced; when Sam roared back, she flinched. I just breathed whenever anyone posed a rhetorical question to me. Obviously, they wanted no answers, they just wanted to be loud. When Aja sat down beside me on the couch, I leaned my head on her shoulder. When she chuckled, the room went silent.

“Sorry,” she whispered quickly, hand up, sounding serious. “Continue.”

And they did. Dane yelling, pointing at Sam, Sam with his fingers laced on top of his head, Dane attacking, Sam defending, both just livid. I had never seen Dane so mad.

“Wow,” Aja whispered, talking into my hair. “The man really loves you, Jory. I’ve never seen him this way. I hope he never gets this mad at me.”

I grunted.

“But I will say…it is sexy as hell. Look at those beautiful dark gray eyes,” she purred. “I can’t wait to love all that right out of him.”

“Gross,” I groaned, slouching down farther beside her.

But it was funny watching two grown men yell at each other. And while Dane had an inch of height over Sam, being six-five, Sam had the muscle over Dane. My brother, with his jet-black hair and gray eyes, was built tall and lean like a swimmer. Sam, with his copper-colored hair and slate-blue eyes, had the big, muscular frame of a defensive lineman. He had, in fact, played football all through high school.

Aja giggled, returning my attention to her before she leaned sideways on the couch and kissed my temple. “May I say that I used to think Aaron Sutter was a gorgeous man and I loved you guys together? I was sad when it was over.”

“Yeah, well,” I sighed. “Sometimes things don’t⁠—”

“Let me finish.” She pointed at Sam. “That man, however, is beautiful. He’s the kind of man I would have gone after myself, all tall and carved and fine… Look at his arms—damn.”

“Shut up.” I grinned in spite of myself.

“I bet he’s solid all over.”

“Quit.”

“And his ass is⁠—”

“Stop.”

“I’m just saying…I get it, and the way he looks at you and touches you… Aaron had it bad, but that man there is head over heels in love with you. I wouldn’t let that go either, not for anyone. Not even for Dane.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence here before I die.”

She giggled again, careful not to be too loud. “The thing is, Sam loves you, but so does Dane. And before I met Sam, I wanted you as far away from him as possible too. I thought he brought whatever it is back into your life, but from what I’m hearing, this has nothing at all to do with you being a witness.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“So Sam’s just trying to keep you safe, and since Dane wants that too, when they get tired of arguing over who knows what’s best for you, they should come to some kind of mutual agreement and understanding.”

I wasn’t convinced. As I was sitting there, I noticed her wedding ring. “God, that thing is huge. What is that, like, a carat or something?”

She grunted. “You, my darling, know nothing about diamonds. That is five carats of icy goodness.”