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Giving her another light squeeze, I kiss the top of her head. "Relax, Calli. This won't be as bad as you think. I'm quite charming, you know, so I should have your brother eating out of my palm in no time."
"Gnawing on your carcass is more like it."
The front door swings open, and Gavin lugs his bags over the threshold, halting when he sees us.
I still have my arm around Calli.
She warps her entire face into a pained expression.
And I squeeze her again.
Gavin drops his bags on the floor and kicks the door shut. "What the hell are you doing with my sister?"
"We're dating. Haven't you heard of that? It's when two people—"
"I know what dating is. But C never mentioned you, which makes me wonder what's really going on here."
Calli makes no move to pull away from me.
I lift one brow at Gavin. "Your sister is very important to me. That's all you need to know because the rest is private, between me and Calli."
"Uh-huh."
Though he's glaring at me, his attitude doesn't fash me at all. I should introduce Gavin to Rory. Watching one overbearing man glare at another who's just as overbearing might be entertaining. Maybe they'd thrash each other with cabers.
Aye, Rory can pull out the one that's wedged up his erse and batter Gavin with it.
Calli finally wriggles out of my embrace and waves for Gavin to follow her. "I'll show you to the hunting shack. If you're sure you want to stay out there with no electricity."
"After a tour in Afghanistan, I think I can handle living in a shack in the woods."
Calli flashes me a apologetic look as she leads her brother out the sliding glass doors.
Well, at least I won't have Gavin glowering at me every time I walk out of his sister's bedroom after we've had a poke.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I wake up the next morning in the best way possible, with Calli's warm, supple body molded to mine and her erse tucked against me. She's lying on her side, facing away from me, and I've got one arm draped over her hips. Aye, the lass had sneaked into my bed last night—but only to sleep nestled in my arms while wearing a satin nightie. The slippery fabric feels good brushing against my skin, but not as good as her nude body would feel. I slept naked, of course. Always do. I informed Calli of that fact when she asked if I'd really expected us to have sex after spending the whole day with Gavin.
"Sleep naked every night," I'd mumbled. "Not trying to have a poke at ye."
"Is 'poke' a strange Scottish term for sex?"
I'd mumbled again, but produced no meaningful words.
Gavin and I had circled each other all day, taking each other's measure in hopes of winning the argument about our opposing ideas of what Calli should do. I advocated for letting her decide for herself, but Gavin insisted he knew what was best for his sister. We did reach a kind of truce, I think, though we are in no danger of becoming best mates. I cannae understand why some blokes insist on butting into the lives of their siblings.
At one point, late in the evening, Gavin had even made jokes at my expense the way tough men like to do, which Calli insisted meant he'd accepted me provisionally. By that time, we were all too jeeked to keep up the odd bonding rituals. Luckily, Gavin retreated to the hunting shack, though not before commenting that he was within earshot of the house.
Donnae care if he hears me shagging his sister. We're both adults.
I had worked hard to make Calli's brother feel better about our living situation, and I think it worked. Despite the rocky start to our acquaintance, things have thawed a bit, and I know Calli is glad for that.
Lying here with Calli tucked against me, I feel so relaxed and content that I fall back asleep.
The bed jostles a touch just as I'm drifting off.
Has Calli gotten out of bed? I was hoping to make love to her before we faced the big-brother inquisition again.
