Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“I KNOW YOU watered down my apple juice,” Colt accused, glaring at me as he knocked on Colleen and Joseph’s door.
I adjusted the cupcakes on the platter in my hand.
It had taken three tries to make something even remotely presentable, but I’d eventually settled on these.
They didn’t taste nearly as good as Dekker’s confections did but making them also made a huge mess of the kitchen, which gave Colt a conniption, so it was worth it.
“I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about. ”
Okay, that was a lie. I still hadn’t found my coffeemaker, and I was saltier than a pretzel about it.
So I’d messed with his true love in return.
And since we were on “scripted lines only” terms inside the house at the moment, this was his first chance to confront me about it without either dragging me into his room or cornering me in the basement.
We’d found Gauthier’s listening devices in the living room and master bedroom, which essentially meant Colt and I went through a script before bed that would convince them we were a happily married couple sharing a room rather than two rivals messing with each other.
It involved the two of us going through our normal bedtime routines, but repeating couple-y things while glaring at each other the whole time.
Our practice shoving our rivalry aside since I moved to Detroit was really being put to the test, and if I had to stay cooped up in the house with him by myself any longer, I’d scream.
No, really. Saying stuff like, “goodnight, love you,” to him while wishing him a lifetime of wet socks with my eyes really messed with my psyche.
The door whipped open, revealing a cheery Colleen on the other side.
She wore a floral print apron over a different floral print dress, the combination of which made my eyes ache just looking at her.
Her short gray hair, streaked with white, was tied back in a ponytail as long as my pinky.
How she managed to corral it into anything resembling an updo, I’d never know.
But my suspicions were that black magic was involved. Maybe voodoo.
“You’re right on time!” she cried, ushering us in.
“You can thank me for that,” Colt chimed in. Those who didn’t know him wouldn’t notice the annoyed undercurrents in his voice, since he hid it so well. But I did. “If it were up to Lex, we wouldn’t be arriving for another ten minutes.”
I ground my teeth but kept my voice just as light. “Just be glad I made him wait, or else we would’ve shown up fifteen minutes ago.”
Colleen’s smile stretched across her wrinkled features, mistaking our spat for good-natured teasing. Just as we’d intended. “Well, I’m just glad you’re here. No matter when you arrive.”
Colt and I both shared the same pointed look, proving to the other that our respective methods were right.
“Come in, come in.” Colleen waved us further into her home, laughing at our interaction. “Can’t have you standing around the door when there’s food on the table.”
That , I could get behind.
I slipped my shoes off, purposely leaving them in a haphazard pile, and followed her. Colt immediately fussed with them, which brightened my smile more than I’d care to admit
“Whatever you’ve made, it smells delicious.” I inhaled deeply to accentuate my point.
“That’s my mom for you.” Liam took the platter of cupcakes from me with a grin. “It’s a wonder I don’t rival the Pillsbury Doughboy in size.”
As if that could make him any less attractive.
Today he wore a sky blue t-shirt that battled his eyes for which would be the most dominant blue.
The fabric stretched across his muscles with ease, providing a beautiful view of his biceps and chest. Not lean and toned like Colt’s, but beefy and solid.
A man’s man. Or something, I don’t know.
Colleen laughed, smacking a dish towel across Liam’s fantastic back. “Oh, hush, you.”
He shrugged, not the least bit chastised as he deposited the treats on the kitchen island.
Joseph appeared from the hallway, shaking mine and Colt’s hands in greeting. Like the last time I saw him, he mostly kept to himself and let Colleen do the talking, with occasional input from Liam until we began eating.
“How are you folks settling in?” Colleen asked. Honestly, I was surprised she’d asked such a normal question. It wasn’t very “knock on the neighbor’s door at seven-thirty in the morning with a pound cake” of her.
“Really well, thanks.” I smiled. “We even tried out a new restaurant in town yesterday.”
Where I’d saved Colt’s sorry butt, in case he’d forgotten.
“Oh? Which one?”
“Lovers Only,” Colt answered.
Colleen’s eyes twinkled. “Ah, a fitting name for you two if ever I’ve heard one.”
Aaaand there it was.
Liam coughed on his water, successfully drawing Colleen’s attention away from our nonexistent love.
“I, uh,” he sputtered when he’d finally sorted out his windpipe, “I hear it’s really good. A burger place, right?”
“Yep. Really charming, actually.” I speared a piece of broccoli with my fork.
“Do you have any restaurant recommendations for around here? I mean” —I met Liam’s piercing eyes, forcing myself to think about folding laundry to keep from reacting to his looks— “I know you don’t live around here, but I’m sure you know all the good haunts for when you visit. ”
Liam smiled, sending my heart racing. “For sure. I grew up here, so I used to go out with my friends all the time.” He spared Colt a look to include him in the conversation before he returned his eyes to mine.
Take that, afterthought. “One of our favorites was HopCat. Their fries are seriously addictive.”
“I’m afraid that’s out for me, then,” Colt muttered, barely audible if I hadn’t been sitting next to him.
I sent him a loaded glance, barely concealing my curiosity. What was wrong with fries? He ate the ones at lunch yesterday just fine. He’d even eaten one of my fries. I’d offered it to him, dang it. What a waste of a perfectly good milkshake-dipped French fry.
Apparently Liam had heard Colt, too. “Ah, health-conscious, I take it?”
Colt smiled, though it looked almost shark-like for the split second it lasted. “Something like that.”
“He’s allergic to happiness,” I explained. This earned me a delicious scowl from Colt.
Score.
“Better stay away from those cupcakes, then,” Colleen interjected with a laugh.
“Planning on it,” Colt mumbled. He flashed a smile to show he was joking, but I wasn’t fooled. “She probably laced them with something.”
I leaned into him, speaking low enough that only he could hear me. “Only yours, buddy.”
This close, it took a disturbing amount of self-control not to breathe him in. His scent was intoxicating. Almost enough to make me forget that we were miffed with each other.
Almost .
“What would she lace them with?” Liam asked, bright eyes sparkling as an amused smile played on his mouth. “You know, so I can plan my evening accordingly.”
“Judging by the way she was whispering to her man, I’d guess an aphrodisiac,” Colleen offered.
This time it was Colt’s turn to cough on his water. I did the much more graceful action of choking on my bite of chicken.
An aphrodisiac ? That couldn’t be further from what I wanted.
Thankfully, I managed to dislodge the chicken with minimal sputtering and coughing. I only resembled a clogged sprinkler rather than a backed up fire hydrant, so I’d consider it a win. The epitome of grace, that’s me.
When I could finally speak again, I avoided Colt’s amused gaze like it could give me rabies. If rabies were spread via antiseptic and condescension, maybe it could’ve after all. “It’s just laced with copious amounts of sugar, sorry. No drugs.”
“Pity.” Liam winked at me.
He winked! Either he was a natural flirt, or he didn’t seem to notice my belly and the ring on my finger.
I was going to go with “naturally flirtatious.” Either way, his action sent a fresh blush into my already smoldering cheeks, but, oddly enough, the butterflies I should’ve gotten felt more like boiling tar in my stomach.
Colt stiffened beside me before relaxing. Weird.
Colleen’s lips pulled up onto a coy smile. “I agree. It certainly would’ve livened my evening right up.”
Okay, ew. I did not need that visual. Like, ever. I think I needed to borrow some of Colt’s bleach and scrub my eyes.
Why did I ever agree to come over for dinner?
Seeing my discomfort, Colt’s own seemed to melt away. His shoulders relaxed, a too-familiar smirk lifting one corner of his lips. He didn’t think coming was a good idea in the first place, and now he was being proven right.
Not if I could help it. I was not about to spend my evening watching him gloat from across the room. It took a special skill set to do so without saying a single word, but he’d perfected it.
I steered the conversation into safer waters, asking Liam about his construction job, Colleen and Joseph about their other kids. And when they talked about what a joy babies are, I didn’t even break down or have another existential crisis. Go, me.
I still didn’t know where I stood on the whole “to have or not to have kids” spectrum, and I didn’t want to think about that right now. So, I listened with removed interest, imagining I was their therapist.
We played games after dinner, which was surprisingly fun. Colt and I were on the same team for charades, which should’ve gone horribly. Instead, we left the others in the dust. It was strange as all get-out. But then Colt wiped the boards with us in Scattergories , and balance was restored.
I was going to consider the evening a success until Joseph and Colleen led Colt downstairs to get feedback on their filing system for her scrapbooking and genealogy hobbies.
Presented with the opportunity to inflict his organizing system on more unsuspecting victims, Colt would likely be occupied for a while, which was fine by me.