Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
“ Y ou’ve lost your mind.”
Unable to disagree with Priss, Larissa could only nod. They had come to pick her up at Moon’s house before going to work and were sitting in his living room, where she had asked them if they were still willing to move in until her house was built or if they were reconsidering after they had talked to her the night before. Their reaction was exactly what she had expected, making her doubt the wisdom of the move.
“It was just a suggestion. If you don’t want to, we won’t.” Priss’s overexuberant response from the night before had undergone a change in the bright light of the day, either that or Lana’s much more tentative approval had changed her mind.
Larissa stood up from the couch. “We should be going. I don’t want to make you late for your shift at the hospital.”
Both of her sisters remained seated.
Lana glanced at Priss before turning back to her. “We aren’t saying no. It’s kinda a big step for us to take. You go from having Sex Piston keep Moon away to asking us to move into his house. What’s with the sudden turnaround?”
“We’ve agreed to get along for the baby.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Lana smiled encouragingly.
“I’m not,” Priss snorted. “The dude is a prick.”
Larissa couldn’t argue. Moon was a prick.
“He won’t be living here with us,” Larissa reminded them. “And it’s only for a month.”
Her sisters still didn’t seem convinced.
“Aren’t you worried about becoming more emotionally involved with Moon the more you see him?” Lana asked.
“Yes,” Larissa agreed. “But I might as well get used to him before the baby is born.”
“True. Moon is the father, so he’s going to be in our lives a long while.” Lana rose from the couch. “I’m not crazy about moving in here, but the hotel sucks worse.”
“Priss?” Larissa asked.
“We always stick together.” Priss gave a reluctant sigh. “I’m not going to break our sisters’ code when you need me the most. Please be careful, Larissa. I love you, and I really don’t want to have to watch another sister suffer through a broken heart this year. My fat ass can’t handle helping you eat your way through a heartbreak. I still have to lose the fifteen pounds I gained when Lana was getting over Bennet.”
Lana made a face at her. “Don’t blame me for gaining weight. I didn’t force-feed you to eat with me.”
Priss made a face back. “No, just cooked all my favorites. You did it deliberately, wanting me to go to the gym with you.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” Lana snapped at her.
“I am not. You keep baking those cinnamon rolls despite me telling you to stop.”
“All you had to do was not eat them,” Lana snapped back.
“Yeah, right.” Pris rolled her eyes. “Who the hell can resist freshly baked cinnamon rolls? The only good part about staying in that hotel was you didn’t have an oven.”
Lana’s hands went to her hips. “See if I make them for you again!”
“Oh, I’m so scared.”
Larissa put a pause on her sisters’ sparring, reminding them that they were going to be late for work.
Locking the door behind them, she felt buoyed that they hadn’t put up a harder fight about moving into Moon’s home. In a month, they would be able to move into their new home and get settled in well before the baby was born.
Undeterred by her shyness of how they had spent the night, Moon had kissed her before leaving, promising to call her later that afternoon. When she came downstairs, she found he had set out a muffin and a small bottle of orange juice for her to take. His house key was balanced on top of the orange juice lid. She had felt special and taken care of. She was used to such consideration from one of her sisters, but it was a novel feeling coming from a man.
For the first time in a long time, she didn’t fear what the future held.
T he women turned at the sound of the loud roar of a motorcycle.
Larissa picked up the small box out of the trunk as Moon parked his motorcycle beside Priss’ car.
“Need some help?” he offered, getting off his bike.
“No, thanks, I can manage.” Giving Moon a cold shoulder, Priss walked inside the house through the garage.
“She hates me.” Moon didn’t seem upset at the fact.
“She doesn’t know you.” Embarrassed at Priss’ cold attitude, Larissa closed the trunk.
Moon’s eyes twinkled at her. “I don’t think that will help.”
Larissa laughed at his droll humor. “Maybe not.”
“It was the kiss that did me in, wasn’t it?”
“Nah, I don’t think that was it.”
Moon took the box away from her with a wry smile. “I don’t know whether I should take that as a compliment or not.”
“Afraid of outing yourself as a good kisser? I already knew that.”
Moon gave her an appreciative look as they walked through the four-car garage. “Most women can get catty when it comes to their men’s past experiences.”
Larissa gave an offhand shrug. “I have no reason to be upset. It’s not like you’re my man.”
He stopped. “I’m not? Not even after last night?”
Larissa frowned, stopping next to him. “Why are you looking so mad at me? I would have thought you would be relieved I’m not blowing last night out of proportion.”
His eyes turned stormy. “I thought I made it clear I want to build a relationship with you.”
Startled, she stared at him. “I must have missed that part.”
“Then what did you think? Another one-night stand?”
“Technically, we didn’t have a one-night stand the first time. It didn’t last that long,” she argued back.
“Technically?” He took a step toward her. “I’ll show you—”
Larissa jumped forward, reaching for the garage door’s doorknob. Feeling safer with the metal knob in her hand, she turned back to him. “You’re being plain silly. If I started calling you my man after one night of hot sex, you would put me in my place too quickly to talk about it.”
Moon strode toward her dangerously. “Try me.”
“I may have lived in Kentucky my whole life, but you’re never going to hear me refer to any man as my man . Just saying it makes my skin crawl.”
“Really?”
Larissa felt a chill sweep down her spine. “Really.” Giving him the same stone-faced glare that Moon gave her, she turned the doorknob. “Pfft,” she muttered under her breath as she walked through the door. “He should go back to the 1950s and stay. I’ll send him a flipping postcard.”
“What did you say?” he asked, following behind her.
“None of your business … Fred,” she replied sharply.
Confusion marred Moon’s expression as he set the box down on the kitchen table. “Fred?”
“As in The Flintstones .” Jerking the box into her arms, she headed for the stairway.
“I would have carried it upstairs for you.”
“I can carry my own box,” she grumbled.
Coming down the steps, Priss took one glance at their warring expressions and moved to the side to let them pass. “Something wrong?”
“No,” they snapped in unison.
“All righty, then.” Her sister continued down the steps. “I’m going to throw a pizza in the oven and make a salad. You staying for dinner, Moon?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“No,” Larissa called out over her shoulder as she reached the top of the stairs.
She heard Moon say something to Priss but was too far away to understand the words. She walked into the bedroom that she and Moon had slept in last night and set the box on the dresser. She was turning around when Moon followed her inside and shut the door.
Leaning his back against the door, he crossed his arms over his chest. “I am not a caveman.”
Larissa mimicked his stance. “I didn’t say you were. I just inferred you had the attitude of one.”
Moon frowned so hard that his eyebrows looked like one big caterpillar. “Woman …”
“Here we go,” she told him snidely.
“You’re right.”
Her jaw dropped at the admission.
“My pride was injured. I made assumptions that you are as attracted to me as I am to you. You didn’t want to overstep any boundary you think I may have.” He uncrossed his arms to place a hand over his heart. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more forthright with you.” Moon dropped his hand, then walked toward her and slid his arms around her waist. “So there isn’t a misunderstanding this time, I like you, Larissa. I want to see where this attraction for you goes.”
Larissa melted inside at his humble apology and honesty to show where he would like to move forward with her.
“I don’t know what to say.” Relaxing into his arms, she searched his eyes. “I would like that, too.”
Moon’s hand came up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His touch was so gentle that barrier after barrier she had been hiding behind dropped, leaving her heart wide open.
“Say, I’ll give it a whirl,” he teased.
“I’ll give it a whirl.”
His hand slid to the back of her neck. “I’ll have to tell the brothers that I have an old lady when I go back to the club.”
“I’m not that old.”
“It means you belong to me.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.” He laughed then grew serious. “Of course, that means I belong to you.”
“Okay.” Unaccustomed to talking so candidly with a man about their relationship, she shyly was unable to hold his heated gaze for long.
Her eyes went to the door when she heard Priss yelling the pizza was done. “We should go eat,” she suggested.
“I would rather feed another appetite, but I guess it would be safer to go eat. I don’t want Priss interrupting.”
“Me neither.”
Moon released her from his arms to open the door for her. Jokingly, he bowed, giving a gallant downward wave, indicating for her to go first. “My lady.”
Larissa couldn’t help the silly giggle that escaped as she passed him. “Thank you, kind sir.” Feeling as if she was walking on cloud nine, she walked down the stairs.
The day had just gotten better and better as it progressed. Just when she had thought Moon would make sure she hadn’t taken last night seriously, he made her feel as if she were the one who didn’t want a commitment. Wow. Her mind was blown away with how gentlemanly he was treating her. He appeared shaken at being called Fred Flintstone. Bless his heart. She bet he had been raised by a single mother and was conscious of the trials and tribulations women deal with every day.
Still, as she came off the bottom step, a worrying thought trailed her into the kitchen.
What if she had played right into his hands?