Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(74)

The dance floor. They’d swayed and held each other, and in that moment the world had seemed perfect. The whole night had been perfect and she’d decided to forget about their previous problems. Who needed to think about the past when the present had cotton candy? That’s what she’d told herself. Or maybe the strawberry wine had told her. She seemed to have listened to it a lot the previous night.

What happened next, that had been a product of her imagination, right? It was nothing more than a bad dream. She glanced over and there was a stupidly long hair extension on the pillow beside her, the one where Remy would normally sleep if he hadn’t turned out to be a liar.

A liar who’d done what her brother had asked him to do. A liar who had his cash and no longer needed to be nice to her, but still had treated her like a princess the night before.

She needed to think and couldn’t do it with unwanted guests around. “Do you normally intrude on your brother’s bedroom?”

Again his eyes strayed back to those blankets on the couch and the pillow that had obviously been slept on. “Is it my brother’s bedroom? Because you appear to be the only one sleeping in the bed.”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” But it would be Remy’s when she found him. Had he sicced his brother on her? No. He wouldn’t do that. He was somewhere in the building and had no idea his brother was being obnoxious.

“And to answer your question about how often I stick my nose in my brother’s business, I do when I think something’s wrong. You told the entire town last night that you’re my brother’s fiancée. Yet from what I heard, you didn’t kiss him once last night. That’s not like my brother. My brother is very affectionate. He also is the kind of man who would sleep with his fiancée. So if he’s in trouble, if he’s found some cold bitch who wants his property and nothing else out of him, then I think it’s time I protect big brother for once. He can be foolish when it comes to women.”

Wow. She hadn’t expected that. According to Remy, his brother didn’t care about anything but letting the good times roll. “I can understand that. I have two sisters and a brother, too, and we’re always up in each other’s business. As for Remy, we’re working a few things out.”

She needed to sit down with Remy and decide how they would deal with the mess she’d gotten them into last night. Well, him. She would leave one day and owe no one an explanation. He was the one who would be left behind, and he knew it. That was precisely why there was a thin blanket on a couch that couldn’t have been comfortable to sleep on. It was far too small.

“Did you find out Jean-Claude was planning on giving him Chartier House?” Zep asked.

She put a hand to her head. It was too early for a grilling. And she had to deal with the ramifications of that hair extension. What would Miss Manners say about how to return someone’s hair? Dear Josette Hussy, I’m very sorry I pulled out your hair extensions when I tried to kill you in our catfight last night. I am returning them with best wishes. And stay the fuck away from my man. Love, Lisa. Yeah, she didn’t think that would probably be the way to go. “I don’t know about any house. Where’s Remy?”

And coffee. She needed coffee.

Zep stood at the end of the bed, his hands on his hips. “He’s downstairs getting ready for the first customers to come. I think he’s saying good-bye to Jean-Claude, too. Do you have any idea how much work goes into this place?”

“A lot. How would you know?”

“Oh, I know because I spent whole decades of my life avoiding it. My point is Remy needs a fiancée who not only gives him physical affection but who can work beside him. Unless you intend to spend your days at Chartier House hosting teas and trying to break into high society.”

“Do you have that here? Because I was born in a trailer park and our high society was Miss MaryBeth’s book club that was really more about drinking the hooch her husband made in the yard. Also, there was a nice couple who had a brand-new car, and that kind of made them the king and queen, but it turned out they were also making meth, so that didn’t last long.”

His eyes had gotten as wide as saucers. “What?”

She put a hand up, holding him off. “Your brother and I have already been down this road. I am not some princess who needs a man to take care of me.”

“Fine. You’re not exactly what I thought, but I wanted to have a few moments where we could be honest and put everything out there. You might have Seraphina and Momma under your spell, but I’m watching you, Lisa Daley. I’ve already seen one cold-hearted bitch tear my family apart. I won’t allow another in. Do I make myself clear?”

“And what did you do about it the first time?” It occurred to her that she was being treated unfairly once again and she didn’t have to take it. You know what? Zep absolutely had the right idea. They should get everything out there and take their proper places. He was going to be surprised where her place was. It seemed like the family could use an indulgent alpha female.

That seemed to stump him.

She pointed her scraggly nail at him. She was pretty sure she lost that nail while attempting to claw out Josette’s crocodile-tear-shedding eyeballs and she would need to get that fixed. “Exactly. Nothing. You were way too busy drinking to help your brother with the business, much less to deal with the fact that he was obviously not meant for that soulless Barbie doll. Bayou Barbie, that’s her new name. You didn’t save him from Bayou Barbie and it cost him years of his life.” She reached over and held up the hair extension. “You want to know how to handle her? You take her down. I already got one trophy, Zep. Don’t make me take yours.”