Rock Chick Regret (Rock Chick #7)(157)

And somewhere in the very, very back of my mind, I had a feeling there would.

This thought made me smile at the wall.

I got up, still sleepy because Hector kept me up late. “Fooling around”, I learned, was different than the other stuff we did. It took longer, loads longer, not that I was complaining (at all). I put on my pajamas and one of Hector’s flannel shirts and shuffled into the hall.

I smelled bacon cooking and heard voices downstairs and I knew Hector had company (again).

I wandered downstairs, through the living room and into the kitchen.

Hector not only had company, he had loads of company. Tom, Kitty Sue and Malcolm were there. Blanca was at the stove. Vance was leaning against the counter. All of them had coffee mugs.

Hector was sitting on the counter and I smiled to everyone, gave them a little wave but shuffled straight to Hector.

He opened his legs when I approached and I went straight in, my arms sliding around his waist, I pressed my cheek to his chest and one of his arms went around shoulders.

His other hand came to my chin and lifted my face. When I saw them, his eyes were soft and warm which made me feel soft and warm as well as snugly, comfy and lovely.

“You okay?” he muttered.

I nodded and murmured, “Sleepy.”

“You should have stayed in bed.”

I grinned, cuddled closer and, my voice breathy, I said, “Babe. And miss the party?”

His face changed, it got that soft, hard, possessive look and his eyes went from warm to hot. If we didn’t have an audience, I knew something would have happened but instead he let go of my chin. I dipped my head, pressed my cheek against his chest again, he muttered some soft words in Spanish into my hair and then kissed me there.

I caught sight of Blanca who was staring at us, bacon fork pointed up, coffee mug in her other hand.

I blinked then blinked again but even so, the expression on her face didn’t change. She was watching me with a feminine, motherly version of the same soft, hard, possessive look that her son had just treated me to. I didn’t know what to make of that except it made that snugly, comfy, lovely feeling intensify.

“Blanca, can you teach me how to speak Spanish while you teach me how to cook?” I called to her.

Her body gave a start, she shook her head as if clearing it and then said, “Sí, mi hija.”

“Gracias,” I returned.

She grinned.

I grinned back.

Kitty Sue burst out laughing.

My eyes moved to her.

“What’s funny?” I asked.

“I just think it’s cute, after twenty-six years, you haven’t changed. I’d be over at your Mom’s having coffee in the morning and you’d get up, all sleepy, and come in and give her a snuggle just like you’re doing with Hector right now.”

I was blinking again, that snugly, comfy, lovely feeling blossoming, the warm glow starting in my chest.

“Really?” I asked Kitty Sue.

“Really, honey,” she replied, her eyes shifted to Malcolm then to Hector then to me then, her voice pitched lower, she told me, “Though, if your Dad was having coffee with us, you always went straight to him. Always.”

At her words, my body went ramrod straight and Hector’s arm went tight.

It occurred to my still waking brain that everyone being there wasn’t a social call.

Instantly, I looked up to Hector and declared, “I’m going to Vegas. I was hot yesterday playing Yahtzee. I’m taking the Rock Chicks with me and I’m going to win enough money for them to retire.”

“Not sure bein’ hot at Yahtzee translates in Vegas, mamita,” Hector told me.

“You weren’t there, it was huge. I got three yahtzees in one game,” I explained.

Hector grinned but his thighs tightened around me and he said softly, “Sorry, preciosa, hate to say it but you’re not gonna get out of this.”

I sighed.

I knew it.

I just knew it.

So, I was having some really good days.

But they were still mingled with some really bad times.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” I whispered to Hector, turned my back to him and faced the room. Hector’s arm went around my chest and he pulled my back to his front and I was glad. His body was warm, hard and strong and I had a feeling I was going to need it.

Malcolm asked my preference then brought me a cup of coffee.

“All right, sock it to me,” I said to the room after Malcolm handed me my coffee.

“After breakfast,” Blanca decreed.

For some bizarre reason (lack of sleep, a latent bent toward danger), I decided to go head-to-head with Blanca.

“I’m sorry, Blanca, but seriously, whatever it is, I’d rather get it over with.”

She gave me a good, long, Blanca stare.

I gave her a good, long Sadie stare.

This lasted awhile.

Then she said, whirling the bacon fork in the air, “Como quieras.”

I had no idea if I won or lost so I twisted my neck and looked up at Hector.

“What’d she say?” I whispered.

“As you wish,” he answered, his lips twitching.

I turned back to Blanca. “Oh. That’s pretty. Como quieras. As you wish. Nice.”

Blanca smiled, I felt Hector’s body move with laughter, Vance was grinning his arrogant grin at me and everyone else was chuckling.