Craving (Steel Brothers Saga #1)(40)

I wasn’t sure what that was yet, but he meant something to me. Something important, something…

essential.

But I couldn’t say any of these things. Not yet, at least. I lay down next to him when a fist pounded on the door.

“Shit!” I grabbed my boxer shorts and tank top and threw them on. “Who is it?” I called out.

“It’s Marj. Can I come in?”

I eyed the door. Had I locked it? I couldn’t tell from where I was. I walked closer. Shit, it was unlocked. What had I been thinking? What would Talon think?

“Just a minute. I’m not decent.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Jade, we were roommates for four years.” The doorknob turned.

Quickly I pushed in the locking mechanism just in time. “I’ll be ready in a minute.”

I went back to the bed. Talon was sitting up, grabbing his boxers and jeans.

“You need to hide in the bathroom,” I whispered.

He let out a soft chuckle. “Are you insane? This is my house.”

“Do you want your sister to know we were screwing?”

His eyes darkened for moment, and his lips turned down into a slight frown. Then he nodded.

“You’re right.” He headed to the bathroom and quietly shut the door.

I unlocked the door and faced Marj. “What is it?”

She eyed me. “You’re wearing your pajamas. You said you weren’t decent.”

“I…wasn’t. I had started to go into the shower, and then you knocked on the door, so I had to put my jammies back on.”

That seemed to appease her, although the skeptical eyebrow arch indicated she wasn’t quite satisfied with my explanation. I pushed her out of the room. “Let’s get some coffee. I need a caffeine boost.”

She didn’t argue with me, and for that I was eternally grateful. “Okay, there should be some coffee in the kitchen. Joe and Ryan were here earlier.”

Sure enough, half a pot of brew sat on the burner, still warm. I poured a cup for me and for Marj, and we sat down at the kitchen table.

“So what did you want? Why were you knocking at my door?”

“I decided to see what you want to do today. It’s Sunday, and in the small town of Snow Creek, that means everything is pretty much closed. It’s Felicia’s day off too, so I thought maybe we could have some fun.”

“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Yeah. Let’s make something. Let’s cook today.”

Although Marj loved to cook, I didn’t exactly share the sentiment. I’d been cooking all my life because no one else was around to do it. “That’s fun for you, not for me.” I laughed.

She punched me in the arm. “If we don’t cook, we either have to go into Grand Junction to eat, or we go hungry.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you say so.”

“Besides, we have the best beef in the good old US right here on Steel Acres. I’ll pull out some steaks. How does that sound?”

One thing about Marj—she could put it away like a teenage boy and still keep that gorgeous figure of hers. Probably because she was so tall.

A smile crept up on me. “Let’s make dinner for Talon.”

Marj jumped up and hugged me around the neck. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

I froze. Did she know what was going on between Talon and me? Would she be okay with it?

“It means that…I’ll help you cook dinner.”

“Yay! So you’re not leaving! I was hoping you’d decide to stay.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. “Yeah. I guess so. For now. I should get my bar results next week. Maybe as soon as tomorrow.” My nerves jumped. “God, I hope I passed.”

Marj sat down. “You’re brilliant, Jade. Of course you passed.”

“I hope you’re right. That test was pretty daunting. Two whole days. The essays weren’t so bad. I mean, I know the material. But that multiple-choice test…”

“How could that be the harder of the two?”

“Because the essays were straightforward. The multiple-choice test had no ‘right answer.’ You had to choose the best answer. I could eliminate two pretty quickly, but then there were two that could go either way. By the time I started thinking about which one it could be, I realized I was wasting time. The test is timed, so I had to decide on an answer and move forward. I think I know four that I actually got right. The rest were a crapshoot.”

Marj smiled and placed her hand on my forearm. “Jade, I’m really not worried. I know you passed.”

“From your mouth to God’s ears. I sure hope so. Although I have to tell you, I’ve really been enjoying working with Ryan at the winery.”

“There’s no reason why you can’t continue to do that.”

“With a license to practice law, I kind of feel like I should be practicing law. But at least I can continue working at the winery until I find a job.”

Footfalls clomped behind me.

“Morning, Tal,” Marj said.

I turned. Talon stood in his jeans and bare feet. He hadn’t bothered to put his shirt back on. I hoped Marj hadn’t seen him come from our side of the hallway. God, he looked good—his hair tousled and sexy, just hitting his shoulders, his long eyelashes fringing his dark-as-night eyes, his lips red and swollen from our kisses. Basically, he looked like he had just had hot monkey sex.