Ruined (Barnes Brothers #4)(72)

“I know you heard,” he said, deciding that the beating around the bush bullshit was for the birds.

She smiled and leaned in, pressing her lips to his. “I’m not surprised. I told Abby to give Zach a message.”

“What, that he’s an idiot?”

“Close.” She nudged him back and he let her, watching as she closed the door. She held one bag in her hand.

One.

“If you had a mad rush to go shopping to vent some fury, you didn’t buy much.”

“Well, if you know what you’re looking for, you don’t need to buy much.” She took his hand and they started to walk. “Come on. My sunscreen has probably worn off. We don’t need to piss Sojo off.”

Sebastien scowled but managed not to mutter, “Fuck Sojo,” under his breath. If he had done that, she’d probably hear about it and she’d make his life hell. He didn’t need that on top of the rest of the bullshit he was dealing with. Judging by the look Marin slid him, she was picking up on his thoughts just fine, though.

“You can’t yell at me for thinking something,” he said.

“I can’t read your mind.”

“Yeah, you go ahead and say that. I can tell by the smirk on your face you knew exactly what I was thinking.” He opened the door, still looking over his shoulder at her and almost crashed into Zach. Stopping in his tracks, he hissed out a breath. “You’re not who I want to see right now, Zach. Maybe in a few hours. Or in a few days. Thanksgiving, at the very latest.”

Zach opened his mouth. Marin slid between them, even as Abby popped up, from out of nowhere, it seemed to Sebastien. How a tall, redheaded bombshell could manage to remain inconspicuous until that very moment, he had no idea, but he could have sworn she hadn’t been in the entryway. “Zach needs to say something, Seb. Then I’ll drag him away, okay?”

This time, he was the one who opened his mouth—and Marin cut him off. Looping her arm through his, Marin tugged him away from Zach and into the living room as she said, “Zach can talk in a few minutes, Abby. Trust me, he had the floor long enough earlier. It’s my turn to speak now. Where is everybody?”

“Outside—” Abby started to say, only to be cut off by Keelie.

“Some of them are. I came in to refill the margaritas. They are going like mad out there. Hey, Marin. You’re back.” Her gaze slid from Zach to Sebastien, and then she glanced over her shoulder. “Zane, you might be playing referee in a few minutes.”

“Shit. I’ll just get Mom. I’m not getting involved in this. If Zach’s going to be stupid . . .” Zane wandered in, looked from his wife to his brothers, then to Abby before finally settling his gaze on Marin. A slow, smug grin lit his face. “Nah, matter of fact, I think Marin can probably handle this.”

He made his way farther into the living room. “Come on, Keelie. This will probably be fun.”

Sebastien said, “Actually, I think this is—”

“Oh, it’s going to be entertaining,” Marin said, cutting him off—again. Then she leaned over and pressed a loud, smacking kiss to his lips. He was caught off guard by that enough to go quiet. For a minute. “Hey, Abby, why don’t you and the hero go round up everybody else?”

“I’m not—” Zach snapped.

Abby slapped his arm before he could finish, and then hooked hers through his elbow and began to drag him along. “Come on. I might let you out of the doghouse in the next month if you do whatever it takes to keep our pregnant friend happy, Zach.”

Javi and his wife passed by next, pausing to wave at Keelie and tell Zane bye and happy birthday. Marin waved them in. “Stay a little longer. I’ve got . . . something.” She didn’t want to go any further than that.

“Something bigger than ‘we’re pregnant’?” Javi joked. “What, you getting married now? Can I sell it to the tabloids and get money?” The beautiful woman at his side elbowed him sharply and he consoled her. “I’m joking, mi corazón . . . I’m joking.”

While the two of them bickered, Marin turned toward Sebastien. If she knew Abby, her friend would have the rest marching in here in no time so she smiled up at him.

“Zach and Abby used to be the first people to know,” she said, leaning against him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Sebastien didn’t have any trouble following, either. He knew exactly what she was talking about. “Marin, look . . .”

Sliding a hand down, she pressed a fingertip to his lips. “But if you ask Abby when the last time I called her all bubbling over about a guy? She’s going to tell you it’s been a while. A long while. Probably . . . man, five or six years. I used to think every other guy I met might be the one. Then it got harder and harder to figure out who the one might be, because none of them were the one. So I stopped calling.”

Swaying closer, she pressed her lips to his, a warm, satisfied pleasure curling through her. Eyes still on his. “The first time I really started feeling a tug for a guy was . . . well, I didn’t want to think too much about it. He seemed all wrong. Younger, focused on so many other things and definitely not headed in the direction I was.”

Sebastien had gone rigid against her. But Marin didn’t stop speaking. He needed to be the first to know.