Then he asked, "Can you shut up for two minutes so I can talk?"
"Yes, but I'll give you that answer with the warning that you better not say anything that pisses me off or I'm cancelling Christmas."
His body started rocking and his eyes were still dancing but he wisely didn't verbalize his still obvious hilarity.
"Right," he muttered but it came out sounding choked.
"You have two minutes," I prompted him.
He grinned at me, repeated a muttered, "Right." Then said, "All right, baby, no games, no bullshit, no lies, you called the scene and I've been playin' by your rules. I told you, shit got hot for me with what I did at the DEA and I was facin' a desk. I didn't lie. What I didn't tell you is that I had an option. They were thinkin' of transferring me to LA."
My body grew tight at these words and his arms grew tight with it.
"Now, I got family in Denver, I got kids in Denver and, yes, you are in Denver and my boys are gettin' older, shit is not right there so I had a decision to make. Bail on all that, leavin' my boys, and yeah, you behind or takin' a job with the DPD, doin' something that has less of an opportunity for my dead body to be found in an alley or stay here, take care of my sons and explore things with you. No lie, you know you meant something to me when I was going over my options so you were part of that decision. But I didn't do it to change into what I thought you would want. I did it because it was time."
Oh, well then.
"Oh, well then," I whispered and he grinned again.
Then he said, "I got that apartment because Olivia worked part-time as a medical receptionist when we were married, she wasn't very good at it and doesn't have any other skills except whatever she did to get her bulldog attorney to wring me dry. I didn't fight that too hard because kids get caught up in that shit and I didn't want my boys in the middle of a dirty war between their parents. I also didn't fight because, bottom line, she needed the money to take care of my sons. I lived in a shithole so they wouldn't. I got on my feet since and two years ago she got herself a man where the extra she asked for and I gave her, I stopped givin' her. But I had no time or need to move outta that apartment, in fact, livin'
there solidified the cover I was under at the same time it allowed me to set aside a whack. Not havin' that job or crippled by Olivia, I didn't need to live there anymore. It isn't a great place for me to take my woman, for my boys to stay in but, honest to God, babe, I didn't like it either. I got my shot, I moved out. End of story."
Hmm.
Maybe I overreacted.
I didn't share this. I just held his eyes.
His arms gave me another squeeze and his lips twitched.
He knew I knew I overreacted.
Crap.
Then he asked, "Now, I was gonna suggest tomorrow that you go with me and the boys to look at new trucks. My heat doesn't work, the tires need changing, winter's almost here and any money spent on that truck is the same as burnin' it. So are you gonna have a shit hemorrhage if I buy a new truck?"
"I didn't have a shit hemorrhage," I denied.
His face dipped to mine. "Baby, you flew up here, put your hands on me and lost your mind. I had to put my hand over your mouth to shut you up. If that isn't a shit hemorrhage, I don't know what is."
Oh man. I did that. I shoved him.
Not good.
"I..." I swallowed. "That wasn't cool, Brock. I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have shoved you."
His body started rocking again and he shook his head like he didn't know what to do with me but, luckily, he was shaking it like he thought I was so damned cute, he didn't know what he was going to do with me.
"Darlin'," he said low, "I love that body of yours, all soft, all curves, no way you could take me, even in the middle of one helluva shit hemorrhage and you know it. You didn't do that to hurt me because you know you can't. You did it because you were pissed and wanted my attention. There's a difference."
"It still wasn't good," I whispered.
"You make a habit of it, I agree. You do that often?"
I thought about it. Then I said, "Uh... not to my recollection."
He burst out laughing again.
I glared at him still not finding anything funny.
"Uh... hello," Levi called, my body grew tight and Brock stopped laughing and his eyes went over my shoulder.
Damn. I totally forgot about Levi.
All humor was void in his tone when Brock announced, "You and me got problems, brother."
Uh-oh.
I turned in Brock's arms and he let one drop but the other one he used to tuck my front in his side and keep me close as I looked to a Levi who had his hands up and his thoughtful hazel eyes were on me.
Then they went to his brother as his hands dropped. "I'm seein' I might have got it wrong."
"You think?" Brock asked sarcastically.
"I was "
"You were doin' what you do, Levi, mouthin' off without thinkin'. You gave me the two minutes Tess gave me, I woulda told you the same thing I told Tess."
Levi's lips twitched and he reminded his brother, "You had to put your hand over her mouth to get that in there, Slim."
"All right, next time you mouth off and piss me off, I'll let loose the urge to find a way to shut your mouth so I can have my say, is that good for you?"
Hmm. It appeared even though Levi admitted he was wrong, Brock wasn't going to let it go.
It was time for me to intervene mainly because we'd lucked out the boys hadn't shown in the middle of this drama and the longer we were at it, the more we courted it.
So I found my mouth saying, "Lenore is in love with you."
Levi had his mouth open to retort to his brother but his head jerked, his mouth snapped shut and his eyes sliced to me.
Brock's arm around my back gave me a squeeze.
"What?" Levi asked.
"Jesus, fuck," Brock muttered.
I looked up at Brock to see him scanning the ceiling.
Oh well. It was out there.
I looked to Levi.
"Lenore is in love with you," I repeated.
He did a slow blink.
Uncanny, just like his brother.
Then he asked, "Did she tell you that?"
"A girl knows," I informed him.
"A girl knows," he repeated after me.
I shrugged.
He stared at me.
Damn. I had to keep going.
"Okay, well, you'll probably never notice shit like this but her outfit at Thanksgiving...
very nice. It suited her. This is good for you if you're, uh..." I paused then forged on, "interested in her. She's young but she knows herself, what suits her. A lot of girls struggle with that through their twenties and into their thirties. She's already found her style. That's impressive."
Levi blinked again.
I kept talking.
"Anyway, what I mean to say it, it was very nice but not too nice. She wanted to make a good impression not to be in your face about how pretty she is or what a great body she has.
And she's pretty, don't you think?" His eyes slid to his brother and I kept going. "Well, of course you do." His eyes slid back to me. "You were with her. My point is she wanted to make a good impression on your family. She thought Thanksgiving was a move forward in your relationship and it was important to her. But I think it wasn't only that. It was about being part of you, reflecting on you. She wanted your family to like her but she wanted to represent you in a good light to them too. No flashy clothes. No cleavage. Not overboard.
Decent, respectable. She cares about you and what your choice of her says about you."
Levi stared at me again.
Then he asked, "You got all that from an outfit?"
"Well..." I hesitated, "yeah."
Brock's body started rocking again and I looked at him to see he was now staring at his bare feet but he was doing it smiling.
"That doesn't say she's in love with me, Tess," Levi noted and my eyes went back to him.
"No," I agreed. "It says you mean something to her. I knew she was in love with you when you tested me, your whole family got pissed at you and she closed in on you."
Levi's body went visibly still.
Quietly, I went on. "It was automatic. You were pissed, facing off against the force of the Lucas Brigade and she didn't move away and leave you hanging and she wasn't afraid of or turned off by your anger. And she also didn't hesitate. She moved right in and had your back."
"Christ," Levi whispered, his eyes glued to me.
"She's sweet. She's thoughtful. She's polite. She has great style. And she's head over heels in love with you," I said softly. "So, if you can't feel that for her, it's not my place to tell you this and I don't mean to offend you but I'm speaking on behalf of the sisterhood here, you need to let her go so she can find someone who feels about her the way she feels about you."
I held his eyes before he closed his and turned his head away.
Crap.
Well, I was out there so I might as well finish it.
"Levi," I called, waited a moment then his eyes came back to me. "Again, speaking for the sisterhood, if you gave all that devotion and loyalty to a woman and she was a good woman, I swear, honey, you will live every day for the rest of your life until your dying breath never regretting it."
Brock's arm got super tight, curling me partially into his front while Levi held my gaze.
When he didn't speak, I whispered, "I'm sorry. It wasn't my place."
"No," Levi finally spoke. "You're wrong. Any member of this family has a right to say what they gotta say."
My lips parted, my belly warmed and I melted into Brock.
"Brother," Brock murmured and Levi looked to him.
Then he pulled in breath through his nose.
Then he remarked, "It's good you didn't piss off your little minx, would suck, Christmas getting cancelled."
I grinned.
"She wouldn't do it. Longest Tess has been able to remain pissed at me is five minutes and that was when I came back after she thought I played her when I worked her for the DEA,"
Brock shared.
"Bodes well for you, Slim," Levi returned.
"Fuck yeah," Brock muttered.
Oh for goodness sakes.
I cut in, asking Levi, "Are you staying for breakfast with the boys or what?"
He looked at me. "What are you making?"
"French toast with caramelized cinnamon apples."
Levi did another slow blink.
"Brock loves it," I informed him when he made no response and continued to stare at me with unconcealed disbelief.