Page 10 of Restless Ink
Adrienne and Mace came in, their hands brimming with more games and a seven-layer dip. Before they could even say hello, Roxie and Carter were behind them, wine in their hands.
“Sorry, we didn’t have time to cook,” Roxie said apologetically.
“But we brought wine,” Carter said, leaning into his wife.
Roxie gave him a sad look over her shoulder that she quickly blinked away, and Thea held back a frown. Her sister and brother-in-law were still newly married and so in love it hurt to see sometimes. But even as she thought that, she knew the two were having problems. What those problems were, Thea didn’t know, but she hoped her sister would open up to her soon. Adrienne had mentioned it to Thea, as well as Shea, but the three of them were holding back, hoping the couple could work it out on their own.
And, hopefully, Roxie would understand that they were all there for her if she needed them. Thea didn’t know if Shep had noticed yet, but her brother was far more observant than she gave him credit for sometimes.
Whatever the case may be, whatever was happening between Roxie and Carter, was between them, and somehow, the Montgomerys weren’t going to interfere.
Thea held back a wince. She knew her family, and knew that wouldn’t be the case for long.
Pushing that thought aside, Thea quickly wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and went out to hug the newcomers and make sure everyone had a drink in his or her hand. She was just kissing Mace’s bearded cheek when the doorbell rang again.
The rest of them looked at one another, their brows raised.
“I thought Abby and Kaylee couldn’t make it,” Roxie said.
Thea licked her lips, her stomach rolling as she put a smile on her face. “I, uh, might have invited one more person.”
Adrienne’s head tilted. “Molly?”
“Not exactly.” She turned and opened the door to find Dimitri standing on her doorstep, his hair wild in the wind, his leather jacket perfectly molded to his body, and the smile on his face warming her in places she had no right to feel heat.
Tonight would require a lot of wine.
So much wine.
“Dimitri,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“My brother ended up having other plans. I hope it’s okay I came.” He paused. “I brought cheese.”
She looked down at the seven kinds of cheese on his plate and was pretty sure she had a little orgasm.
He’d brought her cheese. All the cheese. She could totally fall in love with this man.
And where was that wine?
“You know me and my cheese. Come in. Everyone just got here, and I’m going to have to try all that cheese. I’m just saying.”
Not the greatest of things to say, but she was beyond flustered. She just wanted him inside her house where he’d be comfortable, and she could try to catch her breath. She had no idea why she was reacting this way now when she never had before when he was married to Molly but, apparently, time and distance had given her a whole new outlook on the man—one she wasn’t sure she wanted at all.
Her siblings gave her looks behind Dimitri’s back, and she just smiled. The man was her friend, nothing more, and that had always been the case. She was just happy that Molly hadn’t been able to come, or it would have been awkward. Because even though the two of them saw each other often for Captain’s sake, Thea didn’t want that energy and situation under her roof.
And that meant no thinking about Dimitri the way her mind kept wanting her to.
Because no matter how many types of cheese he brought to her, she knew he was off-limits, and she and her cheese-loving self, as well as her tingling lady parts, could get the fuck off.
Okay, maybebackthe fuck off would be a better phrase to use.
Roxie came into the kitchen as Thea unwrapped Dimitri’s glorious cheese plate and held out a glass of wine. “Want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what? How I’m going to kick your ass tonight?” Was she talking high and fast? Because she felt like she was talking high and fast.
“No, I was talking about your new teammate.”
She frowned. “Teammate? Since when are we playing on teams?”