Authors: Brandy Walker
Craving More (6 page)
Mentally
shaking herself, she bent down to grab the fork. Putting a smile on she stood
and looked at him. “I’d love it if you moved to Cascade. It would be great
having you close by.”
Sam
let out a long breath, shoulders relaxing. It wasn’t until now that she could
see the tension draining from his face. He couldn’t have been worried about her
not being happy. She was more puzzled than ever.
She
finished up the pancakes, carrying the heavy plateful to the table setting it
down between them before taking a seat across from him. Peeking at him as she
busied herself, she didn’t want to miss the tiniest reaction but didn’t want to
make him feel like he was being interrogated. Adopting an air of nonchalance
she voiced the question that wanted to pop out of her mouth when he said he
wanted to move to Cascade. “I have to ask. Why?”
Sam
piled a stack of pancakes taking his sweet time. The slow deliberate actions
wearing on her patience.
Another
silent minute ticked by as he slathered his food with butter and syrup. Finally
answering when he was done. “I’m burnt out, Rini. Tired. No, make that
exhausted.” The last word coming out on a harsh
breath
.
She
was stunned by the turn of events in her brother’s life. “I thought you loved
the transient life. The whole ‘there’s no place that can hold my attention long
enough’ idea.
Moss gathering on a rolling stone.
You
know, all of that wanderlust crap you used to go on and on about.”
“I
do. Or did at least. I don’t know. I’m tired of hopping from city to city. I
don’t have a place of my own. Not even an apartment somewhere I can go back to
when I need a break. Plus, I have to admit I’m
kinda
lonely. Not in the female department. I have the ladies…”
Corrine
dropped the fork that was halfway to her mouth and thrust her hand out. “Whoa.
That is way too much information and I don’t want to hear it.”
Sam
snorted. “Anyway, do you know how hard it is to find a decent place to shift
and run without scaring some poor woman to death cause there’s a tiger roaming
free in the middle of her property? In Oklahoma?” Sam chuckled then scooped the
last bite of his pancakes into his mouth. Patting his flat belly he sat back
and grinned. “Delicious as ever. You gonna eat that?” He pointed to her full
plate.
She
scowled and took a bite. “ Yes,” she mumbled.
Scarfing
down her food, she wanted to get back to the original topic, his coming to
Cascade.
Now I’ll never get to see Jett again.
Her eyes connected with Sam’s as the thought flew
unbidden through her head. A blush warmed her cheeks.
He
looked at her curiously. “What?”
“Huh?
Um, nothing.” Pushing back from the table she grabbed up their plates. Hurrying
to the sink.
The
scraping of Sam’s chair grabbed her attention. He was leaned back, the chair
balanced on two legs. She rolled her eyes. “You can stay with me if you want.
There’s plenty of room here.”
“I
would take you up on that although I doubt your
roommate
would appreciate how kind you are. I was planning on
staying in town anyway.” The chair thumped and he walked to the counter next to
her.
“Oh,
okay then. The door is always open.” Their breakfast dishes cleaned up and
everything put away, Corrine shrugged before wiping down the counter.
She
saw Sam fidget slightly next to the counter before he adopted his usual
carefree stance leaning against the counter, hands tucked in his front pockets.
“Where is she anyway? Hiding out because I’m here? Or did she run off somewhere
like she usually does.” he chuckled.
“Don’t
be an ass. MJ didn’t run off. She had plans for the weekend. Should be back
Monday or Tuesday.”
Sam’s
chuckle died suddenly. “What do you mean she had plans?”
“Don’t
fret, dear brother, it’s nothing for you to concern yourself about.” As much as
she loved him, MJ’s problems were for her to tell, not anyone else. She would
probably be embarrassed as hell if Sam knew her parents didn’t think much of
her abilities to attract a man; that they were trying to purchase a husband for
her. Stupid arranged marriages.
Corrine
shook her head. “So where are you going to stay in town? Already make
arrangements to stay with someone or find an apartment?”
Sam
poured more coffee for them, holding her mug out for her to take. With a tip of
his head toward the slider she nodded following him out the door. Crossing to
the bench they sat, soaking up the morning sun.
Cup
cradled in her hands, she pulled in a deep lung full of air allowing the pine
and earthy scents to filter through her system. She loved this time of the
morning. It was usually when she was taking her first break from the morning
baking rush—the sun slowly warming the day, and bringing to life
everything around her.
The sights, smells and sounds helping
to center her mind.
She
let her mind drift, body relax. She forgot that he hadn’t answered her
question. Didn’t really care that he hadn’t either. Just having him here and
knowing he was going to be around more made her giddy and sad to realize how
much they had missed out these past two years.
Sam’s
voice brought her back to the present. “Damn this is nice. You did really well
sis. You have space and privacy and not too far from civilization. I plan on
coming out here a lot to run, and visit with you of course.” He snickered and
poked her in the ribs with his elbow. “Hey, maybe Murph will even come out here
with me. That’s the guy I’m hoping to crash with until I find my own place in
town. I’m not sure how much he lets his tiger out to run these days being
cooped up in an office all day.”
Corrine
raised her cup and was mid swallow when Sam mentioned Jett. The hot coffee went
down the wrong pipe and she was left coughing, eyes watering and struggling to
breath.
Sam
reached over and pounded her on the back jolting her forward with each hit.
“Jesus, you okay.”
“Wrong…
way,” she gasped out. She took slow, short breathes while wiping away the tears
streaking down her face.
A
few minutes passed before she could speak. “A shifter? Named Murph?” She
croaked.
Sam
canted his head and looked at her. “You don’t remember me talking about him?
That’s strange. I’m sure I’ve told you about him. He was my college roommate.
We were on the football team together. Defensive lineman. Used to hang out all
of the time. Any of that ring a bell?”
Corrine
recalled snippets of conversations they had over the years but nothing solid
about Jett came to her. She forced a light laugh out. “If you said his name in
conjunction with football my eyes were probably glazed over and brain was
elsewhere. You know how much I don’t get your obsession.”
Sam
snorted. “That’s true. I think you chose not to like it because I loved it.”
“Maybe,”
she said with a slight grin.
“Anyway,
Murph’s a tiger-shifter just like us. He moved to Cascade not too long ago. A
few months back maybe. He’s a Software Engineer at a firm in town. He mentioned
looking at buying a condo in the last email I got from him. Said I could come
and crash anytime. I’m just hoping he’s actually bought the place or I
will
be moving in for a bit regardless
of what Mary Jane thinks.”
“Does
this Murph have a first name? Or is it the thing among men to go by their
college football nicknames for the rest of their lives? Should I start calling
you Big Smooth?” She pressed her lips together, holding back the giggle. Her
brother’s college nickname always amused her. He got it cause they said he was
smooth on
and
off the field.
It
was Sam’s turn to roll his eyes. “Don’t you dare call me that, especially
around MJ. She wouldn’t let it drop last time. Every time I turned around she
was calling me Big Smooth. It was ridiculous.” Sam clamped his mouth shut. It
was like he said more than he intended. After a moment he said, “His name is
Jett Montgomery-Murphy.”
Corrine’s
breath hitched in her throat. “Wait.
From
the
Montgomery-Murphy clan?
One of the founding shifter families?
Jesus Sam, they’re
pretty much royalty.”
Her
brother shrugged like it was no big deal. “I guess. I’ve never thought of him
that way. He’s just a normal guy I used to hang out with all of the time. We
would drink beer and pick up chicks.”
She
dropped her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “Holy shit,” she said under her
breath. The thought that she hooked up with a member of royalty was really
throwing her for a loop. Panic set in as she went over what they did last night
and how she treated him after. Did she have anything to worry about? She didn’t
say anything wrong did she?
Shit, shit,
shit.
“Hey,”
her brother said startling her. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve been
acting kind of weird all morning.”
Her
head shot
up, eyes open. Sam was starting at her with
a narrowed look, suspicion written all over his face.
She
forced herself to smile. Pushing thoughts of Jett and her away. “Its just a
little freaky to find out a member of one of the founding families lives in
town. He moved here not too long ago you said?” It would account for why she
hadn’t seen him before when she went into town. She and MJ took turns heading
in to pick up supplies. The past couple times when it was
her
turn MJ begged to go instead. Corrine was more than happy to let her.
I wonder why MJ did that? Maybe she
knew there was a new shifter in town and she had set her sights on him. Oh no!
The
smile she worked so hard to keep on her face faded away. Frowning at the turn
of her thoughts she bit her lip to keep from saying more.
“Why
are you frowning? Something going on that I don’t know about.”
“Hmm,
oh, no. Nothing’s going on. I just thought of something for Tuesday. No biggie.
Why have I never met Jett?” Carefully she took a sip of her coffee. Just to
have the mug cover part of her face.
“The
only time you would have met him would have been graduation and you couldn’t
come remember.”
She
did remember. That was when she had just opened her bakery. There was no way
she could get away. Everyone knew that the first year was the hardest. Corrine
just couldn’t risk leaving.
Sam
said he understood and a few weeks later visited with
Bitsy the Bitch
. The one time MJ didn’t scurry off at the mention
of Sam and she ended up getting hurt. Things after that were strained between
them all. It was only in the following six months that life began to go back to
normal. Except for Sam never coming to visit.
“So
what do you think?” he was asking.
“Think
about what?”
“You
were off in la-la land again weren’t you and I wasn’t even talking about
football.” He laughed, slinging his arm around her shoulder, giving her a quick
squeeze. “I said, what do you think about having Murph come out sometime.”
“Sure
why not.” The words slipped out of her mouth before she thought better of it.
“Great.
I think I’ll give him a call. I’m sure he’d be thrilled for the invite. We
didn’t cook much back then and I doubt he’s learned much since. I have no doubt
a great meal from you would probably be a welcome change. We should do it
today. Grill some steaks and potatoes. Follow it all up with a night run.” Sam
had jumped up from the bench and was pacing before her. Suddenly he stopped and
pivoted toward her. “It is safe around here right? You haven’t had any issues
with neighbors or animals?”
Her
brows furrowed in irritation, “Of course it’s safe or I wouldn’t be doing it.
Go give your friend a call and tell him not until later this afternoon. Like
two or three. I’ll see what I have in the fridge.”
“You’re
the best,” he said before dropping a kiss on the top of her head and heading
inside.
Corrine
couldn’t believe what an idiot she was.
Stupid brain and
loose lips.
Tipping her cup up she sucked down the last few drops of
cold liquid grimacing. She shoved off the bench making her way inside and
straight to the coffee pot. She definitely hadn’t had enough of the necessary
elixir yet.
CHAPTER FIVE
The
door to the house burst open scattering the memories of his not so distant
youth. His eyes drifted from the car to the man who owned it. Sam loped down
the few steps of the porch and was next to his car before Jett could cut the
engine.
“What
the hell is this?” Sam exclaimed, arms akimbo. “I hope this is a rental and not
what you really drive. How the hell do you expect to pick up any women in this
thing?” Amusement glinted in his eyes.
