Chloe was still standing in the same spot as before. She glanced from me to Lauren Jane, whose hand was still squeezing my bicep.
Well, at least it wasn't my cock. Yet.
"Chloe dear," Loretta said, "will you be taking your seat any time soon?"
Chloe looked around the table. As if shaking off a distraction, she returned to her seat and watched the salad making its rounds. When the bowl got to Lauren Jane, she finally let go of my arm and grabbed the salad bowl with both hands.
She dumped most of the remaining lettuce onto her salad plate, leaving almost nothing for anyone else. That was fine by me. It's not like I was a huge fan of the stuff. When she passed the nearly empty bowl to me, I passed it to Josh without taking any.
"You don't want any?" Josh asked.
"Nah. I'm good," I told him. "Since I already ate half on the way." I lowered my voice. "Don't tell anyone, but there was also this chocolate cake."
Josh's eyes widened. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," I said. "And a side of beef, couple of hams." I shrugged. "A pie. A dozen donuts. After that, I lost track."
"Oh, you," Lauren Jane said with a playful swat to my arm. "Stop teasing that boy. He'll believe anything."
"No I won't," Josh said.
"Josh," Loretta said, "don't sass your sister. It's not polite."
Josh looked to his plate. "Sorry."
I felt my blood pressure rise. Polite? What would Loretta know about it? Looking to make Josh smile again, I leaned toward him and spoke so low that only he could hear, "Don't tell, but there was a slab of bacon, too. But eh, your sister snagged it first."
Josh was looking happier until his step-mother's voice cut across the table. "Lawton? Care to share with the rest of us?"
Nope. I sure as hell didn't.
I put on my clueless face and said, "You mean salad?" I looked down at my empty salad plate. "Sorry, I didn't take any." I turned to Lauren Jane, whose plate was overflowing. "How about you? Got any spare salad for your mom?"
She gave her plate a worried look. "There's not that much here."
Hey, there's more on my floor mat. Want me to get it, so you can really make an ass of yourself?
Loretta spoke up, sounding irritated as hell. "That's not necessary. I wasn't referring to–" She made a little huffing sound. "Oh, never mind."
When the salad reached Chloe, she took two small pieces of lettuce and stood to return the bowl to the sideboard. Nowthatwas the girl I loved. I leaned closer to Josh and said, "You know, your sister's pretty awesome."
On the other side of me, Lauren Jane spoke up. "Thanks. I thinkyou'reawesome, too." She pressed her knee closer to mine and whispered, "And just so you know, my bikini'sreallyskimpy."
What bikini? Oh yeah, the one she mentioned when we first showed up. Like I cared.
"Bummer," I said. "You should get that looked at."
She gave me a confused look. "Huh?"
It wasn'tsupposedto make sense. It was supposed to distract her so I could focus on the sister whowasawesome. I watched as Chloe returned to her seat. She looked good in that dress. When she leaned forward to retrieve her napkin, I saw a hint of cleavage that made me swallow.
I couldn’t help but wonder, what kind of bra was she wearing today? She had great taste in bras, sweet and sexy, just like everything else about her. Undressing her was like unwrapping a present. And back when she'd been mine, it was like every day was my birthday.
Somehow, by the end of the day, I'd win her back. She loved me. And I loved her. The other stuff was just bullshit, and whatever it took, we'd work it out. Watching her across the table, I wanted to smile.
NowChloein a bikini, that was something Ididcare about. She had this yellow one that drove me crazy when it got wet. It wasn't even that skimpy, but the way it hugged her curves when it was weighted down with water, well, it was something that I liked a lot.
I wanted to smile. The last time she'd worn it, I'd taken it off with my teeth and kissed her in all the spots it had been covering. At the memory, I felt an embarrassing tightness in my jeans.
