Chapter 19
Tino stepped out of the shower. As he dried off, he opened the bathroom door to let out the cloud of steam that had filled the small room. A sound coming from downstairs caught his attention. Who would be knocking on the garage door at this hour?
He yanked on the flannel pajama bottoms that he’d slept in and ran his fingers through his hair. He hadn’t shaved yet, so scruffy was as presentable as he was going to get. The knock came again before he reached the bottom step. Whoever was out there must be getting impatient, because the next round of knocking came faster and went on for longer. It was tempting to head back upstairs without answering the door. The last thing he wanted was uninvited company before he’d had his first cup of coffee.
Of course, it could be his mother needing something or, worse yet, Jack needing some grunt work done. He really didn’t feel like wielding a hammer all day, but he might as well get it over with. “All right, all right, I’m coming. Hold your horses.”
He threw the deadbolt and yanked the door open. But instead of his obnoxious brother, it was Natalie standing there, her hand poised to knock again. Her eyes went wide as she stared first at his face and then slowly lowered her gaze, taking a slow trip from still-damp skin on his chest down to his bare feet and back up again.
Finally, her mouth quirked up in a small grin. “I guess you weren’t expecting company this morning.”
Well, no shit. He wasn’t and most especially not her. Unable to think of anything else to say, he pointed out the obvious. “I was in the shower. Did you need something?”
That came out far more unfriendly than he’d meant for it to because she took a step back from the door and her fair skin flushed pink. “Sorry about dropping by unannounced. I would’ve called first, but I couldn’t. Well, I could have, but it wouldn’t have done any good.”
He was pretty sure that even if he’d already had a gallon of coffee to clear his head, her explanation still wouldn’t have made much sense. “Can you run that by me again? Maybe slower this time with shorter words.”
Natalie glanced past him to the annex, maybe wondering why they didn’t continue the discussion inside. It would only be good manners to invite her in, maybe even offer her some coffee, but there were reasons he’d never told her where he lived. Too late to change things now, his feet remained frozen in place and the words of welcome refused to come.
Before speaking again, she started rooting around in her purse. Finally, she dragged a familiar-looking cellphone from its depths. “I stopped at the community center this morning to do a few things in the computer lab. When I saw Clarence, he thought this was most likely yours and asked if I could return it to you. Apparently he found it in the men’s room right after you and another guy finished up working on the basketball court. I’m guessing that might have been your brother?”
She held out the phone. “Thank you for doing that, by the way. I was hoping to eventually get around to fixing it up, but other things had to take priority.”
“It was. My brother, that is, and you’re welcome.”
Although she wasn’t really the reason they’d done the work. And maybe he really was being a total jerk by making her stand out there in the driveway like some stranger he barely knew. Taking a half step back from the door, he gestured toward the small kitchen on the other side of the room. “The coffee should be ready by now. Would you like a cup?”
That she didn’t immediately leap to accept the offer told him all too clearly that he was sending her a fucked-up mix of signals. To offer her an easy out, he added, “Unless you need to get to work.”
She bit her lower lip while she considered her options. “I do need to get to work, but a quick cup would be nice. That is, if you’re sure it wouldn’t be any trouble.”
It would be trouble, all right, but not the kind she meant. He moved aside to allow her room to come in and then closed the door after taking a quick peek out toward the driveway. His mother’s car was gone, so at least he didn’t have to deal with introducing the two women in his life to each other. Then it occurred to him to wonder how Natalie knew to look for him in the garage instead of the house.
Right now, Natalie was standing in the center of the small living room, her eyes bright with curiosity as she studied their surroundings. “I met your mom, by the way. She was leaving for an appointment just as I arrived. She was nice enough to point me in the right direction.”
Well, great. Now he’d have to allow time in his schedule for an inquisition from his mother when she got home. Maybe it wasn’t too late to see if Jack could use an extra pair of hands today. That would give him an excuse to hustle Natalie back out the door and avoid his mother for a few hours.
And didn’t that positively reek of cowardice?
He headed for the kitchen and pulled two of the last three clean mugs down off the shelf. One had the Marine Corps symbol on it, although Jack had drawn a red circle with a slash across it just to irritate Mikhail. The rim on the second cup was chipped, but the only other option was one with an obscene message on the side that a buddy had sent one of his brothers as a joke. Mismatched dishes were only one of the downsides of three brothers sharing the place, using it mostly as a place to crash on their brief visits home between deployments.
He carried the coffee out to the living room where Natalie was studying the array of gym equipment in the corner. “I’m sorry if you wanted cream in yours. I ran out of milk yesterday and haven’t been to the store.”
“Black is fine.”
She sipped the coffee as she continued to look around. “So this is where you live.”
There was nothing judgmental about what she said, but he went on the defensive anyway. “My brothers and I thought someone should stay close by for Mom. She never complains, but we all know she gets lonely without Dad.”
Natalie’s expression was nothing but sympathetic. “That has to be hard for her. I’m sure she appreciates how you guys watch out for her.”
She glanced toward the staircase. “I’m guessing your bedroom is upstairs.”
He nodded. “Actually, there are three bedrooms up there and a full bath.”
Not that he’d invite her up there to look around or to try out his bed—his twin bed, the same one he’d had since he turned seventeen and moved into the annex with Jack. Mikhail had joined them a few months later when he’d turned seventeen, too.
“Amazing. I’ve never seen another place like it.”
