Yeah, right.
It was tempting to ignore the question or, better yet, tell her mom not to bother calling back if all she was going to do was nag. She fought for control, knowing her temper was edgier than normal because the call had interrupted what had promised to be a really special start to her day. Come to think of it, Misha had spent two nights at Amy’s house and on both occasions her mother had called. Did the woman have some special spidey sense that her daughter had a man in her life?
“I promise I’ll try to get down to see you soon, Mom. Tell Dad and the family hi for me. And as far as the doctor thing goes, tell the guys I’ll keep them posted on my doctor visits when they start updating me on theirs. God knows I can’t wait to hear how their prostate exams went. Now, I’ve got to go. I’ve got plans for the day.”
She hung up before her mother could do more than sputter. When the phone rang again, Amy solved the problem by turning it off. If her mother wanted to leave a message, fine. But she wasn’t going to listen to it now—or maybe ever.
Instead, she was going to go in search of Misha and see what he’d found to fix for their breakfast. Rather than put on her own pajamas, she picked up the T-shirt he’d been wearing the night before and slipped it on. It smelled like his skin, which went a long way to soothing her frazzled nerves.
He was just flipping over two pieces of French toast in her cast-iron skillet. There was a second skillet filled with at least half a pound of sizzling bacon. Yum! Her mouth was watering from the combined scents of cinnamon and bacon. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was.
“Can I do anything?”
“This is all about ready to go. If you’ll pour the coffee, I’ll dish it up.”
She waited until Misha joined her at the table before speaking. “Thanks for doing this. It looks delicious.”
“No problem.” He picked up a piece of the bacon and took a bite. “Want to tell me what your mother said that upset you?”
“Just the usual. They have a hard time accepting the fact that I’m not moving back. She’s used to knowing every detail of everybody’s life. It drives her crazy not knowing what’s going on in mine.”
“So I’m guessing you haven’t told her anything about me. About us.”
“I have told her that I have a great neighbor who is turning out to be an even better friend.” She pointed her fork at him. “Which, until last night, was all we claimed to be.”
Misha’s face lit up with a wicked grin. “Yeah, we pretty much blew that idea all to hell and back, didn’t we? A few times, as I recall.”
Even though she could feel herself blushing, she smiled right back at him. “Sure did, although we might have to have a few repeat performances just to make sure that line stays erased.”
“Whatever it takes, I’m definitely up for it.”
Amy almost choked on the bite of French toast she’d just put in her mouth. Her eyes automatically drifted south of his bare chest to check the truth of that claim. When she realized what she was doing, she jerked her eyes back to her plate. Wow, he wasn’t lying. The handsome rat who resumed his seat across from her looked pretty smug when she finally got enough courage to look at him again.
The spark of heat in his blue eyes had her shifting restlessly in her seat, a now familiar ache flaring back to life again. He knew it, too. Maybe other women would play it cool, but she didn’t have enough experience to know how. Besides, she’d never been one to play games with people she cared about. And she cared about Mikhail. A lot.
Meanwhile, his gaze wandered a bit as well. “I like you in my T-shirt.”
“I like it, too. In fact, I might just keep it.”
“Be my guest.” He leaned forward, managing to crowd her a bit even though they sat on opposite sides of the small table. “But only if you’ll answer one question for me.”
“Depends on the question.”
“What are you wearing under it?”
“Interesting question.”
“I thought so.” He reached across the table to snatch a piece of bacon off her plate. “Are you going to answer it?”
Suddenly she was no longer hungry, at least not for breakfast. She set her fork down and stood up. “Nope.”
With no further warning, she took off down the hall toward her bedroom. As she ran, she called back over her shoulder. “You’ll have to find out for yourself.”
And much to their mutual pleasure, he did.
—
Mikhail would have preferred to spend the entire day with Amy, but she had to work. So instead, he was manning the grill at his mother’s house for a mid-afternoon barbecue. Tino had just joined him holding two longnecks. Mikhail knew him well enough to beware of brothers bearing drinks he hadn’t asked for.
After handing him one of the beers, Tino launched right in. “So, baby brother. I stopped by your place this morning. Caitlyn had to be at an early meeting, so I thought maybe you and I could grab breakfast somewhere.”
Mikhail flipped the burgers on the grill before answering. “You should’ve called first. I wasn’t home.”
Tino snorted and sipped his beer. “Like I couldn’t figure out that much for myself. What I don’t know is where you were at that early hour.”
“I already answered that. I wasn’t home.”
He checked the burgers again mostly as an excuse to ignore his brother. It didn’t work. To make matters worse, Jack came wandering outside to join the discussion. “How come you didn’t bring Amy with you? Did she get burned out on your company after last night?”
Mikhail gripped the tongs hard enough to hurt, the only way he could keep from planting a fist in his brother’s face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Because right now both of you are skating pretty damn close to me shutting your fucking mouths for you.”
Jack immediately took a step back, the shock on his face too genuine to be faked. “What the hell?”
Okay, so maybe his oldest brother’s intentions had been relatively innocent. Mikhail turned his attention back to Tino. “Stay out of my business. What Amy and I were doing this morning is none of your damn business.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth he wanted to kick his own ass. Tino might have suspected where Mikhail was, but he hadn’t known for sure. He did now. Damn it, he owed her more respect than that. He clamped his teeth shut and went back to staring at the row of burgers on the grill. If Tino or Jack said one wrong thing, all hell was going to break loose even if it upset their mother and his sisters-in-law.
The ensuing total silence coming from both his brothers came as a pleasant surprise. When he finally broke down and looked at them, he didn’t know what to make of the oddly similar expression on both their faces. Something between pleased and sympathetic. He shifted restlessly, unhappy to be under such close scrutiny.
In an effort to deflect any further questioning, he answered Jack’s earlier question. “Amy has been working on a project for one of her clients. Something changed in his time frame, and the guy needs it done a lot sooner than originally expected, so she had to work today.”
Tino finished the last of his beer. “I’m sure Mom wouldn’t mind if you packed up some of everything to take to Amy when you go home.”
“Not a bad idea.”
Ricky came barreling out of the back door at his usual breakneck speed. “Uncle Mikhail, Grandma wants to know how long until the burgers are ready.”
The interruption banished the last bit of tension between the three brothers. “I just checked them. They’re almost done.”
“Great. I’m starving here.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “You ate two pieces of cold pizza ten minutes before we left the house. You can’t be that hungry.”
“Sure I am. Didn’t you hear Mom say I’ve hit another growth spurt?” He held up a foot and wiggled it. “Which is why she’s taking me shopping tomorrow for new shoes.”
It was fun to watch Jack sputter as he stared down at his son’s shoes, which looked lik
e they didn’t have many miles on them. “We just bought those a month ago. You can’t have grown that much already.”
Ricky looked at Tino and Mikhail for support. “Does he not understand what a growth spurt is?”
Marlene joined them. “He should. There was about a three-year period where Joe used to complain we spent more time at the shoe store than we did at home.”
Mikhail finished stacking the burgers on the platter his mom had brought out with her. As he handed it back, he glanced down at his nephew’s feet. “If we go by the puppy theory of big feet, Ricky, you could end up closer to my height than Jack’s or Tino’s, otherwise known as the family runt.”
The teenager’s face lit up. “Do you really think so?”
“Yeah, but I’m only guessing. Do you remember how tall your birth father was?”
His nephew’s smile faded. “No, and I don’t have any pictures of him.”
Well, crap, now he regretted that he’d brought the subject up. On the other hand, maybe there was something they could do about that. “Jack, that friend of yours, the one who does security work. Any chance he could access the state’s files in California? If Ricky’s dad had a driver’s license, it would have his picture, not to mention his height and weight.”
Ricky’s hopeful gaze turned from Mikhail back toward Jack. “Can we at least try?”
Jack leaned in to shoulder bump his son. “Sure. Gabe owes me a favor or two. I’ll shoot him an email tonight or tomorrow at the latest. After we get home, you should write down any information you can think of that would help him with the search. We’ll also look through all the legal papers we have from the adoption proceedings to see if there’s anything helpful there.”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
Jack bumped his son’s shoulder a second time. “Of course not, kid.”
Mikhail was proud of the boy for asking and of his brother’s response. Jack and his wife had adopted Ricky after his birth mother had to surrender all parental rights. The stupid woman had abandoned the kid and left him living on the streets when he and her second husband didn’t hit it off. While the kid had every reason to hate her for the choices she’d made, his memories of his father were happy ones. Even a crappy driver’s license photo would be better than having no photo at all. Mikhail knew that for a fact.
Marlene started shooing them all toward the back door. “Well, why don’t we go eat before the burgers get cold?”
“Good idea, Mom.”
He slung his arm around her shoulders as they headed into the house. As always, he took comfort from the contact with the woman who had saved three teenagers who’d all been on the fast track to trouble back in the day. There was no way to know where he would’ve ended up if she and Joe hadn’t opened their home and their hearts to three lost boys, but it wouldn’t have been a good place.
As the family gathered around the table, it hit him that he had a lot to be grateful for. It was something he should remember far more often than he did, especially when it came to the people in his life: Marlene, his brothers and their wives, Ricky, and now Amy.
Her most of all.
When he got home, he’d check in with her to make sure she was doing all right. Neither of them had gotten much sleep last night, and she’d been facing long hours in front of the computer after he left. At the very least, he could take Panda on a walk with him and Sarge. After that, he’d see if there was anything else he could do for her.
Or with her.
He had some great suggestions along that line if she didn’t, and he couldn’t wait to share them with her.
Tino elbowed him and whispered, “I’ve got a good idea what—and who—you’re thinking about right now, but you need to get your head back in the game. Mom keeps giving you some curious looks. You don’t want her asking questions you don’t want to answer.”
True enough.
Time to take the conversation in a safe direction. “So, Tino, how is the squad doing?”
After they talked about the boys’ basketball team Tino and his friend Jay coached, it was time for dessert. By that point, Mikhail was caught up on all the family news and more than ready to head back home.
He had to work a shift at the fire station starting in the morning, and he had a few things he needed to take care of beforehand. If he didn’t do some laundry soon, he’d have to go shopping. Still, there were a lot of hours between then and now. Maybe he could coax Amy into spending most of them with him.
Like maybe at his house and in his bed.
With that in mind, he caught his mother’s eye. “Sorry to cut out so early, Mom, but I have to work tomorrow.”
She gave him a long look before nodding. “Okay, I’ll let you off dish duty this time, but give me a couple of minutes to box up some of the leftovers to go home with you.”
Then she gave him a knowing smile. “Just one question. Should I send enough for two?”
The entire table went silent as they waited for his answer. He was proud of his control when he answered. “I can call Amy to see whether or not she’s already had dinner. If she hasn’t, I’m sure she’d appreciate not having to cook. I can drop her share off before I take Sarge for his walk and get my stuff ready for my shift tomorrow.”
“No need to bother her if she’s working. I’ll make sure there’s plenty for both of you.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Judging by his mother’s satisfied smile, which was echoed by his brothers and their wives, he hadn’t been all that successful in his efforts to convince everyone that he and Amy were still just friends. Even if it was no longer a secret that they’d become far more than that, their new relationship was too new for him to want to share the knowledge, even with the people who meant the most to him.
The bottom line: he’d take the food and make a beeline for home and see if his friend with all those wonderful new benefits was interested in sharing more than a piece of his mother’s best peach pie with him tonight.
Chapter 20
The past week had flown by. Despite Mikhail’s somewhat erratic work schedule as well as her own, they’d managed to spend a lot of time together. Some of it at her place, some at his. The nights had been incredible. The daylight hours had been pretty great, too, maybe because their relationship had started off slowly, letting their friendship grow strong before adding sex into the mix. The bottom line was that they enjoyed each other’s company, in bed and out of it.
One side benefit of spending so much time together was that they had both made good progress on landscaping their yards. He’d finally finished cutting out the rest of the sod she wanted removed along the property line and in front of the front foundation of the house itself. While he had sweated in the sun (yum), she’d finished designing the layout in his yard.
The day before yesterday, they’d gone shopping for the bushes and other plants they needed. The local nursery was scheduled to deliver everything they’d ordered later in the morning, and she couldn’t wait to see how it all looked once they got everything planted. In fact, she was going to start digging the holes as soon as she finished answering one more email.
Well, not right after she finished the email. She needed to make a quick trip to the post office to mail a small package for her niece’s birthday. After hitting the SEND button, she took a quick peek out her office window to make sure it was still sunny outside. Great, she could take the motorcycle. Although her confidence on the bike had grown, so far she’d avoided taking it out when it was raining.
A snuffle at her feet reminded her that she wasn’t alone. She leaned down to give her constant companion a thorough scratching, laughing when he rolled over to offer up his belly for a good rub.
“Okay, Panda, I’m done in here.”
As she started down the hall, he followed right behind, looking disappointed when she picked up her keys and the small backpack she used when she rode the motorcycle. She offered him a small piece of doggy salmon jerky to cheer him up. As he gobbled it d
own, she reassured him, “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon, and then you can hang out in the front yard with me. I’m sure Misha is still sleeping, but he and Sarge will be out to help after he gets up.”
At the mention of his buddy’s name, the little bulldog went into full wiggle mode. She knew just how he felt since she experienced the same shiver of pleasure every time Misha headed her way.
The sooner she ran her errand, the sooner she’d be back home and able to start working in the yard with Panda and hopefully his buddy Sarge. Of course, the two bulldogs would be snuffling around, underfoot and in the way the whole time. That was okay. She loved their undemanding company.
Even better, she’d have Misha there to do the heavy work, once again sweating in the sun and flexing those amazing muscles as he worked. The thought already had her salivating, especially with the knowledge that as soon as they finished for the day, they could share a shower and then a whole lot more. When had she ever had so much to look forward to in her life? So many reasons to smile?
The answer was simple: never.
After years of struggling to survive with a congenital heart valve defect, a new surgical technique had changed everything for her. It had taken time to build up her strength after the surgery, but now she could do all the stuff that everyone else took for granted, like taking long walks or carrying in her own groceries. Little things that made all the difference in her life.
The hard part was getting used to no longer having to exist on the sharp edge of a major health crisis all the time. It had taken months for her to relax, to trust her body. To know that a simple sneeze wasn’t a precursor of yet another hospital stay. Unfortunately, her family had never quite managed to make that transition and fought against her efforts to live a normal life for the first time. She’d needed time and space to come into her own, to learn what this new person was capable of, but their constant hovering had continued to smother her efforts.
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