I powered through this and started, “Mitch –”
At that moment there was a knock on the door.
Mitch’s head turned the other way, my gaze followed his and we both stared at the front door.
“Who could that be?” I whispered.
“No clue,” Mitch replied, not in a whisper, let me go, my hands flew back so my palms could press against the counter to hold myself up and I watched Mitch move to the door.
He looked through the peephole and then I watched him drop his head, shake it, his neck twisted and his eyes hit me. I saw they were amused at the same time a little annoyed. Then he turned back to the door, pulled off the chain, twisted the lock and opened it.
“You couldn’t help yourself, could you?” he asked whoever was outside the door and his voice was the same mixture of amused and a little annoyed.
“My brother doesn’t call me at nine o’clock at night to discuss the care of a fevered child…as in never…so you’re right. I couldn’t help myself.” A female’s voice came at me and then I saw Mitch move back as I saw a woman with Mitch’s dark hair cut in an attractive style that brushed her shoulders, natural waves flowing through it. She was tall, like Mitch, though not as tall as Mitch. And she was built, not like Mitch. She was all tits and ass and obvious attitude.
She was followed by an older version of her who could be no one but Mitch’s mother.
And I was right. She wore twinsets.
With scarves.
Attractive ones.
Oh…dear…God!
“Hi there, you must be Mara,” Mrs. Lawson called when she saw me. “I’m Mitch’s Mom, Sue Ellen.”
My brain took that unfortunate moment to remind me I was wearing a nightie and Mitch’s shirt and Mitch was wearing nothing but a pair of drawstring pajama bottoms. This collided with the thought that I was at Mitch’s house early in the morning wearing nothing but a nightie, panties and Mitch’s shirt and Mitch was in nothing but pajama bottoms and what the woman who told me she was Mrs. Lawson and the woman who was obviously Mitch’s sister Penny would think of this.
“Hey,” I replied before I could start hyperventilating.
Mitch’s sister started walking toward the bar and her smiling eyes moved to me. “I’m Penny, Mitch’s sister,” she introduced herself casually like it was perfectly okay to perpetrate an early morning surprise attack on your hot brother’s neighbor. Even if that neighbor was staying with your hot brother while she was having one in a long line of crises into which she’d sucked your hot brother.
Which, by the way, it was not.
“Uh…hey,” I returned. “I’m Mara, um…” I had no further information to give because they obviously already knew who I was and I wasn’t certain what I was to Mitch. Except last night he’d called me his Mara and just thinking about him doing that made goose flesh rise on my skin.
I hoped they couldn’t see it.
Penny ignored me trailing off stupidly and asked, “How’s Billie?”
“Fever broke,” Mitch answered. Having closed the door, he was moving too. Toward me. And I noted he seemed laidback about this new and unusual turn of events like his mother and sister frequently happened by unannounced and maybe they did. “It came on fast and she was cool before the second dose so it left just as fast.”
“That’s good,” Mrs. Lawson murmured, coming to stand by Penny at the bar.
“Would you guys like some, um…coffee?” I asked, pulling up my hostessing skills and wondering if I should because it wasn’t my house, also because I probably should excuse myself to go put on some clothes.
Mitch was already getting mugs as Mrs. Lawson replied, “That’d be great.”
“Love a cup,” Penny added.
Although I asked to be polite, I didn’t know how to feel about their response considering their response meant they were staying awhile. And weirdly they didn’t seem surprised I was playing hostess in Mitch’s kitchen while wearing a nightie and his flannel.
Mitch set the mugs down and I grabbed the coffeepot and filled them. No one said anything so I latched onto something Mitch said and when he returned to me with the gallon jug of milk, I asked, “What do you mean, Billie was cool before the second dose?”
He splashed milk into two mugs and then set the jug aside, answering, “Set the alarm like I said I’d do. It woke me up, I checked her and she was good.”
At his words, forgetting my audience, I stared at his handsome profile as he grabbed a spoon from the drawer and then reached out to the sugar bowl.
Then I asked, “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“No need, she was cool,” Mitch answered, spooning sugar into the milky mugs.
“But why didn’t you wake me?” I repeated, Mitch’s head turned and his eyes caught mine.
“There was no need, sweetheart,” he repeated with variation. “She was cool, you were both out so I just went back to sleep.”
I felt my brows knit. “You just went back to sleep?”
“Well, yes and no. I got up, turned out the lights, locked the front door and then I came back to bed and went back to sleep.”
I stared at him, lips parted.
He woke up to check Billie, found she was okay, got out of his bed not to go sleep on the couch but instead he turned out the lights, locked the front door and came back to his bed, a bed I was in with Billie.
Why would he do that? Why?
He turned and handed coffees to his mother and sister while I watched and they, I noticed vaguely, watched us and they did this closely. Then he turned back and grabbed his which he took black. Then he lifted it to his lips. Then I opened my mouth to speak.
“Hey,” I heard Billy mumble and my eyes jerked to my little cousin who was walking out dressed for school in a pair of new jeans and one of the new tees I bought him, hair combed, looking like the perfect child.
“Hey there, you must be Billy,” Mrs. Lawson grinned at him. “I’m Mitch’s Mom, Sue Ellen, and this is my daughter, Mitch’s sister, Penny.”
“Hey,” Penny smiled.
“Hey,” Billy smiled back then climbed up on a stool and looked at Mitch. “Can you do oatmeal again, Mitch?” he asked.
“Sure, Bud,” Mitch muttered, put his coffee mug down and went to a cupboard to get a glass.
“Cool, thanks,” Billy muttered back.
Okay, this was weird. This was insane. This was nuts. But I couldn’t cope with any of that now. My life was on its head, as it would be considering I was now in charge of two kids, my cousin was in jail and the Russian mob, amongst others, wanted him dead. And my apartment was a crime scene. And my mother and aunt were in town. And me and my two new kids were essentially living with my hot guy neighbor I’d secretly been in love with for years. I needed to focus and not on Mitch, Mitch’s apparently nosy sister and equally nosy Mom.
I grabbed my coffee mug, took a fortifying sip of caffeine and walked to stand across the counter from Billy.
“Billy, honey, Billie got sick last night so she’s going to stay home with me today,” I told him.
“She did?” Billy asked, his face suddenly awash with concern but he looked strangely like he was hiding something.
I couldn’t ask or pay too close attention because Mitch took all of it when he stated firmly, “She is not.”
I turned to him in surprise to see his words weren’t the only thing that was firm. His face was firm too and this made me even more surprised.
“Yes, she is,” I told him.
“She’s fine,” he replied, coming to my side and putting a glass of milk in front of Billy. “Fever broke. She’s good.”