Reclaimed (Powell Sanctuary #5)

Chapter 9

9

Isla

After tossing and turning the entire night, I finally give up and drag myself out of bed at seven a.m. The smell of coffee percolating down the hall reduces my emotional bandwidth to near zero. My exhaustion and the fact I can’t actually drink caffeine has my pace quickening, a scolding forming rapidly in my thoughts.

Rounding the corner with a complaint on the tip of my tongue, I stutter to a halt. The kitchen is annoyingly empty.

“Figures,” I mutter to myself.

The carafe is nearly full and a bag of my decaf grounds sits beside it. I busy myself with fixing a plain cup since Aiden went out of his way to start a pot and let my irritation subside.

Chevy winds his long body around my legs, his purr filling the room.

“Good morning to you, handsome.”

He meows and sits at my feet, staring at me as if I should be able to read his mind.

“Where’s your human this morning?”

Chevy meows again in answer.

“I’ll have to get used to having you around. I’m sorry to say I don’t speak cat.”

“He’s just pissed because Cortney said he needs a diet, and I won’t give him more food.”

“Why do you have to listen to your sister on her opinions of your cat?”

I glance up, feeling my earlier irritation spike at the sound of his voice, but my mouth runs dry.

“Because she’s his vet.”

“Where are your clothes?” I stutter, frantically attempting to wet my dry lips. The words hover between us in little more than a whisper.

The towel draped around his hips is dangerously low and incredibly unstable looking. One little trip or catch against his toe, and I’m going to become a peeper in my own damn house.

“I was just on my way to get some.” His smirk is cocky if not a little cold.

“From where?”

“My bag.” His brow furrows.

“You didn’t bring it with you into the bathroom?”

His shoulder lifts in a shrug. “You weren’t awake yet.”

“Well I’m awake now!”

“No thanks to that shitty coffee. It’s so weak I had to brew two pots because I thought I didn’t do it right the first time.”

“It’s decaf!” I fire back, hands settling on my wide hips.

“It’s coffee flavored water. I’m not even trying to be funny. It tastes like the pot just ran the water passed the grounds to get a hint of flavor.”

“It’s fine. ” If only he knew how badly I wanted real coffee. The strong bitter bite of a freshly brewed sip. The jittery jolt of caffeine I haven’t felt in over a month.

Tears prick the corner of my eyes.

Oh fuck.

I am not going to cry over fucking coffee. Not in front of Aiden Powell, at the very least, but preferably not at all.

To my great misfortune, Aiden doesn’t miss the shift. He steps unwisely closer.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you. Just the coffee. I still think you’re a great person.” The corner of his mouth twitches.

I bite back a choked whimper. “Shut up, Powell.”

His brows snap together. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” A shudder runs through me as I fight to keep it together. This is the most irrational I’ve felt in my entire life.

“Seriously, Isla. You’re freaking me out a little. What happened?” He closes the gap between us. Chevy turns and bats at the edge of his towel.

“Nothing happened. It’s been a heavy few days, and I’m protective about my choices.”

The worry lines ease on his forehead. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t.”

“But I have to say that I’m going to buy some real coffee or else I won’t survive this arrangement.”

“No. I’ve changed my mind. I can’t do this with you.”

He gives me a look somewhere between amused and confused. “You draw the line at coffee?”

“Yep. I’m sorry. I thought it was a good idea, but I can’t get past this.”

Aiden bites his lower lip and raises his palms toward me. “I can see you’re really having a hard time with this. I’ll compromise and will only get my morning cup in the drive through.”

My body gives an involuntary sniff. “You promise?”

“I swear.” He holds out his pinky.

I wrap my pinky around his.

“Anything other hard limits I need to know?”

“No other girls. This might be fake but I won’t be made out to be a fool.”

He scoffs. “That’s a given.”

“No coming home drunk.”

He groans. “Obviously. At least make it something worth pinky swearing on.”

“You can’t cook anything with onions.”

“For real?”

“I hate the smell.” I actually love onions, but since getting pregnant they make me nauseous. I don’t tell him that.

“Hmm. Now you’re getting tough.”

“Deal breaker?”

Aiden grins. “Not a chance.”

“What would be a deal breaker?”

“Anything to do with not seeing my family. Not accepting Chevy.”

My pinky twitches where it’s still hooked with his. “I’d kick you out long before I’d ever kick out Chevy. He’s the sweetest boy.”

He grins and takes a glance at the boy, who’s nudging hard against his leg. “He can get feisty, I’m not going to lie.”

“I don’t believe you.”

My phone rings on the counter beside the coffee pot. After what feels like an eternity, we unlock our fingers.

“It’s Juniper.”

“Have you told her about us?”

“There isn’t an us , Powell.”

“She’s going to have to find out for this little situation to work.” He rolls his eyes and spins around, glancing over his shoulder. “I’d say there’s enough to consider us an us.”

“In your dreams,” I mutter, fighting back a smile.

“Absolutely.”

I shake my head as I direct my attention to the phone ringing in my hand.

Chevy demonstrates his displeasure at Aiden’s departure with a low warble.

“Ah, fuck!” Aiden bellows.

A high-pitched meow accompanies Chevy’s lunge. His claws sink into the back of Aiden’s towel, dragging the loose cotton to the floor as he lands and giving me a spectacular view of Aiden’s bare backside.

My god. He has a glorious ass.

The muscle is round and taut, covered by smooth, tan skin. Not a coiled hair or pluckable whisker marring the real estate. There’s famous marble statues in museums with asses that pale in comparison to Aiden Powell’s butt.

I’ve been surrounded by mostly naked people for around a decade. I’ve seen a lot of bare bodies both on and off the stage. I’d consider myself quite the expert on the male and female forms.

And I don’t judge. I love all bodies of all types. But that ? Might as well call me a man for the way I salivate over his literal piece of ass.

“Oh my god,” I giggle, not displeased in the slightest at the turn of events.

“Chevy, you bastard.” Aiden retrieves his towel with a squat, cognizant enough to not flash me his balls between his legs.

The cat licks his paw.

Aiden hops around the corner, before peeking back in with a red hue to his cheeks. “Sorry about that.”

“Oh, not a problem at all. I can’t say I hated it,” I tease, and his blush deepens. “I gotta take this.”

“If you tell her—”

“What? That I just got a front row seat to her brother in-law’s bare ass before I finished my first cup of coffee?”

“Isla,” he warns.

“Don’t worry. She’d have too many questions that I’m not ready to answer.”

With that, I swipe my screen before the call goes to voicemail.

“Good morning,” I sing-song, my mood much improved from a few minutes ago.

“Did I wake you?”

“Nope. I’ve been up for a while.” Wide awake now after that little peep show. I mentally replay the incident and let a smile tilt my lips.

Chevy butts up against my legs again. I reach down to pet the affectionate cat. Snagging my cup of coffee, I sit down at the kitchen table.

“Did you see the news?” The tone of her voice shifts to a serious one.

In all the years I’ve known Juniper, I don’t think I’ve ever heard her voice take on that tone. Not even when she was telling me the abuse she suffered in secret at her father’s hand.

I don’t need a map key to spell out exactly where this conversation is going. A lump forms in my throat, uncomfortably tightening the muscles.

I work on a swallow, once, twice, before I finally find my voice. “I haven’t watched anything, but we had a meeting at work on Friday about it.”

“You knew on Friday and you didn’t tell me?” Her accusation is all the confirmation I need that I’m on the right path. The county sheriff told Manny the story was about to hit the news this weekend.

“I didn’t want to worry you. It’s probably nothing.”

She makes a strangled sound. “I don’t care if it’s nothing. I’m your best friend. You’re obligated to tell me everything that’s going on in your life down to the nail polish you choose at the salon.”

Guilt slithers its way into my veins. “I know. I’m sorry, okay? My life has been a little crazy lately and I’m having a hard time getting it all sorted.”

Her sigh is filled with compassion rather than irritation. “I know. I’m sorry too. I’m just worried. Lee made me take a bath before I could call you because I was so upset.”

“Lee’s a smart man. I’m not sure how I’d feel about you blowing up my phone at six in the morning.”

“Who said anything about calling? I was sitting in the driver’s seat cursing about to come bang your door down when he stopped me.” I can hear the grin in her voice.

“I’m glad you’re keeping him on his toes.”

“It’s one of my favorite hobbies.” Juniper laughs. “What are you going to do?” She asks in a sobering tone.

I run my fingertip over a deep groove in the kitchen table. The light-colored wood appears weathered from decades of use.

I search for something to come clean about, not wanting to add more secrets to our friendship. “I dyed my hair. Apparently this psycho is attracted to blondes, so I ditched the light hair.”

“That’s smart. I know the likelihood of anything happening to you is slim, but keeping you and that baby safe is priority number one.”

I swallow around the tightness. “I think so too.”

“Will you quit dancing?”

“No. Not yet anyway. I need to save up a bit more.” I glance over my shoulder to make sure I’m still alone, and lower my voice. “I’ll have to tell Manny once I start showing so depending on what he says…”

The thought of getting fired a second time for this pregnancy is nauseating. Yes, it’s illegal. But clubs like Eve’s and XO’s don’t exactly have HR departments to submit complaints to. They run on an internal set of rules. I also don’t have the thousands of dollars it’ll take to hire an attorney for a wrongful termination lawsuit. There’s also the fact that a lawsuit means a discovery period, and letting them drag my personal history in open court isn’t something I’m eager to do.

Not that I have anything to hide, but my past is just that— mine.

“The second you’re over it, you let me know. I’m sure we’ll have no problem finding you something else, even if you have to come work with me at the Sanctuary for a while.”

“Thank you. I promise I’ll keep you in the loop.”

The sound of footsteps coming down the hall speed up my heart. “Anyway, I should get going. I have to get to the grocery store.”

“Hey, Isla?” Aiden’s deep voice rumbles from behind me.

“Did I just hear a man?” Juniper asks in my ear.

Fuck.

“It’s new,” I mumble.

“Isla, who is that?” she asks again, her tone nearly shrill.

“Oh, sorry, you’re still on the phone.” Aiden widens his eyes and mouths, tell her!

I turn around and slap my index finger perpendicular to my lips with an expression that says shut the hell up .

“I’ll tell you later. Promise. Got to go!” I stab the red button and my phone clatters to the table. My shoulders slump in defeat.

“I take it you didn’t tell her?”

The glare I send his way is heated. “You take it I didn’t tell her that her brother-in-law is at my house at seven in the morning? What do you think?”

He shrugs. “I think it’s fine.”

My groan gets lost in the screech of my chair legs as I stand. “This is fake. We haven’t even kissed yet, and you want to let your sister in-law think we had a sleepover? One that would lead her to believe that we’re fucking?”

Aiden leans his shoulder against the wall at his back. “People tend to fuck in relationships.”

“But we aren’t. ”

The irritation I feel inside consumes me. The emotion is safe. Much safer than the other things I feel when I’m in the same room as Aiden Powell. If I don’t keep him back with anger, I’m liable to do something I might regret.

Like kiss that stupid, arrogant smirk off his face.