“Whatever. And watch your mouth, Bailey, or I’ll think you’re slipping back to your old ways and I’ll have to wash your mouth out with soap.”
She grabbed the remote off the table, dropped down on the sofa and began watching television, ignoring him. He glanced at his watch and fought to hide his smile. “So, how long are you staying?” he asked. Because she hadn’t yet inherited her one hundred acres, she had a tendency to spend time at any of their places. Most of the time she stayed with Megan, which suited all her brothers just fine because Bailey had a tendency to drop in unannounced at the most inconvenient times.
Like now.
She didn’t even look over at him when she finally answered his question. “I’m staying until I’m ready to leave. You have a problem with it?”
“No.”
“Good,” she said, using the remote to flip to another channel. “Now go take your nap and I hope when you wake up you’re in a lot better mood.”
He chuckled as he leaned down and planted a brotherly kiss on her forehead. “Thanks for worrying about me so much, kid,” he said softly.
“If me, Megan and Gemma don’t do it, who will? All those silly girls you mess around with are only after your money.”
He lifted a brow in mock surprise. “You think so?”
She glanced up at him and rolled her eyes. “If you don’t know the truth about them then you’re in real trouble, Derringer.”
Derringer chuckled again thinking yes, he knew the truth about them…especially one in particular. Lucia Conyers. He didn’t think of her as one of those “silly girls” and knew Bailey wouldn’t either. He would be taking Lucia to the movies Saturday night. He intended to return her panties to her then. He looked forward to the moment her mouth fell open and she realized he knew what she’d done and had known all this time. He couldn’t wait to see what excuse she would come up with for what she had done.
Before heading up the stairs, he decided to feel his sister out about something. “I ran into Lucia Conyers a few moments ago at McKay’s.”
Bailey didn’t take her gaze off the television and for a moment he thought that possibly she hadn’t heard him, but then she responded. “And?”
He smiled. “And we shared a table since McKay’s was crowded.” He paused a moment. “She’s pretty. I never realized just how pretty she is.” The latter he knew wasn’t true, because he’d always known how pretty she was.
He watched as Bailey slowly turned toward him with a frown on her face. “I hope you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.”
He smiled. “Oh, I don’t know. What do you think I’m thinking?”
“That you plan to hit on Lucia.”
He grinned. “If by ‘hit on her’ you mean ask her out, I’ve already done so. We have a date to go to the movies this Saturday night.”
Bailey’s eyes widened. “Are you crazy? That’s Chloe’s best friend.”
Now it was his turn. “And?”
“And everybody around these parts knows how most of the single male Westmorelands operate. You’re used to those silly girls and wouldn’t know how to appreciate a woman with sense like Lucia.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I know so and if you end up doing something stupid like hurting her, Chloe would never forgive you for it.”
He shrugged at the thought. Chances were, Chloe had no idea what her best friend had pulled that night. And as far as what Bailey said about Lucia’s having sense, he didn’t doubt that, which made him uneasy about just what she would gain from tumbling into bed with him.
“Lucia is an adult. She can handle me,” he said. He wouldn’t break it down and tell her that Lucia had handled him and had done a real good job doing so. He got a hard-on every time he thought about that night.
“I’m still warning you, Derringer. And besides being Chloe’s best friend, Megan, Gemma and I like her as well.”
He cocked an amused brow. “I guess that means a lot. The three of you never like any of the girls I date. I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
Without giving his kid sister time to say anything else, he quickly moved up the stairs for his nap.