He’d no sooner turned off the water and wrapped himself in a towel when his phone buzzed an incoming Facetime call from Gray. He hit ACCEPT and when Gray’s face appeared, Aidan went on the immediate offensive. “No,” he said, before his brother could speak.
“I didn’t even ask you anything.” Gray looked at his bare torso and grimaced. “And Christ, put on some clothes.”
“I just got out of the shower. And you didn’t ask me anything—yet,” Aidan corrected. “I’m just warding you off at the pass.”
“I don’t only call you to get you to do something,” Gray said.
“Yes you do.”
Gray opened his mouth and then shut it. “Shit,” he finally muttered. “Fine. I need you to do something.”
“If it doesn’t involve a beer and then an entire night of sleep, forget about it,” Aidan said.
“It’s Mom.”
The only two words that could have Aidan rustling through his dresser for clean clothes instead of hanging up on his brother. “What is it?” he asked. “She didn’t fall again—”
“No,” Gray said quickly. “Healthwise she’s fine.”
Neither of them liked to talk about Char’s physical limitations. On the night that their father had left, they’d had a big fight. She’d hit him with a frying pan, but then he came after her, and she’d fallen and broken her wrist and hip. They’d both been arrested for battery and assault, and his father had taken off afterward, never to be seen again.
His mom had healed, at least physically, although her hip had never been the same. After she re-injured it last week, the doctor said she was supposed to limit her physical activity for the next month.
“She’s … on a date,” Gray said.
Aidan blinked. “What?”
“Yeah, she’s wearing that blue dress she saves for weddings and everything. I tried to talk her out of it and she …”
“She what?”
“Laughed at me,” Gray said, looking butt-hurt. “Gave me some line about how our generation has lost all sense of romance. She said she was like a fine wine and deserved to be uncorked and aired out.”
Aidan stared at him.
“I know, dude, my ears are still burning too. So you’re up. And don’t even try reasoning with her. She’s completely unreasonable and illogical. She says she’s going dancing.”
“Dancing?” Aidan repeated. “She’s supposed to be taking it easy. She can’t go dancing.”
“Thank you,” Gray said. “Penny thinks I’m being overprotective.”
The phone was suddenly wrestled away from Gray and then Penny’s face appeared. She took a good look at Aidan and smiled.
Aidan cursed, tossed the phone aside, and ditched the towel for a pair of jeans.
“Gimme that,” Gray said to his wife. Then he reappeared, though he was still glaring at Penny, who was laughing.
“Does he have clothes on yet?” she asked.
“Yes,” Aidan said, buttoning his jeans and grabbing a T-shirt. Jesus.
“Too bad,” Penny said, and got serious. “Now listen to me—both of you have to leave your poor mom alone. She’s going out to The Slippery Slope tonight with Marcus Dolby. She’s a grown woman who’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself.”
“Wait a minute,” Aidan said. “Marcus?” He couldn’t think of anyone less likely to go dancing than the resort’s equipment manager.
“Yep,” Penny said. “He asked her out. She thinks he’s cute. She said that since she hasn’t gotten any action in a few decades, she wants to get back into the game before her womanly parts wither up and die from misuse.”
Both Aidan and Gray winced.
“Your turn,” Gray whispered covertly to Aidan.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll handle it.”
“Good,” Gray said, and disconnected.
Shit. Aidan jammed his feet into shoes, grabbed his keys, and headed out into the rain to drive to The Slippery Slope.
He checked the bar first and damn. Yep, there was his mom at the far end, hair done, siren-red lipstick on, and laughing at something Marcus had just said to her.
Aidan snarled and headed over, stopping short when Jonathan stood from a barstool and offered a hand. “Hey, man, heard that last fire was a bitch. Join us? Drinks on me.”
Aidan turned to Jonathan’s companion and froze.
So did the companion.
Lily was sitting there in a little black dress, looking like a million bucks, even if her eyes were telling him to just keep walking.
And of course his mom took that exact moment to lift her head, and with the uncanny instinct that could only come from a mother, leveled her eyes right on her son.
Chapter 10
Aidan spared the brief thought that he’d rather be back on Mt. Rose trapped by the fire than sandwiched between his mother and Lily. One was the only woman on earth whose wrath scared him, and the other was the sexiest pain in the ass—er, blast from his past. While he stood at the bar in rare indecision, he felt someone at his back.
Gray.
“Sneaked out of the house,” his brother whispered. “Penny’s engrossed in a Supernatural marathon and a tub of popcorn. It’ll be hours before she surfaces.”
Aidan broke eye contact with his mom only to have his eyes lock in on Lily like she was a homing beacon. “I said I’d handle it,” he whispered back.