Abrupt Changes: A Second Chance Romance (O-Town Book 3) by Karen Renee (comprehension books .TXT) 📕

I opened the door and his eyes widened. “Damn. Clint said he was taking you out, but I got a feeling he’s gonna rethink that.”

I smiled. “Thank you, I think. That’s the most round-about compliment I’ve ever received, if that’s what you were getting at.”

Gabe came inside, closed and locked the door and faced me again. “Yeah. You sure you want to go out in that?”

I laughed. “I don’t have many other options for dancing, since he refused for me to go out in jeans.”

He shook his head and walked further into the house.

“Pizza!” Jared yelled.

Gabe pointed a finger gun at Jared. “You got that right, little man. But I’m not sure if you’re gonna like it.”

As I entered the living room, Mom gave me a long assessing look which shone with approval after a moment. Then she asked, “Where’s Clint find these boys?”

“He’s Brock’s brother, Mom,” I reminded her.

“Well, that’s plain to see, dear.”

“Okay, well, do you want to eat at the table, or should I bring a plate to you?”

She semi-glowered at me. “I can get up and move, dear. It’ll do me some good anyway.”

A knock came at the door, and I thought it might be Clint, but Tanya said, “I bet that’s Kyle. I told him to bring a cheese pizza with him. Had no idea Gabe would be here with Hawaiian pizza.”

Mom gasped and I stifled a groan. “Enjoy it while you can, Mom.”

“Bet your ass, I will. We got any beer?”

Gabe bounded to the kitchen doorway and nearly collided with Kyle. “I knew I forgot something! Sorry, man, but warm beer is criminal.”

“Damn right,” Kyle muttered.

Mom grinned at me. “I owe Clint a big kiss.”

“One beer, Mom. Or I’ll owe him a piece of my mind.”

Gabe returned carrying a twelve-pack of Blue Moon Lite Sky. I looked down the hallway and watched Clint sauntering in.

His lips set in a firm line. “Thought I told you not to go shopping.”

“She shopped from the House of Lorden, which is to say, my closet, Clint,” Tanya said from her perch on the couch, where she was giving Marcus a bottle.

Clint turned his head, but I still heard him mutter, “Fuck.”

“Don’t you like it? And her hair is fabulous, even if I do say so myself.”

He sent a fake smile Tanya’s way. “It’s a stunning dress, Tanya. Problem is, it’s a little too eye-catching and —”

“She isn’t changing,” Mom called from the kitchen, a can of beer in hand.

Clint narrowed his eyes at Mom. “You want her in this get-up, or do you want her to be able to get up in the morning, Penny? And seriously, Sullivan? You gave Penny beer?”

Gabe looked abashed. “What? Raegan said she could have one. I’ll keep her to just one.”

Mom turned her head toward Gabe, muttering, “As far as they know.”

Clint scowled at me like it was my fault Mom had a house full of people and a beer in her hand. He cleared his throat, and even though he turned his body to be subtle, I noticed he adjusted his pants.

He turned back to me, a questioning look on his face. “You ready?”

I grabbed my purse and a small overnight bag from under the end table. “Sure am.”

Clint

AFTER I CLIMBED IN my SUV, I adjusted in my seat and I saw Raegan smirk. “You pleased with yourself?”

Her brown eyes held sympathy. “No. I can go change if you—”

“No,” I clipped out. “Does Tanya want that dress back?”

She shrugged, and I couldn’t keep myself from glancing at her chest. I didn’t know if it was because I knew her body so well or what, but I knew she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“That didn’t come up in conversation, Clint.”

I started the engine. “Text her. Find out.”

“Why?” she asked, rummaging through her purse.

I glanced her way before I put the vehicle in gear. “Because if she doesn’t, I’m rippin’ the fuckin’ thing off you the first chance I get.”

She turned her head and exhaled sharply. “Still a Neanderthal,” she muttered to the window.

I put my hand on her thigh and slipped it under her dress. “Still a man who doesn’t want other men looking at what’s mine.”

Her defiant eyes met mine. While neither one of us could read minds, I saw it plain as day she wanted to ask if she was mine again, but she held back. Her lips twisted in an almost skeptical way before she faced forward. Reluctantly, I pulled my hand free of her dress and looked back to the road, but I bit my tongue to keep from laughing. She knew she was mine, and that knowledge made my dick harder than seeing her in that dress did.

And that was what made me a Neanderthal.

“How much did you look into me?” she asked in a low voice.

I debated putting this off but knew that wouldn’t fly with her. “Not as much as you think. I knew you were married, that got around to Mamá from your mother’s stylist. However, when Penny wrote me, I had to know if you were still married or if you had children.”

I felt her eyes on me. “You couldn’t just ask Mom that?”

My lips pressed together of their own volition. I unpressed them to say, “I’m not someone who shows his weaknesses. Plus, I didn’t want to put Penny in the middle.”

From the corner of my eyes I saw her chin dip. “How would you put Mom ‘in the middle?’”

My chest jerked with my silent chuckle. “Penny ever say she thought of Trey as the son she never had?”

I glanced at her, and those brown eyes were even wider than I thought they’d be.

“Yeah,” I whispered.

She sighed and looked out the windshield.

I rubbed her leg with my hand. “That’s the last we’re going to talk about the past. For tonight anyway.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

I pulled up at a stop light, leaned over to grab her chin and gently guided her face toward mine. With an inch between