Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“And if we are…” I swallowed too not knowing how to finish that thought.
“If we are,” she said, “we’ll get a partial lobotomy and have the surgeon remove the memory of that night in Mud Gulch from our brains.”
I stared but didn’t laugh as the visions of that night wound through my memory…the feel of her tight heat, the sweet and salty taste of her skin, the texture of her nipple on my tongue. I wanted to yell and laugh hysterically. How in the hell had I, of all people, wound up in this mess? I never rocked boats or conducted myself in a manner anyone could describe as improper. And now here I was lusting after a woman who might be my sister. I groaned and scrubbed a hand down my face.
“Too soon?” she asked.
“Much.” I huffed out a breath. I appreciated her attempt to lighten the mood, but I was far from ready for that.
“Let’s just take the test and go from there,” she suggested.
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll schedule a DNA test at the hospital.” There was nothing else we could do. At least for now.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Rory
I met Gage at the hospital the next day, late in the afternoon, and we each had our blood drawn. The lab told us it would be a week or so before we got the results back telling us whether or not we were related. The possibility for at least one answer should make me happy. An easier angle. A move forward. Either Gage’s father was also mine, or I could cross one of the men off my list of possibilities. So why did my stomach roil through the entire process like I might toss my cookies?
Please don’t be my brother.
I didn’t have any illusions that Gage and I might have hope of some future, casual or otherwise. But I really, really didn’t want to live with the knowledge that I’d had sexual relations with my relative. God. Just thinking about it in those blunt terms made me want to hurl again. Wouldn’t our shared DNA act like some repellent if we in fact did share the same father? Wouldn’t I know deep inside that biology didn’t favor our union?
Because damn if my libido didn’t kick into overdrive when he rolled his sleeve up to have his blood drawn and I caught a glimpse of his forearm. His forearm! It was so incredibly sexy.
Well. I guess I’d know soon enough if my biology wasn’t smart enough to notice I was admiring the forearm—and every other part—of a blood relation, or if Gage and I didn’t, in fact, share a family tree.
When we stepped out the sliding doors of the hospital, the sun was just beginning to lower in the sky. “What are you doing for the rest of the evening?” Gage asked as we walked to his car. He’d offered to pick me up and I’d agreed. Luckily, he’d been given a rental by the insurance company while the damage to his car was being repaired.
“Nothing much,” I said as I got in the passenger side. “Except I haven’t looked at the art Mrs. Ramsbottom gave me yet, and I have to do some research on the pieces I still need to return so I can do the semblance of an appraisal, in case any of those pieces really are worth something.”
He glanced at me as he started the engine, a hint of amusement in his expression. “You’re really doing appraisals for them? Based on what? Internet searches?”
I shrugged. “It’s all I have access to.”
“Why bother? They’ll never know.”
“That feels…very dishonest.” I turned toward him. “Listen, I know this whole thing is based on a fabrication, but I’m not trying to cheat these people, Gage. If I can give them some information on a few paintings they’ve had tucked away, and they find it mildly useful, then no damage done.”
“I suppose you’re right. Except if you end up turning their family upside down when you tell them their husband and father had an affair many years ago that produced you.”
“I’ll cross that bridge if and when I come to it,” I murmured. Of course, Gage was assuming that if I belonged to one of these families, that they’d be beside themselves with horror to learn that there was a secret illegitimate family member out there floating around. But what if…what if they found it in their hearts to embrace me?
“How did Faith and her gallery get twisted up in this, by the way?” he asked after a moment.
“Her mother worked at a coffee shop my mother frequented and they struck up a friendship. That’s how they met. Unfortunately, my mother had been secretive about her affair with my father, so she didn’t have any information to offer on that front. Faith was my way in,” I told him, “and though she assured me she’s not concerned, I’m worried about potentially damaging her reputation. She didn’t come from wealth. Faith used her wits and her affinity for art to pave her way in the community. She’s a good friend who was up for the challenge of helping me find my father. And from what she told me, the wealthiest members of Calliope aren’t her bread and butter. But I don’t want to risk putting her business in jeopardy. Initially, that risk seemed very low, but once I ran into you…”