Rough & Tumble (The Haven Brotherhood) by Rhenna Morgan

Author:Rhenna Morgan [Morgan, Rhenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2017-01-31T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Jace rested his arm along the back of Viv’s chair and reclined in his own, tipping his beer up for another swig. Just under ten years he’d owned this property and not once had the dinner conversation been this uncomfortable. He toyed with a strand of Vivienne’s hair, her posture about as unrelenting as the awkward tension in the room. They’d exhausted talk of weather and sports about halfway through the meal, and now his brothers seemed content to feed their faces while his mom and Sylvie made small talk with Viv.

“Man, I’m stuffed.” Beck shoved his plate away and dropped against the back of his chair hard enough the legs scratched against the tile floors. “Sylvie, for a Scottish chick, you do good Texas.”

“Bah, fried chicken’s nothin’ ta fish ‘n’ chips.” Sylvie slid a nearly empty bowl of mashed potatoes Vivienne’s direction. “Do ye want more potatoes, lass? Ye’ve hardly enough ta keep yer legs in a stiff wind.”

Giving up on shoving her corn around on her plate, Viv set her fork down and wiped her mouth. “I think it’s the medicine. I’m not very hungry.”

“We’ll knock it back a touch if the pain’s tolerable,” Zeke said. “You can take the stronger dose at night.”

Viv smiled and nodded, but it lacked her normal conviction. If Jace could pry her head open, he’d probably find she had ten different escape plans charted by now.

Probably best he put them all out of their misery and got on with the pissed off elephant in the room. “Everyone done?”

Nods and varied grunts of agreement circled the table.

“Then let’s rally.” He stood and carried his and Viv’s plate to the kitchen, the clicks and clanks of flatware and scooting chairs behind him saying his brothers weren’t far behind.

One by one, they dutifully rinsed and loaded up the dishwasher while his mom oversaw the last odds and ends being carried to the kitchen.

Jace ambled back to Viv, doing her best to wipe down the table while keeping her shoulder stable. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. “You don’t have to do that,” he said low enough only she could hear it.

“I don’t like standing around and doing nothing.”

More like there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell she’d show disrespect to his mother by not making an effort, which only went to show how well the two of them would get along. It might take a few hours of Ninette grilling Viv twenty ways to Sunday to get there, but they’d suit just fine in the end.

The men meandered toward the back staircase that led to the basement, but paused at the top.

“You coming?” Trevor said.

“Yeah.” Jace turned Vivienne in his arms and lowered his voice. “Need to talk business with the guys. Just hang with the girls and relax, all right?”

Her volley back to him was just as quiet, but held a whole lot more heat. “You realize you introduced me to your mom with messy hair, barefoot and with no bra.

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