Chapter Eight
After finishing her shower in Gabriel’s luxurious guest bathroom, Temperance dressed in her freshly laundered clothes from the night before. As she put Gabriel’s shirt in the washing machine, she prayed silently that Rosie wouldn’t notice that she was wearing the same jeans and shirt from yesterday.
However, while the thought of last night made her go through all kinds of emotions and blush furiously, the one thing she didn’t feel was regret. Though they hadn’t done anything else after their encounter on the couch, it had been the most intimate she’d been with anyone since Tony. Her ex had been a good lover she supposed, though it was obvious in the waning weeks of their relationship he had been going through the motions. But Gabriel … he had all his attentions on her, and didn’t even ask for anything in return. It was refreshing, but at the same time, she didn’t know what to do.
With a deep sigh, she tiptoed out of the guest bedroom. Much to her surprise, Ginny was there, plopped down on the couch, TV remote in hand as she scrolled through the channels on Gabriel’s humungous flat-screen TV. Sensing she was there; Gabriel’s sister turned her head toward her.
“Hey, come and join me for a bit,” she said, waving her over.
Seeing as she had already caught her, Temperance couldn’t exactly backtrack to the bedroom and hide out there, despite desperately wanting to. So, she padded over. “Um, hey.”
Ginny’s gaze was welcoming as she sat, but then it flickered down to her cheek, and Temperance froze, realizing she’s forgotten to arrange her hair.
Meeting new people always made Temperance anxious, as they would either gawk at her scars or awkwardly tiptoe around them, pretending they didn’t exist. The worst were the pitying looks and those people who simply couldn’t stop themselves from asking about how she got them.
“It was a house fire,” she explained quickly, wanting to get this over with. “Happened when I was a teenager.”
However, when she gazed up into Ginny’s blue eyes, there was no pity there, nor did she turn away. There was curiosity of course, but Ginny also looked her straight in the eye with an understanding and acceptance Temperance had never experienced before.
“Oh,” she replied. “Gotcha. So, how long have you and Gabriel been—er, dating?”
The question—and Ginny’s general demeanor of acceptance of her deformity—had caught her off guard. “Er, we just met. Last night was kind of our … first date. Half date?”
“That’s my brother for you. If he can half-ass something, he’ll do it. But really, he’s a good guy. I hope you’ll give him a chance, even if he’s not much in the looks department,” she guffawed, her eyes rolling.
Temperance laughed at the joke. “Right. I have a really hard time keeping my eyes on him.”
“You should put a paper bag on his head. Us Russels are a bunch of hideous hags.” Ginny herself was just as good-looking as Gabriel, like a petite, feminized version of him, though her hair was strawberry blonde. “I can tell you one thing: he’s loyal through and through. You’ll never have to worry about him straying. When he commits to something, he’ll finish it.”
She bit her lip. It was a little too early to think about commitment, right?
“Did he tell you that he’s the youngest of six kids and the only boy?”
“I had no idea.” Actually, she realized that aside from not liking frogs and being a lion shifter and a ranger, she didn’t know anything about Gabriel.
“Growing up around us couldn’t have been easy; hell, I had a hard time myself,” she said. “But Gabriel, he took it all in stride. He got teased a lot when he was a kid, but he never once said anything bad about me or my siblings or our family out of loyalty. He’s the same with friends and girlfriends.” Ginny winced. “Sometimes to an extreme, even if it’s unhealthy for him. But family is important to him, and so are the people he loves.”
Temperance wasn’t sure why Ginny was looking at her funny, but the piercing blue gaze made her shift in her seat. “Uh, okay.”
“Are you all done—hey.” Gabriel walked into the living room, a blond brow arching at them. “Is Ginny telling you embarrassing stories about me?” he pouted at his sister.
“Like I would tell you if I did.” She winked at Temperance, making her giggle.
“No fair,” Gabriel said.
As he walked closer to them, Temperance sensed something wasn’t quite right with Gabriel. “Is anything the matter? You seem tense.”
“Ugh. Yeah.” He relayed to them the situation with Anders and the bachelor party.
“Pshaw,” Ginny bounded up and waved a hand at him. “Don’t worry, bro. I got a guy who can help. I’ll send you his number, and you tell him what you need. He’ll take care of everything.”
“Thanks, Ginny,” he said. “Now I only have to convince Damon to come. He’s going to hate it, and he’ll be miserable knowing Anna Victoria’s at home.”
“I have an idea,” Temperance blurted out. “Some way you can make them both happy and keep your promise to Anders.”
“Really?” he said.
She nodded. “Why don’t we head to Rosie’s? I can whip up something quick for breakfast, and then we can talk about it there.” It would give her time to think about this plan, though she already knew where to begin.
“All right,” Gabriel said as he walked to the door and grabbed his keys. “Let’s go.”
After picking up her car, they drove back to Rosie’s, Ginny following them on her motorcycle.
They arrived at Rosie’s, and she unlocked the door, letting them in. On the way here, the idea for what she would make the siblings for breakfast was brewing in her head. She told them to get comfortable as she set out to work, going in her usual trancelike state as she got the pies for the day ready, alongside with her inspired original creation. As soon as they were done, she cooled them on the
