Sam let out a contemptuous snort at that. “Barely. And the wellbeing of my family is always my concern.”
“And you think that if Jeffrey marries the mother of his child, that will be bad for his wellbeing? Because a few members of my family are criminals, we must all be lowlifes?”
“I judge each person on their own merits. And in answer to your earlier question, no, the problem is not the premarital sex. I’d hardly be one to talk.”
“So what is the damn problem?” she yelled at him. “He asked her to marry him! He totally wanted to marry her until you stepped in, and now he won’t even talk to her! Who the hell are you to tell him no?”
He knew that if he told her the answer, she wouldn’t accept it. Not yet. She was a bear; bears were very loyal to their family. “I’ll tell you some other time. When you’re a little calmer. Or you could ask your sister.”
“She doesn’t have any more idea than I do!” Clover balled her fists and looked as if she was ready to take a swing at him. He’d bet she threw a mean punch. He liked that in a girl.
“She’s broken-hearted and crying all the time! I want answers!”
He shrugged. “When the time is right, I’ll discuss it with you.”
“I answered way more questions than you did. That’s hardly fair.” She scowled at him.
He grinned at her and leaned back against his desk. “Who says I fight fair?”
A flush stained her fair cheeks and swept down her throat, spreading faintly over her chest. What would it be like to make her flush with passion? The thought made him shift uncomfortably where he stood as blood rushed to his groin.
“Tell you what. Come back tomorrow, have lunch with me, and we’ll talk.” He gave her his most winning smile. It was the smile that made women’s clothes fall off them and puddle on the floor.
“Have lunch with you?” she said scornfully. “I wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire, much less have lunch with you. And I’m busy tomorrow. I am accompanying her to her doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon. Prenatal visit.” Her tone turned bitter. “And by the way, if you’re questioning that she’s pregnant, I saw the test results. Positive. She’s eight weeks pregnant. She got here ten weeks ago. Do the math. And also by the way, this is a tiny town where everybody gossips. If she’d been seeing anyone other than your brother since she got here, it would be all over town.”
He nodded. “That is true. It would.”
“So?” she glowered at him.
“Tomorrow. You like prime rib?”
“Yeah, I’ll pencil you in for about half past ‘never gonna happen’. You have no legal right to prevent two adults from marrying each other, and I will find a way to stop you from interfering. Have a terrible day; I’ll see myself out.”
And with that, the beautiful, sexy bear who smelled like cinnamon and made his loins blaze with lust flounced right out of his office. Not for long, he vowed to himself. He would do whatever it took to make sure that sometime in the very near future, her growls and snarls turned to moans of passion.
*
Clover stood blinking in the midday sunlight outside the Henhouse, a small diner where everyone in town gathered to gossip. That hadn’t changed since she’d left Blue Moon Junction.
They weren’t hiring at the moment, just like the last half dozen places she’d applied. Or was it just that they weren’t hiring a member of the notorious Jones family? That could also be the case. They’d all been very nice to her, at least. It was impossible to tell if they were just being polite or if they really didn’t have any work.
Either way the results were the same. She was a college dropout who needed to support her four younger siblings for who knew how long, and she was stuck here until she could get her sister’s current crisis worked out. For that matter, she could hardly afford to go anywhere else at the moment. She didn’t have money for rent and she couldn’t buy enough gas to get them out of the state. And she couldn’t mooch off Imogen forever. If only she had anything worth pawning, she thought gloomily.
Her cell phone rang. It was Autumn calling.
“Are you in jail?” Autumn asked.
“No, the bear will live another day. But if he’s smart he’ll sleep with one eye open. Is Sapphire back yet?”
“No, she called and said she’s spending the night at a friend’s house.”
“What friend?” Clover felt annoyance flare up in her. Sapphire tended to have questionable friends who liked to party hard and drive too fast. Now that she was pregnant, those days should be behind her.
“She didn’t say. You should probably head back here now. There’s some lady from social services at the house.” Autumn’s voice was perfectly calm, as if she were reciting the menu for dinner.