Whispers of a Broken Halo by Abbi Glines

He smirked, as if that was a silly question. “Positive. We’ll make a stop by Henley’s shop and get a cupcake. She’ll be happy to see her favorite customer.”

“Yes!” Cullen said, throwing a fist into the air.

I laughed at his glee as he turned to run and get his shoes from his room.

“Thank you,” I said to Rio.

His gaze dropped to my mouth, then my chest one more time. I inhaled deeply, and his gaze slowly made it back up to meet mine.

“My pleasure,” he replied.

Cullen came running out of his room in his tennis shoes. “Ready!” he said loudly. “See you later, Aunt Bryn,” he said to me, then went to grab Rio’s hand.

I walked down the hall to follow them to the door.

“You stay with Rio the whole time. Be polite and do what he says,” I told Cullen, then handed my keys to Rio.

“Yes, ma’am. I will use my manners,” he assured me.

“You’ll need to get the booster seat out of my car,” I told him.

Rio took the keys and then opened the door. “We’ll be just fine,” he said.

I nodded and watched them go.

Closing and locking the door behind me, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. Free time was something I hadn’t had in a while. I walked over and sat down on a barstool and stared at the table we had eaten breakfast at. The first thing I needed to do was wrap my head around Rio showing up after two weeks of silence, acting as if he wanted to be near me.

More than that, the looks he had given me weren’t friendly looks. He looked at my lips as if he wanted to kiss me. I had been close to begging him to do just that at one point. Maybe it was the images that Saint had put in my head last night, but it seemed my body was now very awake and more aware of its needs. I hadn’t thought I had needs, but after the way I had reacted to the looks Rio gave me, I realized I did in fact have them. They were just Rio-exclusive needs.

But was it stupid to get my hopes and hormones up? This was Rio. He could disappear in an instant. Two weeks ago, he’d barely looked at me. Before the Jeep smashing, he’d barely looked at me. Why was I now on his radar? Had he really been thinking about me?

A smile tugged at my lips. Rio March hadn’t been able to stop thinking about me. I felt fifteen again with butterflies in my stomach at the idea that he saw me. Really saw me.

He had taken Cullen out today. That was a step I had warned him about. I didn’t want Cullen to get attached to him. He wouldn’t have taken Cullen out if he was going to go away again. I had to believe that. I could recover from it, but I wasn’t sure Cullen could. He had been so excited about going with Rio.

Standing up, I went to the sink to clean up the dishes we had dirtied, only to find they were gone. Opening the dishwasher, I found them inside. Rio had cleaned up. Smiling again, I closed it and stood there with a feeling so unfamiliar to me that I didn’t know how to explain it. Was this joy? Or was it happiness? Hope maybe?

I bit my bottom lip to keep from giggling like an idiot and decided I’d take a bubble bath. Soak, shave, relax, then wash my hair. If Rio did want to see me, then I would give him something worth seeing. This morning, I had been a mess.

Walking into the bathroom, I paused and looked at myself in the mirror. I wouldn’t do my makeup like I had to for work, but I could make myself attractive with normal makeup. He liked my breasts. He had made that clear.

I turned and went to my closet to assess my clothing. My wardrobe wasn’t sexy or revealing. I looked through my shirts and found nothing that would work. Then, I remembered a pink sundress I had bought in the spring but never worn. I had thought it looked feminine, and when I had tried it on, I’d felt pretty. It was shorter than what I normally wore, but it had a flounce at the bottom. I laid it on the bed, then glanced down at my red toenails and wished they were pink. If I changed the color, I would have to just change it back for work in two days.

After a brief debate, I decided it was worth it. I needed pink toenails. I only wore the red press-on nails at work. My natural fingernails were bare, and I made the decision to paint those pink too. Rio March wouldn’t know what hit him. Or at least, I hoped so. I could very possibly be making an idiot of myself. But then I thought about the way he’d looked at my mouth, and I smiled.





Chapter Twenty-Nine

Rio

“Might not want to tell your aunt you had candy and a cupcake,” I told Cullen as we pulled back into the apartment parking lot.

Cullen nodded. “Okay, but I really want to tell her that I got to go inside the candy store and buy something.”

“Why is that? She doesn’t take you in there, so I’m guessing she doesn’t want you eating candy.” And I didn’t want to do anything to make her mad at me.

The kid’s eyes had lit up when I suggested it. I hadn’t thought it through before I asked him. There was no way I could have backed out of it.

“We tried once. They don’t like Aunt Bryn, so we can’t go in there,” he said in a soft voice, as if he was telling me a secret and felt bad about it.

Why the fuck did Charles Denney not like Bryn? Had Tory done something to the old man? I’d known him since I’d moved here. He was a nice old man.

“I think I can talk to the owner. Mr. Charles seemed to like you just fine. I’ll tell him how nice your aunt Bryn is.”