Light in Mourning (Mourning, #2) by Adriane Leigh Read Free Book Online Page A

to baste the turkey and given me a raging hard-on.  
    “Baby, next time . . . Wake. Me. Up.” I glared at her. She only giggled before spinning around and grabbing a few more dishes to set at the table. The doorbell rang and I shot a look to my dad from the kitchen. His eyes still were trained on the game; apparently, he hadn’t heard or he was ignoring it.  
    “Expecting company?” I said as I sauntered by him toward the door.  
    “Nope,” he answered. I opened the door and a female barreled into my arms and wrapped herself around me, head to toe.  
    "Sasha,” I muttered as I breathed in her familiar scent. Lavender. Her mom grew lavender and always had it hanging in the house.  
    Sasha and I had grown up together; she’d moved in next door when I was a kid and we’d been inseparable. Her mom sort of took my dad and me under her wing. Sasha’s dad had left her, and her sister and mom, when she was little. I think her mom secretly had a crush on my dad, the way she doted over him and made his favorite meals, but he seemed blind to any attention she'd paid to him.  
    “How are you?” she squealed and pulled away, her hands resting on my shoulders.  
    “I’m great.” A wide smile spread across my face. “It’s good to see you. Been a long time.”
    “I saw your Jeep in the driveway and had to pop over to say hi. Am I interrupting?” She ducked her head around me. “Hey, Mr. Howell.”  
    “Sasha! Come in. Tristan, invite her in for Christ’s sake.” He ambled over and shoved me aside before wrapping her in his arms. “Where’s your mom?” He glanced over her shoulder. Maybe hadn’t been so unaware of her attention after all.  
    “Her and my stepdad went on a cruise, so it’s just me.”  
    My dad’s face fell a little. “Right. Join us for dinner then. It’s just about done.”
    “No, it’s all right. I just wanted to say hi.” Her eyes searched out mine again. She looked great. Bronze skin and dark, nearly black hair that lent her face an exotic look.  
    “No, join us; we have plenty of food.”
    “You sure? I’ve been in Korea, teaching for the last year. I missed every holiday, and then Mom and Bob went away . . .” she trailed off.  
    “We’d love to have you.” Dad slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her into the house. The three of us walked into the dining room to find Georgia just setting the turkey down at the table.  
    “Hi.” Georgia's eyes flickered with confusion. Fuck, was this going to be complicated?
    “I’m Sasha. Tristan and I grew up together.” She knocked me in the shoulder with a playful smile.
    “I’m Georgia. Tristan’s . . . friend.” Georgia averted her eyes from mine. Fuck, I should have introduced them. I could feel the tension racketing around the room, Georgia’s unanswered questions clear in her eyes.  
    “Georgia is my neighbor in North Carolina.” Jesus, I think I’d just inserted my foot in my mouth. She was more than my neighbor. But what were we? Georgia had left that purposefully undefined.  
    A tight smile lit Georgia’s lips. “Dinner's ready. Sit.” She nodded as my dad and Sasha took a seat at the round table. I worried my bottom lip between my teeth. Georgia caught my eyes for an instant before turning and heading back into the kitchen. I followed her.  
    “Need any help?” I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her hip-to-hip with me.  
    “No, just grabbing gravy,” she murmured before ducking out of my grip. I narrowed my eyes. Fuck, she had no reason to be like this. But I knew how women get. Two beautiful women in a room was always a potentially awkward situation.  
    When I wanted in the pants of one of those women and the other had embraced me in an intimate hug, it was just asking for trouble.  
    I sighed and followed Georgia back into the dining room. She settled herself in the chair next to my dad, which left me the chair between her and Sasha.  
    Complicated.  

    “Sasha seems