So here’s the thing. I knew how my sister thought when we were kids. But I’m on my second pass through the house and I haven’t found her yet, so apparently I don’t know how she thinks as an adult. I’ve run into a number of other people while looking for her, so most of us haven’t found her yet either.
I stop in the kitchen to eat a few chocolate covered blueberries, and down half a glass of champagne. I’m passing the pantry door when it opens suddenly and a hand sticks out, clamping onto my wrist.
I cry out as I’m hauled inside the small, dark space.
CHAPTER 32
Paisley
“Wha—”I say, cut off by a hand pressed lightly to my mouth.
“Shhh, Ace.”
I smile against Klein’s palm. He releases me, and I whisper, “Why are you in here?” My eyes haven’t yet adjusted, and it’s too dark for me to see anything. “Wait. Is Sienna in here? Did you find her?”
“No,” he whispers. “It’s just you and me and our own little game.”
I cover up my laugh. “How did you know it was me when you grabbed me?”
“I know your gait.”
“Be real.” I playfully shove him.
“Ok, the truth is I was looking under the half inch of space at the bottom of the door. I saw your shoes.”
“You were lying in wait.”
“I knew you’d be along soon. Chocolate covered blueberries are your third favorite food, after tacos and cowboy spaghetti.”
“I never told you that.”
“You don’t have to be told something to learn it, Royce. You need only watch.”
My hands find his chest, running up and over the hard planes, snaking around to the back of his neck. “What else have you learned by watching?”
“You wiggle your toes in the sand because you like the feel of the warmth between them. You’re the caretaker of your family.” His hands go to my hips, fingers curling into my skin. “You have one speed in the morning: sloth. Your family and that asshole are surprised to find you’re funny, and I’m still working out why you don’t show them your sense of humor.”
“It’s your fault.”
His breath of laughter tickles the top of my head. “How’s that?”
“You make me funny. You bring it out in me.”
He tightens his hold on my hips. “So I bring out your sense of humor, and you gave me a boyfriend perk. Royce, I think you might like me.”
“That’s the problem, Madigan. I know I like you.”
His thumbs stroke my hip bones. “How’s that a problem?”
“I don’t trust myself with men. The last one I chose turned out to be a carbon copy of my father. In case you were sleeping during dinner with him, that’s not a compliment.”
“In case you’ve been sleeping since the day you met me, I’m nothing like either of those people.”
I know he isn’t. I know it as certainly as I know the sun will rise and pierce through my curtains in approximatelyeight hours. But it’s not him. It’s me. I have emotional baggage to work through before I can move forward.
Klein’s hand leaves my hip, settling on my forehead. He runs the pad of a finger between my eyebrows. “Creased,” he announces quietly. “I bet if I felt your lips, they’d be pursed.”
I force my lips to relax. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
