I’m not proud of the small pout on my lips. “I thought you were so big and strong.”
“I am, but you make me weak. I’m afraid one more second will make me toss this all to the ground and scoop you up, and I just don’t want to face Kate’s wrath today. Not after such a perfect day yesterday.”
The air leaves my body at the montage of memories that flash in my mind from the day before. The pasta, the rain, the kiss. “Fair.”
“Let me take these inside and then we can find something to do together.”
“So that I can kiss you all I want?” I ask.
His lips tug up again. “So that you can kiss me all you want,” he murmurs.
With another quick peck to my lips, he lifts the crates and effortlessly carries them into the villa. I’m still staring after him, grinning like an idiot as he smiles at me over his shoulder, when I hear my sister’s voice.
“What was that about?”
I spin around. “How did you sneak up so quietly?”
“It’s a skill I’ve mastered over the years. Now stop changing the subject. What was,” Kate wavesa hand where Reid and I were just talking, “that?”
“I, um, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
With a dramatic sigh, she plants a hand on her popped hip. “Are you and Reid together?”
I don’t know why I hesitate to answer her. She’s not the boss of my life. But I can see the irritation in her eyes. I can sense the anger radiating off her small frame. And truth be told, I’ve always kind of been afraid of her and her temper despite her being both younger and shorter than me.
I think, deep down, I just never wanted to be the reason she had negative emotions. Because I so badly wanted to be on her team and her on mine. And that became a one-way relationship somewhere down the line no matter how hard I worked to keep her happy, but those old wounds never really closed up.
After all this time I’m still afraid to disappoint my baby sister on the off chance she cuts me out of her life. Because even if she did cut me out for something so petty, it shouldn’t be a relationship I want to hold on to.
But here I am, still finding a way to stretch the truth to her so that she doesn’t get mad at me for doing something to make myself happy for a change.
“I . . .”
Reid, thankfully, appears out of nowhere and hooks an arm around my waist to tug me to his chest. “Yes,” he says confidently. The single word sends an eruption of fluttering through my stomach.
Kate narrows her eyes, her attention zeroing in on where his arm rests on me and the flutters intensify for a whole new reason. “When did this happen?”
“Yesterday,” he says. “Thanks for sending us on that errand, Kate. Finally brought us closer together.”
“What do you mean ‘finally’?”
“Ihaven’t stopped thinking about Jane since she crashed into me and shattered six plates in my restaurant.” Just the tone of his voice has me lifting my gaze to him, and the look on his face tells me exactly how serious he is. The idea has the butterflies back on the good side now.His expression softens when he looks at me, a smile forming on his mouth.
“I told you she was lying to you,” Jessica says, stepping from around the corner like she was standing there listening the whole time. Like she facilitated the whole thing.
I grit my teeth. Suddenly my world feels like it’s imploding right before my eyes because what on earth is Jessica doing here eavesdropping on this conversation. “What is your problem?”
“Me?” Jessica presses a hand to her chest, feigning innocence. The act alone makes me see red.
“Yes, you. Why are you trying to get in between me and my sister?”
“Jane,” Kate warns, but I’m too mad now to stop. I’m too angry at this petty girl coming between me and my family. And for what?
“No, I need to know. Why do you care so much about what’s happening between me and Reid? Why does it impact you so much that you need to tell Kate my business days before her wedding when I specifically told you not to?”
Jessica scoffs. “I don’t care what you do. I care about you blindsiding my friend.”
“Your friend is my sister. Who you’re trying to pit against me and I want to know why.”
