He kisses my forehead. “Fantastic. She told me this weekend redeemed me and I’m not a failure as a brother. Whatever that means.”
I laugh. “I think she’s joking.”
“I’m not so sure.” He kisses me again and I melt. This is the perfect chance to tell him the truth. But when we part, his voice is low and his pupils are inky, full of lust. Probably just like mine. “There’s something I want to do before we eat.”
“What’s that?”
He kisses me again. “You.”
Before I can protest, he picks me up and, with me squealing, takes me into the bedroom and shuts the door.
Chapter 40
Stone
Everything is good.No—it’s perfect. So perfect it feels borrowed.
It’s questionable if I ever dreamed of this sort of life, but if I didn’t, I want it—all of it, every last drop it has to offer.
The resort construction sings. We’re back on schedule, and building is going as well as it can be. Almost too well, and that’s rare in construction. You usually hit many problems on the way to finishing a project—at least I think so. No, I know so, somehow.
But not here in Mystic Meadows. Here, walls rise with gusto.
For as fast as everything moves forward, something feels off. This feeling that something’s going to drop simmers in my stomach.
“It’s really shaping up,” Isaac says as he comes over to critique my work.
I’ve been laying out stones in the garden I’m building for Coco. I rise, brush off my hands, and say, “You like it?”
“Yeah. The way you’ve got the path winding, it’s going to be beautiful.”
Beautiful. Just like her. “Thanks.”
“What are we talking about?” Ron asks, wiping sweat from his forehead.
“How good this garden’s going to be when it’s done,” Isaac tells him.
“Oh yeah. It’s gonna be breathtaking.”
“Thank you. That means a lot.” I step back to admire the work. The path serpentines, and local flora will flank it on both sides, bringing nature into the space seamlessly.
I’m putting everything I’ve got into it.
My thoughts are interrupted by a sedan rumbling onto the site. My shoulders lift, and I excuse myself from Ron and Isaac to head over to meet Coco.
She kills the engine and gets out, lifting a brown sack. “I brought you some lunch.”
I pull her into a bear hug and growl with happiness. “Perfect.”
Around us, machines lumber and pneumatic tools hiss and pop.
I take her hand. “Come eat with me.”
Her face turns red and she quickly looks around. “I’m not that hungry. Besides, should we eat where all the guys can see?”
“Did you bring enough to share?”
She swats at me. “No.”
