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“He wouldn’t do it to you.”
“He has better abs than we do. We could tell.” Luke snapped a couple of photos. He tapped at my phone. “There. Sent.”
I clasped my palms over my cheeks. “You didn’t.”
He flashed a wicked grin. “Totally did.”
I kept my cheeks covered, looking at Victor. I couldn’t believe he went along with this trick so easily. I couldn’t imagine what Silas would do if he found out. Wouldn’t Silas be able to tell it wasn’t me?
A text message came back. Luke held it up so we could read it at the same time.
Silas: Pretty belly button. I remember that spot.
The air changed then. The guys sucked in air at the same time, staring at the message. I was on fire, blushing from every point. I knew the instance he was referring to, when his thumb had stroked right under my belly button. We’d had a moment like that together where he almost kissed me.
Victor and Luke both popped their heads up at the same time, staring right at me. “What does that mean?” They both spewed out at once. They looked at each other and then Victor looked back at me, his fire eyes a flurry of flames. “What’s that about?” he asked.
My mouth was open, wanting to answer him but not knowing what to say. I wanted to ask for the phone back but was almost terrified to say so. Asking for it would mean it was clear I was trying to avoid the question. I couldn’t come up with a lie, and I couldn’t sputter out the truth. I was petrified.
“Oh my god, she’s so adorable,” Luke said, his face changing suddenly, lowering the phone, his amused eyes taking on something softer. “Vic, check it out. I’ve never seen red ears on a girl before.”
I almost choked, and then it came out like a chirp.
Victor laughed so hard, I thought he was dying. He grabbed his abdomen and nearly leaned against Luke. Luke started giggling.
I couldn’t believe them. Boys! I was starting to wonder if they were more trouble than they were worth. I couldn’t think of anything to say, to explain my blushing, to explain Silas...
A firm palm touched at my waist.
I jumped, on edge with the boys. My heart exploded, I gasped. I turned with my hand on the base of my throat, unable to cry out because I didn’t have the voice to do so.
Kota stood there, looking at me, his green eyes at first curious and then concerned. When I realized it was him, I couldn’t help it, and sunk my face so close to his shoulder, nearly hiding behind him. The boys were teasing, I knew. It was just all the emotions at once were so intense, I needed a place to hide.
“Aw,” Luke said. “Sweetie, don’t look like that. We’re just kidding.”
Kota pulled me in closer, his shoulder shifting at my face, encouraging me to use as much of it as I wanted. His hand stayed around my waist, holding me against him. “What’s going on?” he asked, mostly to the boys, his tone commanding, like they’d better start talking.
Victor was smiling, and looking sympathetic. “We’re sorry, Sang,” he said. “You don’t have to hide.”
“Silas was texting her,” Luke said. “We’re just teasing her about it. Well, mostly we were teasing him, but she’s funny.”
“Why?” Kota asked. “He was texting her while on the job? Was it important?”
“He must have had a free minute,” Victor said.
Luke held up my cell phone. “He wasn’t relaying Academy things. Just chatting.”
I was waiting for either of them to suggest Silas had been flirting, but they seem to be keeping it to themselves.
“Is something wrong?” Mr. Blackbourne’s voice reached us. Kota stood still, and I peeked over his shoulder. Mr. Blackbourne turned his steel eyes on me, and then gazed at the others with a curious expression.
“Nothing,” Luke said. “Just having fun.”
“They’re teasing Silas,” Kota said.
Mr. Blackbourne raised an eyebrow, his face otherwise expressionless. “Why?”
Luke moved his mouth like he wanted to say something. Victor’s eyebrows were up, some color coming to his cheeks. I realized Mr. Blackbourne wouldn’t approve of their prank.
I didn’t think he’d approve of the photos.
Luke was still holding my phone. Mr. Blackbourne made a motion for it. “May I see?”
My arm went up until I was gripping at Kota’s shirt, crumpling the material in my hand to hang on to him, burying my cheek against him.
Luke passed over the phone to Mr. Blackbourne. Mr. Blackbourne looked at me, his eyes suddenly immeasurably softer, his tone careful. “Miss Sorenson,” he said quietly. “I wouldn’t ask to invade anything you feel is private, but would you mind if I looked?”
I couldn’t refuse him. At the same time, my tension eased considerably. Mr. Blackbourne would know what to do about this. Maybe it was a good thing he was stepping in. Out of all of them, he seemed to be the one who could tell me if I was doing something wrong, or if the boys were out of line.
He nodded in acknowledgement and pushed a button to turn it on. He scanned the screen, scrolling and checking. “This is you, isn’t it, Mr. Morgan?”
“It was to tease Silas,” Victor said. There wasn’t any fear, and no embarrassment, just sincerity. He was confessing to what they were up to without remorse.
“We didn’t mean anything by it,” Luke said. He spoke in the same tone.
My heart was in my throat, waiting for Mr. Blackbourne to say something to them. To tell them not to tease Silas, or to ward them off of doing it again. Did he ever hear of Luke’s other pranks that he liked to pull? Mr. Blackbourne lifted his gaze, meeting my eyes. “Could you and I go for a little walk, Miss Sorenson?”
I’d expected him to say something in front of the others. I quickly sucked in a breath. I gave a slight nod of my head and moved away from Kota to stand normally.
Kota gave my back a quick rub and then released me as I moved away. He addressed Mr. Blackbourne. “Should I—”
“Stay here,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Or rather, you and Mr. Morgan and Mr. Taylor should check out the stable, and the other outside buildings. There’s a lot of ground to cover. I want you familiar with the place.”
Kota glanced at me quickly and then focused on Victor and Luke. “Okay, you heard him. Back to work.”
The others moved away, starting off together, heading toward the stable. They hopped the fence, heads together like they were talking.
“This way, Miss Sorenson,” Mr. Blackbourne said.
I stiffened and turned, spotting Mr. Blackbourne with a calm expression, waiting.
Maybe I was the one that had gone too far.
Camillia
Mr. Blackbourne had me follow him back inside the building. For October, the weather
was still warm during the afternoon, getting cool only late in the evening after the sun went down. The building provided some mild relief, and had some fans gently pulling in air from open windows.
Mr. Blackbourne ushered me inside. I pretended to admire our surroundings, the historic location we were at, but was actually unable to focus on the old woodwork, the antiques, or the displays of the past. Mr. Blackbourne had held onto my phone, and as we walked down a hallway, he slipped it into his pocket.
Simply being next to him, however, eased a lot of the pent-up tension I was felling over what had happened. This felt like an opportunity. I could tell Mr. Blackbourne what was going on, and he’d be able to tell me what I was doing wrong. Between Silas and Nathan and all of them, there was attention coming from all directions. I wasn’t used to it, and wanted to keep things together. I may not have had any experience in relationships, but I felt at some point the boys would become jealous with each other and I didn’t want that to happen. Nathan had already displayed some of that with me.
If anyone knew how to handle this, it would be Mr. Blackbourne, who often acted like a shield from the others.
He stopped at a water cooler near the door. He filled one of the red plastic cups with water and passed it to me. “You look flushed. Will you drink something?”
I nodded, grateful for it. I hadn’t realized how parched I’d become. Mr. Blackbourne tended to be particularly aware of things I needed before I even realized it.
I sipped at the water and he gestured for me to continue deeper into the estate. We passed displays of history, of days of cotton picking and slavery and Civil War and local historical landmarks, including pictures and paintings of Middleton as it was back then, and through the years. Otherwise, the estate was picturesque with period furniture and housewares set up as if it were many years ago when it was first built.
Mr. Blackbourne stopped beside one of the many table displays. He gazed at one of the vases, similar to the one Victor had taken pictures of earlier. Mr. Blackbourne motioned to the flowers. “Do you know what these are?” he asked.
