“Who are you?” my nephew asks. Harrison is very inquisitive, if not a little protective.
Heat crawls up my neck as I watch Colt crouch down to Harrison’s level, all easy charm and patience. “I’m Brooke’s brother. Who are you?”
“Harrison East Emory.” He goes back to eating because any friend of Brooke’s is a friend of his.
“This is my niece, Lorelei. You just met Harrison.” Lorelai waves shyly. I adjust my holiday t-shirt, doing my best to pretend I’m not lusting after Colt Sawyer in front of my niece and nephew. “What’s the circular saw for?”
“Thanks, brother dear.” Brooke motions to the stairs. “I’m replacing the existing boards, remember?”
Brooke is a DIY addict. Her house is a constant project. But this smells like a setup. She wouldn’t start the stairs in the middle of the bachelor auction and with Christmas weeks away. So, I give her the I know what you’re up to, Bestie stare, and she turns, pretending interest in something the kids are saying.
Colt’s gaze flicks to me, then to Brooke, then back to me. One corner of his mouth quirks up—he knows exactly what his sister is doing. The knowing look in his eyes makes my face burn.
Ugh.
Then she takes the kids back to my house, leaving me alone with her brother.
The door shuts with a click, the two of us standing at her kitchen island. Colt leans against the quartz countertop, looking all masculine and yummy. “Thank you for the treats today, Hallie. Maisie gobbled them up and finally quit ignoring me. Her attitude has been awful with the babies on the way.”
“Babies?” My eyes widen in shock. “She’s having two?”
“Yep, turns out she’s having twins. I’ve got to keep a really close eye on her, make sure everything’s good. So I appreciate you not letting me leave without the treats.”
“Oh, I would have driven them over.”
“Well, if I hadn’t been such an ass, you wouldn’t have had to.”
The sincerity in his voice catches me off guard. I should say something gracious, something that lets him off the hook. Instead, I just stand there, hyper-aware of how close he is, how his eyes haven’t left mine.
“Hmm.”
His mouth curves into a half-smile that makes my pulse stutter, his square jaw handsome with a dusting of scruff. The kitchen suddenly feels smaller. Warmer.
“You gonna make me grovel?” His voice drops lower, almost teasing, but there’s something raw and masculine underneath it that scatters my thoughts.
For a second, maybe two, neither of us looks away.
“I should go,” Colt says, but he doesn’t move immediately. Then I do something that nightmares are made of. My foot snags the corner of the throw rug, sending me wobbling straight into my high school crush’s arms.
He catches my fall, our faces inches apart. “Oh, Hallie.”
He leans in for the lightest of kisses, feather-soft. His scent, leather, pine, and an essence purely him wraps around me, and for a second, I forget to breathe. It’s barely a kiss, but it blooms in my chest, sweet and startling.
As quickly as it starts, Colt pulls away, his fingers brushing his mouth, his eyes hooded, then tips his chin toward the door.
As we both head outside, Brooke catches my eye with a smirk. “Thanks for bringing the saw, brother dear.”
Chapter 5
Colt
The wind blows fast, smelling like rain. I remove the saddle blanket from Renegade, hanging it on the wall next to the riding gear before running my hand over his sleek sorrel coat. All good.
I brush him down, lost in the scene playing on repeat in my brain. You gonna make me grovel? Then I fucking kissed her. I need to be put to pasture for those smooth moves. I’ve been in town for a week, and I’m already hitting on my sister’s best friend?
Not that she cares. She’s the conniving little matchmaker who had me bring the circular saw over. To work on the stairs. She could have come up with something better than that.
Still. I don’t have time for a relationship. I don’t want a relationship.
