When the knock comes again I nearly jump out of my skin.
"It's me," he says. "We're clear."
I open the door. He fills the frame, and for a second I barely recognize him. The charm is gone. The grin is gone. His eyes sweep past me to the window, checking the latch, checking everything, before they finally settle on my face.
"Could've been the wind," he says. "Could've been a raccoon after the trash. The latch is old."
"But you don't think so."
He doesn't answer right away, and that's an answer all by itself. "I think tomorrow we're more careful. I think tonight I sleep light." His hand comes up, and for one moment his knuckles brush my cheek, soft and completely at odds with the hard line of his jaw. "Lock your door, Sadie. I'm right outside."
He waits until he hears the lock click before his footsteps move away.
I sit on the edge of the bed in the navy dress, my pulse racing for an entirely different reason now. Ten minutes ago I was replaying the feel of his cheek under my lips. Now I'm listeningfor sounds in the dunes and wondering if someone stood on our back porch tonight while we laughed over dinner at the club.
The women were right. I am in trouble.
I'm just no longer sure which kind scares me more.
11
Jace
I wake before the sun fully hits the windows, the couch cushions doing their usual number on my back. But I don’t move right away. Instead I replay last night for the tenth time. The navy dress. The quick brush of her lips on my cheek when we got home, soft and unexpected and enough to short-circuit every professional boundary I have left. She pulled away fast, but the look in her eyes before she closed the bedroom door told me she felt it too. The rules she set on that porch in Halo City are fraying at the edges, and I’m the one holding the thread, waiting to see if she lets it unravel.
Then I think about the screen door. I know I latched it. I told Sadie it was probably the wind, but I don’t think so. In fact, I know so.
The safe house is quiet except for the sound of waves rolling in beyond the dunes. I push up, roll my shoulders, and head for the coffee maker. While it brews I stand at the window and watch the ocean turn from gray to blue under the morning light. Sunbreak Harbor looks peaceful from here. The lighthousestands tall on the point, the boardwalk already starting to fill with early joggers. But peace is an illusion. My brothers and I have been chasing leads on Dad's disappearance for months. Every thread we pull leads somewhere new. This town feels as if it might be the knot that ties them all together. And now Sadie is tangled in it because of her sister's trouble. I’m supposed to protect her and dig for answers. Not fall for the stubborn, serious, secretly soft woman who kisses my cheek with a tenderness she tries so hard to hide.
The bedroom door opens behind me. I turn and there she is, hair loose around her shoulders, wearing a simple white top and jeans, and every thought I had disappears. She meets my eyes and for a second neither of us says anything. The air between us carries the weight of last night.
"Morning," she says, voice a little rough from sleep. She crosses to the counter and pours herself coffee like this is normal. As if we do this every day.
"Morning." I lean against the counter next to her, close enough that our arms brush. "Sleep okay?"
She takes a sip and gives me that romcom-serious look, the one that says she’s trying not to smile. "Better than the drive up here. The couch seems to be treating you well enough."
I grin, the charming one I know gets under her skin in the best way. "It’s got its perks. One of them being between you and the door. And the view from the living room isn’t that bad either."
Her cheeks color the faintest pink. She looks out the window instead of at me. "We should talk about today. The dinner gave us an opening with Victor's restaurant. If he’s as connected aseveryone says, the bartender might know something about new faces or unusual activity at the marina. We need to scope it out."
I nod, shifting into work mode even as my eyes trace the line of her jaw. "Agreed. Casual recon. Ask questions without making noise. I was thinking we hit it around lunch when it’s busy enough to blend."
Sadie turns to face me fully. Her expression is serious but there’s a spark underneath, the same one that came out when she charmed Melissa and Brooke on the beach. "What if we invite Brooke and Melissa. Make it look like a group thing. Four people out for drinks and lunch. Less suspicious than the two of us asking pointed questions."
I consider it. Part of me wants her to myself, wants to see where the tension from last night goes if we’re alone. But she’s right. The cover works better with numbers. And the conversation gives Sadie a chance to uncover more about Victor while keeping everything casual.
"Good call," I say. "Text them. See if they’re free. We can meet at the marina around noon."
She pulls out her phone and starts typing. While she does I watch her, the way her fingers move, the small furrow between her brows when she concentrates. Last night at the club the other couples looked at us with envy. The banter, the touches, the way we fit. It wasn’t all pretend for me. And from the way she kissed my cheek, I’m starting to think it wasn’t all pretend for her either.
We spend the morning going over what we know. I tell her a little more about the Hawthorne search without dumping the whole family history on her. She listens, asks smart questions aboutmy brothers, about why we think Sunbreak Harbor matters. The conversation feels easy. When her phone buzzes with replies from the women, she smiles.
"They’re in. Brooke said Melissa is always up for a reason to go to the marina. Something about the view."
I raise an eyebrow. "The view or the bartenders?"
Sadie laughs, the sound light and real. "Probably both. But it gives us cover."
