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Latham whistles. “The fact that you’re here and not there,” he starts, leaving the rest of the sentence open.
“Means I didn’t fuck her.”
We’re both quiet for a few moments, lost in our own thoughts. When I hear soft footfalls in the kitchen, I know my sister is about to join the party. Harper pushes open the door, her eyes glued to her boyfriend. I instantly notice what she’s wearing and avert my eyes. Obviously she’s not expecting a late night visit from her brother or I’m sure she wouldn’t have just walked outside in a long satin negligée.
Latham, God love him, opens his mouth (probably to tell her that we have company), but then notices her outfit. His eyes are wide with excitement, and maybe a little amusement.
“Get ready, Mr. Douglas. I’m about to give your penis one hell of a hug with my vagina,” my sister croons, walking over and straddling his lap.
“Jeezus,” I groan, trying to burn that image out of my head.
Harper yelps and turns my way. “Jensen?” she gasps, pulling at the lace on her nightgown that covers her breasts. I, of course, avert my eyes because if this is my last sight on earth, no way in hell do I want it to be of my sister wearing something sexy and talking about vagina hugs.
Latham laughs, pulling her into his chest and kissing her forehead. “We have a visitor, honey.”
“I see that,” she grumbles, throwing her leg over his and standing up. “I’ll be right back,” she adds as she hurries back inside, hopefully to put on more clothes.
“Cockblocker,” Latham teases, a wide smile on his face.
“I’m gonna go,” I say, standing up.
“No!” Harper yells from inside the house. “You’ve already ruined the vagina hug, so you might as well stay and finish your beer. I’ll be out in a second.”
“Can you stop talking about your…vagina,” I beg, shaking my head and chugging the rest of my bottle. Latham, the bastard, just laughs.
“So. What’s up, little brother?” Harper asks a minute later, returning to the back deck wearing shorts and a T-shirt, as well as carrying three fresh bottles of beer. She hands me a new one and takes the other two to Latham. As she hands him a fresh beer, she sits down on his thigh, this time facing me.
“Can’t a little brother stop by and say hello to his big sister?” I ask, taking a smaller drink from the new bottle.
“He could, sure, but something tells me that’s not the case.” She gives me a knowing grin and waits for my reply.
I go ahead and fill her in on what happened tonight at Ashley’s place, hating she’s getting all worked up over the drama with my ex. But Harper is loyal, and for a while, considered Ashley a friend until Ash started pulling this kinda shit when our marriage was ending.
“What a crazy bitch,” she mumbles, taking a drink of her own beer. “I can’t believe she’s still pulling this crap. She’s so hot and cold.”
“That she is,” I exhale, glancing off into the dark night. My mind is reeling with everything that happened today. First with work, then with discovering Kate is back in town, and then this bullshit with Ashley. My mind is toast.
“How’s everything else going?” she asks, leaning back against Latham’s chest and watching me.
This is the part where I could tell her it’s fine. I’ve already shared all of the night’s drama with Ashley, so I’m sure she’d think that’s the reason I stopped over. And she’d be correct—it was the main reason. But there’s more. God, there’s more to this shitshow story, and I don’t know how to process it.
So instead of finishing off my drink and leaving them to do whatever it was they were about to do, I find myself opening my mouth and spilling the rest of it. “Actually, I met the new owner of the Elliott mansion today.” Without finishing the beer, I set the bottle on the table and rest my elbows on my knees.
“Okay,” she says, drawing out the word. “Everything okay? You still have the job, right?”
I laugh humorlessly. “Oh, yeah, I still got it. There’s no getting out of it now, even if I wanted to. I’ve already signed the contracts and the work has begun. It’s just gonna be hell working there when Kathryn Elliott is on the opposite side of the walls.”
Her eyes widen in shock. “Kathryn? As in your Kathryn?”
“Not my Kathryn, remember? But, yes, they are one and the same.”
“I don’t understand,” Harper says, her blue eyes turning concerned.
“Apparently, her father passed away and left her the house. She’s moving into it,” I state, keeping it to the basics. Actually, I only know the basics, so that’s all I can say.
“Holy shit, Jensen, and you saw her?”
I nod my confirmation. “We had a brief conversation. She had some sort of panic attack when she saw me.”
