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“Ready?” she asked, swaying on her feet.
“Uh, yeah.” He reached out to steady her. “You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Think I stopped breathing for a second. All the bending and twisting to fasten the heels, you know? But I’m good now.” She pointed at the closet. “You’re not taking the jacket?”
“I’ll come back for it. I just had to get something out of the pocket.” He gestured ahead of him. “After you, milady.”
“That sounded flirty.”
“No, flirty would be if I picked you up and walked into brunch with you draped across my forearms.”
The door shut behind them.
“Could you?” she asked.
“Don’t tempt me.”
They headed for the elevators, walking step for step, and if they didn’t pick up their pace at some point, they’d miss brunch, lunch, and dinner.
“Why not?” she prodded.
“Ayesha,” he chewed on his bottom lip and scanned her again, ignoring the secrecy this time around, “please don’t tempt me.”
* * *
From the rooftop, they had a spectacular view of Sydney Harbour. Ships, yachts, and sailboats passed beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, leaving foamy white trails behind them in the dark body of water. There was even a pirate ship, which was where Theo and Josiah had gone with Joel’s parents when, with no outstanding catered brunch food to distract them, they’d grown bored and fidgety.
Tayler and Gage had picked the perfect weekend to get married, the weather in the mid-seventies with clear skies that didn’t look like rain would arrive at any point during the day.
Ayesha shoved away thoughts of going home in the morning. Right now, she would do her best to enjoy her time with the sisters she never had, but always wanted. Plus, it wasn’t like she couldn’t call them. Sure, video and phone calls weren’t the same as Tayler falling all over her while laughing or having Mike’s wife’s head on her shoulder, Xara drifting in and out of sleep. However, it was still possible to spot the wicked gleam in Mo’s eyes when she was going to say something wild via a screen.
“Now that I’ve gotten rid of themenfolk,” Mo gestured to the guys poised against the rooftop railing, “I have a question for,” she turned to Sydney, “you, my pet.”
Sydney propped her chin on her hands and batted her lashes. “Yes?”
“I came looking for you this morning, but you weren’t in your room.”
They all faced her.
“I was in my room this morning,” Sydney said.
“What time did you get back?”
“Around five-thir—I mean, I was there all night.”
Mo pointed around the table. “Was that, or was that not a slip-up? Why would someone who was in their room all night get back around five-thirty?”
“Valid question,” Ari co-signed.
Ayesha topped off her glass of sparkling cider and took a sip, angling around Xara, who’d latched onto her side. Mike had yawned all throughout brunch, and she was sure neither one of them got more than thirty minutes of rest the night before. While all the rooms were reasonably close, Mike and Xara’s was at the end of the hall. Now, she understood why.
“So, where were you?” Larke asked. “I noticed Kofi following you around all night like a lapdog. Did you give in?”
Some of the fire left Ayesha’s chest.
“No, nothing happened between me and Kofi,” Sydney informed the table. “That’s over. There’s no bad blood or anything. I just…had an epiphany.”
The fire returned.
