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“I think that’s a great idea.” I piped up and leaned back in my seat.
I was well aware of Daniel’s eyes on me, but I kept my gaze forward.
This was going to be a long weekend, that was for sure.
***
We pulled up to the lake house just before lunchtime. The Sinclair Estate was something to behold, and it was magnificent in its beauty, but there was something almost detached about it. It was beautiful in the way that the artwork was beautiful. It was to be admired from a distance, never to get too close to its beauty. But this wood cabin mansion of a lake house was far more inviting and open.
Large glass windows decorated the ground floor, making the walls completely glass. The nearest neighbor to us was a good ten-minute drive away, so privacy was never going to be an issue.
As soon as I stepped out onto the gravel driveway, I immediately felt the shift in the air. There was a calm here that you couldn’t find in the city. I was a person who enjoyed the hustle and bustle of city culture; there was never a prolonged moment of silence. But after all that I had to go through the last few weeks, the quiet was welcomed, especially if I shared it with the people I held closest to my heart.
“Ah! You’re here!” Claire practically ran out of the front door with a waddling Amelia behind her. Oh yep, she was heavily pregnant now. She looked like she was a day away from popping if you asked me, but in reality, she had about four weeks left.
Claire pulled me into a hug so tight all the air squeezed out of my lungs. After she nearly suffocated me to death, she let me go and let Amelia come and hug me. Well, she did her best to hug me with her belly. When we pulled apart, she smiled, her blue eyes beamed at me. I smiled right back at her and touched her belly.
“You’ve grown!”
“You bitch!” she laughed.
This was how we always were with each other. Amelia was the sister that I always needed in my life.
It was crazy to think that Marcus had caused the rift between us that nearly tore us apart for good
“You are glowing friend.” She was. Pregnancy suited her, and she was in her element as a mother—it was what she was born to do.
“Oh no, that’s the sweat,” she joked while wiping her forehead. “How was the ride over? Did you manage to contain yourself with being so close to Daniel?”
She winked at me, giving me a suggestive look. Of course, she knew I had a crush on the man, but she didn’t know that we were currently in the process of letting that all go.
On cue, this man appeared out of the blue and came up beside me. He handed me my handbag without a single word; his hand brushed against mine and sent pleasure-filled tingles down my spine. I did my best to stiffen my features and keep myself from acting like a fool.
He kissed Amelia and Claire’s cheeks in greeting and offered them small smiles.
“Ladies, if you will excuse me. I’ve had a long and stressful morning, as you can imagine.” His eyes flicked to mine momentarily, and then he looked back at his sister.
I frowned. What was he trying to imply? If anyone was stressing anyone out, it was him. The man had been nothing but annoying and insufferable, yet I was the problem?
Claire sighed as we watched her brother walk up the steps with my suitcase in one hand and his travel bag in the other.
“I guess you two riding together wasn’t such a great idea.”
“Yeah,” I clicked my tongue on the top of my mouth. “You suck for that, by the way.”
Chapter nineteen
Lake House
Daniel
“Stopstaringathimlike you want to kill him.” Seb came up beside me and handed me a beer.
I was by the bonfire, watching the girls play with the kids by the water. The sun was setting just beyond the horizon, and it was a picture of calm and serenity.
Amelia was holding her baby in her arms while Claire played with Sammy and Ella by the bank. Xander stood next to Selena, and they laughed at something she said. She brushed his arm, and he gave her a hug that was a little too close to be just friends.
“I’m fine,” I sipped on the beer, trying to seem unbothered. Why was he so fucking close to her? “Does he still have a thing for her?”
