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ChapterEleven
Skye
I pouranother glass of wine, even though I know better. But it’s been one of those Mondays that makes me want to drink or go straight to bed. Since I opened the bottle for my Meet Cute Book Club meeting, might as well have another glass.
Not only did I have to turn down two different families for loans—one a young couple and the other a middle-aged guy who had been out of work for a while—Mel asked me out again. But not on my extension. Oh no. He walked up to my office on the second floor and propped himself against the doorway to chat like our first date ended much different than it actually had. He’s an okay guy, so I didn’t mind talking to him for a bit. But when he finally asked me if I’d like to do dinner again this week, I was so stunned I wasn’t sure what to say. Seriously. Was he not there for that awkward goodbye?
The book club meeting has been fun, though. And yes, we do talk about our current read,Challenged—before we get off on any tangents. The founding members started the club when they were in college, and I think that’s been a good eight years ago, maybe? My hair stylist knows Brandi Armstrong, one of the original members. The college is in Abbott Ridge, North Carolina. Four of our members still live there, so we do an annual get together in person in their college town. That meeting usually coincides with the college homecoming in October.
Book talk has been over now for about fifteen minutes, but a few of us are still hanging out on Zoom to talk. I get chatty when I drink, and there’s the whole thing with having Gideon here. It’s been kind of fun, but on the other hand, it’s kind of stressful. For instance, if he were here now, I’d have to censor what I say. Brandi is talking about her boyfriend. They’ve just gotten serious lately, and we’ve been teasing her about putting some of the sex scenes in our latest romance book to the test. I can’t imagine having that conversation if Gideon were around.
“What’s going on with you, Skye?” Daphne asks me. “Did my friend’s brother show up yet?”
“Yeah.” Brandi drains her glass. I’ve been squinting all night, trying to read the label on the wine bottle in front of her. Her boyfriend’s family owns a winery, so I assume it’s one of theirs. “How’s that going? What’s it like to hang out with the guy version of your best friend?”
“Does he like sexy novels as much as Chloe does?”
They’re all talking at once now, and I’m laughing because Gideon is nothing at all like Chloe. We’re not hanging out like Chloe and I would, which is probably a good thing, since Chloe and I sometimes find ourselves sharing the same space—the two of us piled together on the couch watching TV or sharing a breakfast plate before heading out to go shopping. Sometimes when we’re together, if we’re drinking and talking, we end up sleeping in the same bed.
Imagine if that happened withGideon.
Imagineif that happened with Gideon.
“Um. No.” I take another sip of my chardonnay, wishing I was going to stop there but knowing my mouth isn’t going to stop talking. “He reads. But not sexy romance.” Actually, I don’t know if he reads any romance, but I’m not going to ask him. “And he’s nothing like Chloe at all.”
“Mmm.” Brandi purses her lips. “So, he’s—what? Nerdy? Hey! Didn’t you say there was a guy at work asking you out?”
“Mel and I had dinner last week.”
“How’d that go?” Daphne squeals with excitement.
“Oh, wait. Having Chloe’s brother there is gonna put a damper on that.” Brandi frowns and tsks like a teacher shaming a troublemaking student.
The laughter dies down enough that I hear my door click. Dammit. I asked Gideon to stay out until after nine, and he’s at the door—
When I twist around on the stool at the bar, though, he’s not at the door. He’s standing behind me. We were all laughing and talking so loudly, I didn’t even hear him open the door. Our eyes meet, and I’m certain my cheeks are flaming with embarrassment. He offers me a little grin and walks on by without saying anything. I watch him disappear into his room and wait for the door to click before looking back at the camera.
“Um. Hello?” Brandi leans way close to her computer screen. “Was that him? Excuse me while I lick my screen, ladies.”
Snorting, I drop my face to my hands and then groan while the rest of my friends howl with laughter and whistle their approval of my houseguest.
“That man does not look the tiniest bit nerdy.”
“Is that Chloe’s brother? Sex on a stick.”
While I might agree, the comments make my shoulders tense. I can’t say that about him. Not now. I can’t take the chance that he’ll walk back into the kitchen and hear me. And if I can’t say it, and I can’t stake a claim on him even if I were to say Gideon Reece is sex on a stick, then none of my friends should be allowed to, either.
“I never said he was a nerd,” I remind them as I lift my head and look at the camera again. “Just that I didn’t think he read sexy romance novels.”
“Honey, you get to know him, maybe you can write some steamy romance stuff,” Brandi suggests. Her voice drips with syrup, but her grin is wicked.
“I gotta go.”
I do. Because any minute, he’ll come back out to go to the bathroom. And I don’t want him to hear us talking about him. I’m already mortified, wondering what he might have overheard.
“Me, too.”
A chorus ofme, toosandgoodnightsfollows, and I click the camera off. Then it’s just me in my kitchen with a glass of wine, and Chloe Reece’s smokin’ hot, sex-on-a-stick brother in my spare bedroom.
