Page 47 of My Grape Crush
“Whatever's easiest,” she says distractedly.
I find her eyes. “Everything cool?”
“Uhm, I came early so we could talk in private.” She clocks my open laptop on the kitchen island. “Am I interrupting anything?”
She would have, thirty minutes ago. Drawing is how I whiled away the hours of loneliness after landing solo in Europe. Dani has a leg up on me with design, but I can convincingly render real life. Enough that, after I captured her creamy pink folds studded with silver in my journal, it set off a chain reaction.
“I was in the middle of a PowerPoint to solve world hunger. But that can wait.”
I flash a smile hoping to enable one of hers. Bingo. Dani perches on a kitchen stool, and now I have the good fortune of not only making her laugh but the weight of her gaze warming my skin.
“You’re underrated as a comedian,” she says.
I join her at the island, ass on a stool, smacking the lid of my laptop shut. “Overrated in every other department.”
Her brow furrows. “Why would you say that?”
Why indeed did I shine a light into my dark interior world? Because it’s haunted me all morning. Not my cleverest comeback, but it rolled off my tongue before I could stop it.
“It looked like you needed a laugh,” is how I position it. “And what did you want to talk about?”
Dani pauses just long enough to make me nervous. “Your brother,” she finally says.
My jaw clenches. Earlier, my stress level had dipped considerably thanks to a vision of Dani on the raft, fingers working between her legs, while my hand worked overtime under the duvet.
But it’s back, racing to new highs.
She cannot be into Sawyer. Give me this one thing, Higher Power. You owe me.
I cross both arms over my chest, if only to stop it from exploding. “What about him?”
“Did he say anything to you about me? What I mean is,” she quickly adds, “I picked up on a more-than-business vibe. On the off chance he mentioned something…”
The opportunity to roast Sawyer is tantalizing. Twice divorced. A hopeless workaholic she might see on the weekends, gliding bored and stiff through some high society function. As much fun as the plague.
But I don’t.
And I also dance around the truth.
“I can’t speak for him. We aren’t super tight in that way.”
She searches my face, earnest and unguarded. I feel a little destroyed. Did it cross her mind to ask about me? Does she not feel the sexual tension crackling between us? The purchase of a thousand blazers suddenly feels hopeless.
“Thanks,” she says. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.” A shaft of morning sunlight cuts though the kitchen, forcing Dani to shield her eyes. “I liked the stories you told last night. I get the whole sibling drama angle. It’s the same with me and my sister. Minus the vomit.”
We share a little laugh. The tale of Sawyer having to collect the drunk asses of his two younger brothers from the copshop at one in the morning is a classic. On the drive home, I threw up in the back seat of his 3 Series, and the damn thing reeked of stale puke until he sold it.
One of the many reasons why Sawyer tried to cockblock me last night.
But even he managed a grin when I imitated Dad in conniption mode, the bright lights of the kitchen shining on his delinquent sons as he declared JC and me grounded “for-fucking-ever.”
“I was a little shit, to be fair,” I admit.
“Speaking of little shits.” Dani repositions herself on the stool. “I gave Evelyn the rundown from last night. She asked me to hire security. Two guys at the front entrance twenty-four-seven starting today at noon.”
“Uh-oh.” This feels like the beginning of something bad. “Tell me what you need. I can stick around here if that makes your life easier. Me and the team can improvise. And thank you for last night.” I tap my foot against her bare calf. “You were fierce.”
Her cheeks pink ever so slightly. “I appreciate that.”
