Page 32 of Love In Hiding

Only it was different.

He was attracted to her. Even her prickly personality that got under his skin.

Maybe it was because she showed him a more vulnerable side on the drive down.

That Beau broke her favorite coffee cup that her parentshad bought her when they’d gone on a trip to the UK years ago. Paris, Rome, and Siena got one too. Mugs bought right in the city of their names.

Kind of sweet and something his parents would do also.

Or maybe it was how she understood this job was a starting point in his life. One wrong step could change the trajectory of his future career. Hers too.

“Yeah, sure. The same thing,” she said, her frown almost imprinted on her face.

He grabbed the key and walked away to their room. No reason to stand around when nothing was going to change anyway.

They got to the second floor. “Well, we can sit out here and look at the water if we want.”

“With a bottle of wine,” she said. “I’ll be buying that when we go to dinner.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said. “For you. Get two if you need it to get the chip off your shoulder.”

She swiveled around, her gaze ready to light him on fire, making him wonder if he could run fast enough into the ocean to put it out.

“Mychip,” she said. “Let’s talk about yours.”

“Me?” he asked, putting his hand to his chest. “I don’t believe I’ve ruffled any feathers today. Matter of fact, I’m the one who smoothed them back out after you ran over them with a street washer.”

She snorted and tossed her bag on the bed closest to the door.

He knew better than to say he’d take that one. You know, being gentlemanly and offering protection.

Best to just keep his mouth shut.

“We got it done today,” she said.

“Hey, if you think that’s successful, good for you. But I’m not your sister. I don’t play this whole opposites thing.”

“Even if we are? Because you played it damn well. If you loosened your tight ass up a little you’d see we do well as a team.”

He almost stepped back from that statement. “Are you complimenting me?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

Her hair was waving around the shoulders of her blue summer sweater. She had tan cotton pants on and sneakers on her feet. No reason for them to have dressed up too much when they were going straight to the plant after their flight.

He had jeans and sneakers on himself with a golf shirt. Going in there in a suit was only going to get their backs up even more.

“Didn’t think so. I’m starving, but I need to shower and change.”

“Me too,” she said. “You can go first.”

“I’m being gentlemanly. Why don’t you go? Take your time. Maybe it will improve your mood.”

“Wow. Are you starting to unravel now that there are no witnesses?”

“You’re a witness and that isn’t unraveling, that’s stating a fact,” he said, his voice not rising.

“Fine. I need to get out of these clothes. They are going to stink up the rest of mine and I don’t want that, so I’m leaving them in the dresser. No way I want my bag smelling either.”