Page 27 of One Kind Soul

“See?”

He snapped his head up to see Nicole leaning against the frame of the adjoining door. She was dressed in jeans, a camouflage shirt, and a green hooded sweatshirt, her hands inside the sleeves.

“Not that easy to talk to them, is it?” She came in and sat beside him.

“No. You were right.”

“And this week and weekend needs to be about them.”

“I had the same thought.” He angled to face her. “So we . . . we what? Pretend as if this didn’t happen?” He motioned between them, barely able to ask the question because it felt wrong to deny such magic.

“I think it might be best.”

His shoulders slumped. “Well, that sucks.”

“Definitely.”

Hearing her agree cheered him up a little. “Maybe we could sneak in some . . . I don’t know . . . visits?”

Nicole chewed on her bottom lip and Christian couldn’t resist. He leaned over, further encouraged when she didn’t back away. He pressed his lips to hers and made sure he refreshed her memory on how good they were at kissing each other.

When the kiss ended and she put her hand to her forehead as if dizziness had washed over her, he figured he’d achieved his goal.

“We’re going to have to sneak in visits,” she said. “I can’t not be doing that when we’re so phenomenal at it.”

“Agreed.” Christian stood. “Okay, let me get ready and we can get a quick bite. Then I need to see my truck because I’m allergic to bees.”

“What?” Her brows crinkled as she stood.

“Oh.” He paused in his trip to the bathroom. “That didn’t make sense, did it?”

“No, but maybe you’re still suffering from the effects of that kiss.” She rubbed her head again. “I know I am.”

He corralled her in his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I have a severe bee allergy and my epinephrine is in my truck. I have more at home, but I’d like to grab that one if I can.”

“Oh, sure. I have the name of the mechanic in the message from the police.”

“Great. See you in ten minutes?”

She gave him one quick nod then stepped toward her room, but he hooked his hand on her arm before she could leave.

“Behaving as if I haven’t had my hands all over you is going to be one of the most difficult things I’ve been asked to do, Nixen.”

Nicole patted his hand. “Me too, Chrissy. Me too.”

Chapter Five

“I’m so happy you’re here!” Tessa threw her arms around Nicole as they stood on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. “I missed you so much.” She squeezed once more then released Nicole.

“I missed you too. The beach house is no fun without you.” Nicole rolled her suitcase to the back of Tessa’s SUV and Donovan lifted it into the vehicle for her. Being out on the sidewalk made Nicole uneasy. She’d learned yesterday that sidewalks could be dangerous.

“I’m sorry I took Tessa from Hawaii,” Donovan said.

“It’s okay.” Nicole glanced in Christian’s direction, thinking she could forgive Donovan if he’d let her have his brother. She looked away when Christian met her gaze from where he stood by the SUV’s back passenger side door. She’d been stealing peeks at him then averting his gaze since they’d come back from the mechanic, not trusting herself to play it cool. The more she looked at him, the more she wanted to strip them both down and crawl all over him.

Shit. How was she supposed to ride in the back seat with him to Vermont without making out with him? She missed having her lips on him. She also wanted to hug him when she noticed him constantly scanning the street as if he too were anxious out on that sidewalk.

“Did you guys have breakfast?” Tessa asked.