16. Sahara
16
Sahara
I glance at Elias. “Oh, I actually haven’t seen it yet. Have you?”
Before he can answer, Kalen gestures with a nod toward the hall. “It’s upstairs. I can show you later when you’re done helping Taylor. We should make sure it fits.”
I grin at him, because I suspect there’s a lot of things upstairs that he’d like to show me later, and of course there are things I’d like to show him too.
“Why don’t you just tell me what it is,” I say. Again, I can only imagine it’s some tiny thing that barely fits. “Do you know what it is?” I ask Taylor.
“Nope.” She finishes her last bite of pasta. “But we should probably get to work.”
“You’re right. Let’s get at it. I have some bedtime reading to do.” A noise crawls out of Kalen’s throat and when everyone glances at him, he tries to cover it with a cough. “Book club,” I explain. “It’s on Thursday night and I’m only halfway through.”
Taylor sighs and rubs her tired eyes. “I can’t wait until summer so I can join. I just don’t have the time right now.” I don’t have a lot of time either, but it’s nice to get out and meet new people. “You’re going to love all the WAGs,” Taylor tells me.
“I’ve only met Gina, and she was so nice. Wait, does the ‘s’ in WAGs stand for sisters? You know with you being a player’s sister and all,” I joke. Not that it’s a great joke.
Taylor gives me a big smile. “It does now.” Tuning her attention to Kalen, she bats her eyelashes. “Would you mind doing the dishes tonight, big brother? I know it’s my turn but I’m swamped.”
Kalen shakes his head. “Go. You’ll owe me two clean up nights.”
I stand and pick up my plate, ready to take it to the dishwasher but Kalen takes it from me. “Thanks for dinner. It was delicious.” I wipe my mouth with a napkin. “You’ll have to let me cook for you sometime. I don’t have any family recipes but I can get by.” I don’t dare tell him we had staff doing the cooking.
He grins. “Sounds like a plan.”
I note the way Taylor is watching with a grin on her face. She loops her arm in mine and leads me to the big living room where she has her books spread out.
The first thing I tell her is, “Taylor, I’m sorry, that…about moving in with Elias…ugh, it just slipped out. I would never want to do or say anything to cause tension between you and your brother, or your brother and Elias. Sometimes my mouth engages before my brain.”
“It’s okay. No harm done,” she assures me and I relax a bit. A wry smile cures her lips. “Now speaking of my brother. I want to know what’s going on between the two of you. He hasn’t been coming home at night.”
“Oh, he’s my knight in shining armor.” I wave my hand, trying for light and casual. “You know what he’s like. Overprotective. He just wants to make sure my place is safe for me. I’m your friend, and that’s the reason why. He’d do it for any of your friends, I’m sure.” I can’t tell her I’m hooking up with her brother. Everything about that is wrong. “We’re friends,” I add, wishing I could just shut the hell up. She who protests too much… Taylor snorts out a laugh that tells me loud and clear she’s not buying any of my crap. “What?” I ask.
“More like friends with benefits, you mean.”
I glance down, my stomach cramping. God, I don’t want this to be awkward, or mess up our friendship. “Taylor…”
“Sahara.” She touches my arm, and I look back up at her. “I like you two together. I knew you two would hit it off. You’re just his type.”
Am I though? How can I be when I don’t even know what type I am?
“You’re not upset?”
“No. my brother could use a woman like you in his life.”
A woman like me…
He doesn’t even know who I am.
God, could this be any more messed up? I guess it’s a good thing this relationship comes with an expiry date, because I’m not sure how long I can keep hiding things from him. It was pure luck that he didn’t catch me behind the desk at the library.
“A woman like me? What exactly does that mean.” My mind races back to some of the things he said about not getting married, as well as the things he said—or rather didn’t say—about his father. He sure puts it out there that he doesn’t want more. But then I see how he is around married friends, and it seems like he wants what they have.
“It’s just, you two are good together.”
I point an accusatory finger. “I know what you’re up to, Taylor. You’re trying to keep your brother busy with me so you can make your move on Elias.”
Her eyes go wide. “Well, I mean…that might have crossed my mind a time or two. Maybe at first, but then I watched you two together. Pure magic.”
“The other night, when you gave Elias a ride and I was going home, I agreed to go for a drink to give you alone time with Elias.”
“You rock.”
“I know,” I laugh. “I even kept him at my place all night.” I look upward. “The things I do for you, my friend.”
“It was a hardship, huh?”
“Yeah, it was hard.” I cover my mouth. “Ohmigod, I can’t believe I’m saying these things to you.”
“Here’s the thing. He’s my brother, yes, but you’re my friend and I want you to be able to talk to me about whatever you want to talk about.”
“I don’t want anything that’s happening…” I stop and glance at the doorway. “…with Kalen and me to come between you and me. Kalen and I are just temporary. When it’s over, I don’t want to lose you. He’s worried about that too, but I assured him that we’re adults and can handle it.” I give her hand a little squeeze. “We can, right?”
She nibbles her bottom lip like she has a secret. “Of course, and I owe you for keeping him out the other night.”
“Oh, do tell?”
“Nothing happened. Not really.” She leans toward me. “Other than I accidently walked in on Elias coming out of the shower.”
“Accidently, on purpose?”
“I mean no, not really. We share a bathroom, you know,” she huffs out, playing innocent. “It can happen. He should have locked the door on my side.”
“It’s like he was just asking for it.”
Her eyes shine with mischief as she points her finger down and then brings it up. “I think he was happy to see me.”
I laugh as I think about Mr. President. “I bet he was.”
“It’s just.” She pauses and scrunches up her nose. “Maybe he was thinking about one of his bunnies. I don’t know. I’m not sure if he likes me and most times I’m so damn awkward around him.” She groans. “And even if he does, he’s not going to do anything about it.”
I sigh. “Kalen…”
She sinks back against the sofa. “Yeah…”
I grab a pillow and lean into the corner, placing the cushion over my stomach. “When you go away for New Year’s, maybe you’ll have to change his mind.”
“Honestly, I’m shocked that he asked me to go, or that Kalen seems to be okay with it. But it just proves how much he trusts his best friend with me. Elias isn’t going to betray that trust.” She groans, tosses her head from side to side against the back of the sofa, leaving her hair a static mess. “Pretend girlfriend. That’s right out of a bad romantic comedy.”
“They’re not all bad. Look how the good ones turn out?”
She angles her head to look at me. “How?”
“Happy ever after.”
“I don’t think that’s in my future. Not with Elias. More like crappy ever after with him having two black eyes and best friends breaking up.”
“Ugh. But there’s got to be something you could do.”
“What?”
“You’re a smart girl. You’ll figure it out. Also…” I cock my head. “Isn’t it kind of a double standard that he can hook up with your friend and you can’t hook up with his?”
“Big double standard,” she agrees. “But he’s been taking care of me since Mom died, and I don’t want to do anything to hurt him, ever.”
I nod, and when she stretches out her legs, I give one a little squeeze, understanding her worry. I go quiet, giving her a chance to explain their childhood, but she doesn’t. Instead, she says, “Elias is a lot older too. He probably thinks of me as his little sister.”
There were times tonight I saw the way Elias looked at Taylor when he thought no one was watching. He’s into her. Of that I’m sure. “Something tells me he doesn’t.”
She pushes upright and grabs a script. “Okay, let’s do this. I don’t want to keep you here all night. You have reading to do.”
I take the script and for the next couple of hours, we go over lines and rehearse, taking breaks to talk and sip water. Every now and then I spot Kalen, or Elias walking by, always taking a glance in to see us. As the night ticks on, my eyes grow tired and I pull my glasses from my purse.
“I had surgery years ago, but reading puts a strain on them.”
“They’re super cute and totally completes the sexy librarian thing you’ve got going on.” She tosses her script onto the coffee table and stretches out. “It’s getting late. I should be getting to bed. Thanks so much for your help.” She pushes to her feet. “You should crawl into bed in the spare room.” Grinning, she wags playful eyebrows and I just shake my head. I know what’s going on here: operation distraction. “No sense driving home in the dark, and I don’t like you walking from the car to your place after the break in.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
She laughs, and movement near the doorway catches my attention. “I agree with Taylor.” I lift my gaze to find Kalen standing there, his arms crossed, his legs wide, as he stares at me. My body takes that moment to quiver and deep between my legs, my sex is siding with the Coolidge siblings. “I don’t like the idea of you on the street late at night,” Kalen adds.
“Okay, Dad.”
He pulls his keys from his pocket, and twirls them around his finger. “But if you want to head home, I’ll follow you, to make sure you get in okay.”
Elias walks up beside Kalen and leans against the wall. “I’m heading out.”
“Where are you going?” Kalen asks.
Taylor throws her hands up. “See what we have to put up with? Big brother needs to know our every movement.”
“I only asked because…”
“Because you’re nosy,” Taylor provides and Kalen rolls his eyes at her.
“Brady messaged.” Elias adjusts a ball cap on his head. “He’s over at his buddy’s house. The one down the road that’s for sale. He told his friend I might be interested, and they invited me over to take an early look.”
“Oh, can I come?” Taylor asks and I sense she wants to leave to give Kalen and me time alone. Not to mention having a bit of alone time with Elias. “I’d love to get a look at it.”
“Oh, why is that now?” Kalen asks, and Taylor stiffens a bit. Before she can respond, he answers for her, “Because you’re nosy.”
Taylor sticks her tongue out at him. “Takes one to know one.” I just laugh at their childish antics, and a part of me wishes I had this kind of comradery with my siblings. It must have been so nice to have each other growing up, and even though Kalen is overprotective, he has a good heart.
Elias pushes off the wall. “Sure.”
“Maybe I’ll pick out my room,” she teases, just to get under her brother’s skin.
“Thought you didn’t want to be under his thumb, either.”
“I don’t.” Kalen turns to say something to Elias and Taylor leans into me and whispers, “I want to be under his body. I have other uses for his thumb.”
Unable to help myself, I let loose a big laugh, and that’s when Kalen goes quiet and focuses in on me. I bite my lip to quiet myself. Damn, I hope he doesn’t ask what his sister whispered to me.
Taylor and Elias head down the hall, and when the front door opens and closes, Kalen gestures with a nod toward the stairs. “Come on.” He winks. “I’ve got something to show you.”
Snatching a pencil from Taylor’s case, I curl a few loose tendrils of hair around my finger. Doing my best librarian stereotype, I secure them to the top of my head with the pencil before tugging my glasses down an inch, looking at the hottest man in the universe over the rims. I’m rewarded with a growl, as he crooks his finger, beckoning me to him,
My pulse jumps, excitement bubbling up inside of me. “Better make it quick,” I murmur, breathless from my racing heart. “I have some bedtime reading to do.” Opening my eyes wide like I just had a revelation, I tug the pencil free, nibbling on it slightly and remind her, “Oh, wait, didn’t you say you were going to read to me?”
“Oh, fuck yeah…”