31. Emery #3
“I call it implausible intuition. Impeccable insight. But if psychic is what you want to call it, go right ahead. Either way, I think we can all agree that I’m crazy amazing.” Raven drew it out, her tone a tease, no ego to it.
“Watch out for this one.” Charleigh’s words turned conspiratorial as she leaned toward me. “She’ll have all your secrets before you know what hit you.”
Raven rolled her eyes. “Obviously, since I’m basically the best friend you could ever have. So while I will have all your secrets, you don’t have to worry because I’ll have them locked down tight. Your girl here is a vault.”
My head spun, caught in the whirlwind that were these two, wondering how I’d ended up here alone in the kitchen with them within five minutes of arriving.
As if I’d been here all along.
As if I belonged.
But I didn’t. I needed to remember my place. Why I was here.
Charleigh wound around us and pulled a glass from the cupboard. “I would never have believed it when I first met her considering she basically doesn’t stop talking, but I can attest to the fact.”
Raven hauled me around the long counter that separated the living area from the kitchen.
“What? That I’m the best bestie you could ever have or the best sister you could ever have?” She swatted Charleigh’s hip.
Sister.
I tried to ignore the sting, but I must have flinched because Raven suddenly squeezed her eyes shut and lifted her shoulders to her ears before she whispered, “Oh my God. That was really insensitive of me. I’m so sorry. I would never?—”
“It’s okay.”
She grabbed both my hands. “No. It’s not. I was so excited to finally meet you that I wasn’t thinking, and I definitely should have been. I’m so sorry to hear about your sister.”
I didn’t think I was up to talking about Emmalee right then. Not when I was certain it would only take one second for these two to go deep. To dive into the places that I was still struggling to accept.
“Finally meet me?” I asked, hoping it would derail the direction she’d been going.
A light giggle rippled from her. “Well, I could barely stop myself from heading out to hunt you down the first night Kane told us you and Maci were going to be staying with him.”
“You got lucky he distracted her with home decorating.” Charleigh’s brows lifted with the tease, though caution remained in her voice.
Like she knew exactly what I was doing.
Deflecting.
Another swell of warmth rippled through my insides, threatening to melt the wall of ice I’d planned on keeping erected.
God knew how desperately I needed to.
I needed to remain alert.
Watch.
Ensure that this would be a safe place for Maci because none of this was about me.
I’d be gone in three weeks, and my niece would be…
I gave a harsh shake of my head and pinned on a smile.
“You’re the one who painted Maci’s room?” I attempted around the chaos ravaging my insides.
“Well, Charleigh, Otto, Kane, and I did. Both rooms. Plus, we did a little bit of shopping.” She gave me a wink as she looked at the shirt I was wearing that I’d found in my drawer, along with a ton of other adorable items.
Disbelief pulled through me again, though there was a tenderness invading it. “How in the world did you manage to pull that off in one night?” I asked.
Raven touched an innocent hand to her chest. “Um, let’s go back to what I told you in the beginning. I’m crazy amazing.”
Charleigh giggled as she filled the glass from an ice bucket. “You notice she’s already cut me out of that team she was bragging about a second ago?”
Raven hooked a thumb at Charleigh. “She wanted to paint your room pink. Can you imagine?”
“Hey, pink is my favorite color,” Charleigh defended.
“Keep it to those panties I know you’re always prancing around in front of my brother in,” Raven sang .
“Well, it turns out pink is River’s favorite color, too, so...” Charleigh shrugged.
I choked over a laugh.
I didn’t stand a chance against these two.
Because an ease took me over.
Swept me up in the comfort and care they exuded.
“Okay, tell me your favorite beverage.” Charleigh lifted the glass, the ice clinking against the sides.
“I’m pretty sure she needs a very strong margarita,” Raven supplied, as if she could feel my nerves.
“A margarita might be nice,” I admitted on a wispy breath.
Raven squeezed my hand tighter. In an instant, the playfulness was completely eradicated. “This has to be the absolute worst situation for you, Emery. I can’t imagine the pain of losing your sister that way.”
Except, I thought maybe she could. Thought she might know exactly what it was like to have someone you cared about most ripped from you. Because there was no missing the ghosts that writhed in the depths of her dark, dark eyes.
The stark empathy she held.
Her words so genuine it brought a trembling knot to the base of my throat.
She squeezed my hand even firmer, her voice dropping as her head inclined to the side. “But you should know that Kane is a good man. I mean, he’s made mistakes like the rest of us, and he can come across as…intense,” she seemed to settle on.
Terrifying.
Intimidating.
And somehow so attentive and supportive that he made my knees weak.
Her eyes pinched at the corners, emphasis laden in the words. “But that man would lay down his life for a stranger, so you can bet he’s going to give everything he is to that little girl.”
Emotion clawed at my heart.
Spikes of contradiction.
“Intense might be an understatement.” Charleigh mused it as she poured a margarita into the glass from a pitcher while her focus was out the big picture window that overlooked the porch and into the backyard. “I’m going to go ahead and go with obsessed.”
The four men were there, standing in a casual circle. Otto was joking about something, his hands animated as he told a story, and Theo and River chuckled along with him.
Only Kane…he wasn’t paying them any mind.
Because his attention was trained on me.
Magic eyes both penetrating and soft. Watching with concern and something that looked far too much like greed.
Lust licked across my flesh at the slow slide of his stare.
“Oh, it’s not like that,” I rushed through a whisper, refuting whatever ideas stirred Raven and Charleigh’s minds.
Refuting what stirred in mine.
“I thought we already established there is no need for secrets, Emery?” Raven had shifted to look out the window, and she nudged her shoulder into mine, the teasing back in her voice. “Look at you, squirming. Hello sizzle and spice. You might as well fess it up. Your secrets are safe with us.”
But that’s all this could be.
This attraction.
The fantasy I’d given into the other night.
This burn I was afraid would never go out.