16. Diego
Chapter Sixteen
DIEGO
Gemma’s eyes widened as she stared back at me. She’d been about to take a bite of one of those rolls and lowered it slowly to the plate. “Soon?”
I nodded, trying not to laugh. I understood her anxiety because meeting my sister was akin to coming face to face with a freight train. There was no stopping her, and Gemma didn’t even know that. “I did tell you she was already here.”
Gemma nodded, popping one of those rolls into her mouth and closing her eyes as she chewed. I couldn’t look away from the sight of her lush, plump lips closing around the roll. It didn’t help matters one iota when she let out a soft moan of satisfaction, which sent a poorly timed jolt of lust through my body.
Opening her eyes, she swallowed. “Daphne’s food is a religious experience,” she said reverently.
I chuckled. “Agreed. You see why we’re all so happy Flynn fell in love with her. We’ll be on his case instantly if anything looks rocky between them.”
I popped one of the small rolls into my mouth, closing my eyes as the combination of flavors invaded my senses. “Fuck,” I said when I opened my eyes. “They’re just rolls, but they are incredible.”
Gemma laughed softly, leaning her elbows on the counter. “They are. So, your sister. Where is she?”
I glanced at the clock above the stove. “She went into town with Nora earlier, but Nora’s back, so I expect Harley to show up any minute.”
“Do I need to worry?”
“Not at all. I have four sisters, and they all have opinions about my life. Lately, Harley has been on a kick trying to set me up and get me married off.”
Gemma’s cheeks went pink. “She wants to marry you off?”
I shrugged. “Yes.”
“Is your family kind of old-fashioned?” she asked in between bites.
Tucker appeared at that moment, hearing the tail end of Gemma’s question. “If by old-fashioned, you mean they expect everyone to settle down and be madly in love forever, yes, that would be Diego’s family.” He clapped me on the shoulder as he snagged one of my rolls and passed by with a wink.
I rolled my eyes as he retreated. “You owe me one,” I called.
Tucker turned back, resting his elbow on the back of one of the barstools by the counter. “What do I owe you?”
“A roll. They’re amazing.”
Just then, Daphne bustled by, immediately hurrying over to the stove and pulling out another tray of the very rolls under discussion. Without a word, she stopped beside me and added two to my plate, casting a sly smile in Tucker’s direction.
“Thank you, Daphne,” I called. Daphne was always on the move and was hurrying off already.
“Seems like she does a great job of managing the kitchen and all of you along with it,” Gemma commented.
“She runs a tight ship. She takes care of three meals a day. She seriously loves to cook. Cat helps out a lot, and I do when I have time.”
“You do?” Gemma’s eyes widened as she looked back at me.
“Of course, he does.” My sister’s voice came from behind my shoulder. She stopped beside us. “Diego is a really good cook,” Harley said with a lift of her chin, as if somehow Gemma was doubtful of my cooking abilities.
“This is my sister, Harley,” I said, gesturing to her. “Harley, this is Gemma. She’s going to be teaching a yoga class here every week. Or, so I hear, right?” I looked back at Gemma.
Gemma set her now empty plate down on the counter and nodded. “For starters, it’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Harley replied, although her smile wasn’t the warmest. My freaking sister. On the one hand, she wanted to marry me off. On the other, she wanted to be in charge of whoever I dated. I couldn’t win, so I mostly ignored her.
“As to classes, I’ll start this coming week here. Just one evening. We’ll see how it goes. Daphne wants me to host two. One for staff and one for guests. We’ll have to see if enough guests sign up to make it worthwhile.”
Harley’s green eyes narrowed as she assessed Gemma. “If the classes are good, I would think so.”
Gemma regarded her quietly. “I like to think my classes are good. I wasn’t sure if that many guests would be interested. I suppose it depends on why they’re here on vacation.”
Harley nodded. “I suppose so.”
“How long are you visiting?” Gemma asked politely.
“I’ll be here for at least three weeks. Then, I’ll have to figure out what my next plan is. I dumped my boyfriend, and I need to regroup.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Gemma replied, her brow creasing with concern.
“No need to be sorry. I walked in on him screwing my roommate,” Harley said dryly. “But that created two problems. I had to dump him and ditch my apartment. Fortunately, Diego offered the spare bedroom in the staff house here, so I have a place to stay while I figure out what I want to do next.”
“What do you do for work?”
“I do transcription and translation for medical companies. Sounds kind of dry, but it’s actually fun. I have a lot of flexibility and can make it work for my schedule.”
“That’s great,” Gemma replied. “So, you’ll be able to work while you’re here?”
Harley nodded firmly. “Absolutely. I have two deadlines to meet.”
Nora meandered over, stopping beside us. “Did Daphne give you the tour and discuss the schedule?” she asked Gemma.
“She did. We’ll plan on one evening a week and see how it goes. I like the idea of offering two classes at the same time. That makes it more worthwhile for me to come out here.”
Nora smiled. “It will work out. I just know it. I already checked with some of the guests here. They all said when they weren’t scheduled for something else, they would definitely come to the class before dinner.”
Gemma was drawn into conversation with Nora and some of the others, giving Harley the opportunity to offer her observations. Because my sister never missed an opportunity to share her opinion with me. “Gemma seems nice.” I supposed I should be grateful she kept her voice low.
“She is nice, Harley. Don’t grill her. We had dinner. Once.” It wasn’t as if my sister didn’t know that detail already, but I saw fit to remind her.
Harley let out an aggrieved sigh. “I’m not going to grill her. I admit to being curious that you actually went on a date, but I’ll leave it at that. Although, I think you should ask yourself why you might finally be interested enough in someone to break your stupid rules.”
Gabriel entered the conversation when he spun on his stool where he was sitting nearby. “Rules?”
At that highly inconvenient moment, Gemma made her way back to us.
“Yeah,” Harley said.
“I didn’t know Diego had rules. I’m dying to know what they are,” Gabriel teased, a wicked glint in his eyes.
“I don’t know what rules you’re talking about,” I replied, keeping my tone casual.
Harley, because she never hesitated to provide her feedback on any situation related to me, offered, “Ever since Diego broke up with his ex-fiancée, he has a rule that he doesn’t date. That’s it. It’s been that way for years now.” Harley lifted her hands in a so-what motion.
“You have an actual rule?” Gabriel pressed.
I shook my head and popped another roll in my mouth. I could use the flavor distraction with the side benefit that I didn’t have to talk.
Harley twisted her lips. “It might as well be official.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, y’all. I don’t have any rules,” I finally interjected after I finished chewing.
“It is true that you generally don’t date,” Tucker chimed in as he appeared on the opposite side of the counter, swiping the last roll on the tray Daphne had left on top of the stove and tossing it in his mouth with a grin.
I looked amongst my friends, casting a quick glance at Gemma. Her eyes twinkled, and a smile teased at the corners of her mouth. I relaxed inside. Good, at least she could tell my friends and my sister were just giving me a little hell. Well, maybe not my sister. She had an agenda, always. “I don’t have a rule, and enough with the group discussion,” I said firmly.
Conveniently, time was on my side, and Cat called that dinner was ready. We moved as a group, all of us heading to the long table by the windows. I was pretty sure my sister made it happen, but Gemma ended up seated beside me. She smelled like strawberries, and I wondered why, but mostly I was simply glad she sat beside me.
Dinner was a relaxed and somewhat noisy affair. I loved it here. While we might be a hodgepodge group, we were a chosen family.
Later that evening, part of the group decided to go into town to see a band at Sally’s, one of the favorite local bars. I didn’t want to go to Sally’s, but I did want to steal some more time with Gemma.