9. CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER NINE
ETHAN
K inzie exits the room first, and like the man I am, I check out her ass.
All the while, I mentally smack myself. What the hell did I just agree to?
Kinzie is a fucking smoke show. There’s no way I can fake flirt with her without getting a hard-on. This is single-handedly the worst idea in the history of terrible ideas.
I wait a good five minutes before I step back out into the dining room, then I jump behind the bar and pour a round of shots, including one for myself. I down it, savoring the heat as it coats my throat, then pour myself another. I slip them onto a tray and make my way back through the thick crowd.
“Ooh, what are these for?” Tessa asks when I set the tray on the table.
I glance over at Kinzie first, making sure Tessa follows the direction of my gaze, and smile. Then I turn back to her. “I heard we were celebrating some good news.”
“We are.” Clapping, she bounces in her seat. Then she turns to Kinzie, who is sitting right next to her, and grins.
Kinzie goes right into seduction mode, licking her lips, knowing full well her sister is watching. “What is it?” Her voice is soft and sinful.
“Kamikaze,” I say, trying to match my tone to hers. “Lime and Triple Sec,”
“My favorite.” Beside me, Morty reaches for the first glass. “So, you’re a cop and a bartender. I bet you have the ladies falling all over you. If I were straight, I’d be a cop for sure.” He closes his eyes and shimmies. “Those uniforms are everything, but then again, you don’t need a uniform to pull off the sexy officer routine.”
“Leave him alone,” Tessa says, swatting at him from across the table. “Ethan, this is Meridith and her husband, Blain. And that’s Dixon and his wife Leena. You’ve already met Morty and Piper, and, of course, Derrick and Tim. I work with Meridith and Dixon over on Hudson.”
She leaves out the part where they all work for the FBI, and I don’t bring it up. I’m painfully aware of confidentiality and the way secret clearances work.
With a nod, I greet them all, then focus on Tessa again. “Did I miss the announcement?”
She beams. “No, you came at the right time.”
Morty already has his drink, but the rest of the people around the table pass them around until everyone has one. When there’s one left sitting in the middle of the table, Tessa nods at me to take it.
Kinzie’s smile softens, and a glow radiates from her as she sits in anticipation of the news.
A silence falls over the table, followed by a loud exhale from Tessa. “Derrick and I,” she says slowly, dragging out the declaration, “are moving to Spain.”
“Congratulations, I’m going to be an—” Kinzie jumps out of her seat. It isn’t until she has her sister wrapped in an embrace that she stops and backs up, wide-eyed. “What?”
Tessa laughs. “I got a promotion. They need me in Spain before next month. It’ll only be for a year, but this works out perfectly. Since your lease ends in a couple of weeks, you can move back here to Hope Island and stay at our place.” She clasps Derrick’s hand between her own, her smile widening. “At least until you move into your new home.”
Kinzie scrunches her nose, and her eyebrows pinch.
I round the table as Tessa goes on and rest my hand on Kinzie’s back, right where the seam of her dress meets her skin, hoping to imbue a little comfort.
“My new home?” Kinzie asks, her voice laced with confusion. “You do realize I lost that bid, right?”
“I saw Maggie a couple of days ago. She was lucid, and do you want to know what she asked me?”
The group goes quiet.
“She asked how you were enjoying your house.”
Kinzie’s body tenses, so I run my hand up and over to her shoulder and squeeze gently, letting her know I’m here.
She lifts her arm and covers my hand with hers, squeezing back. She’s stunned, so the move is probably a reflex, but her skin on mine feels nice, nonetheless.
“When I told her I didn’t know what she was talking about, Maggie said she left her house to you in a trust.”
Kinzie tightens her hold on my hand, but she remains silent.
“There is one little itty-bitty problem, though,” Tessa continues. “Since the house is already under contract, we only have until it closes to find the documentation.”
“What does that mean?” Kinzie asks, swaying a little.
“It means,” Tessa starts, “that I threatened her attorney. Told him that if he sold that house when it wasn’t his to sell and he didn’t give us the opportunity to find the paperwork, we’d bring in our own attorney, and he’d have a lawsuit on his hands. So,” she adds, her eyes bright, “he agreed to let us into her house so we can look.”
“Oh my God,” Kinzie breathes, covering her mouth with her free hand. “Oh my God, you’re serious?”
When Tessa nods, Kinzie releases my hand. She turns toward me, her body almost completely flush against mine, and before I know what’s happening, she presses both palms to my face and pulls me in for a kiss.
At first, it’s just a brush of her mouth against mine, as if the act is fleeting and no big deal, but it catches me off guard, and I’m quickly lost in the softness of her lips and the sweet scent that envelops me. When she doesn’t immediately pull away, I find myself deepening the kiss, suddenly desperate to taste her. To prolong it.
Hands on her waist, I dig my fingers into her, feeling a thin strip of material beneath the thin satin. Fuck. Is she wearing a thong? What I’d give to find—
“Cheers to that!” Morty snickers.
Kinzie breaks the kiss and inches away slowly, first staring at my mouth, then dragging her focus up to my eyes.
This is not a good idea, but I can’t seem to let her go. I tell myself it’s all for show. The opportunity was there. Tessa was in full sight. So Kinzie took advantage of it.
When everybody clears their throat in unison—yes, all of them at once—Kinzie finally peels herself from my hold.
She picks up a glass, hands it to me, and then picks her own up and lifts it into the air. “Cheers.”