Fred’s expression falls. “Maybe not. The fifth one, then. You guys both seemed happy with the fifth one. Am I right?”
It’s Chase’s turn to jump in and have some fun. “Oh yeah, the blue and beige house. I do remember that one. Bad neighbors, good parking, tiny back yard.”
Okay, so Fred doesn’t have a feel for these things at all. I try not to burst out laughing, watching his face as Chase screws with him, but I know he kind of deserves it. On another level, what kind of real estate agent expects an impulse buy that costs tens of millions of dollars after seeing just six houses on the first day? I guess I can’t blame a guy for trying.
“This one,” Chase says, squeezing my hand.
“What?” I turn to him, wondering if this time he’s messing with me. He doesn’t appear to be. “This one what?”
“I think I’ll take it,” he tells Fred. But he’s looking at me. “Like you said, it’s cute.”
Fred is freaking out, circling things with a pen and beaming from ear to ear. “Great. Perfect. No problem. I’ll draw up the paperwork right away.”
Then he nods to me before he lets go of my hand and crosses to Fred. “Contingent on inspection and appraisal, blah, blah, blah. Go ahead and put something together and I’ll get back to you in a little while.”
Turning his attention from Fred, he looks down at his phone, then up at me. “Hey, I got a notification of a top-secret board meeting in a little while. New information. Very hush-hush.”
“You think it’s about you?” I ask, noticing the worry lines return.
“I can’t imagine what else it would be about.”
“Why would they send you a notification of a super-secret meeting to discuss you?”
“Because I’m a board member?” he asks. “I guess they forgot to take me out of the loop.”
“Oh!” I say. “I think I have an idea. Do you think your brother will hold to the family tradition of holding secret meeting out by the ocean?”
“Oh, for sure,” he answers. “Care to tell me what your idea is?”
“I will,” I tease him with a smile. “But not here. In the car, after we get through that mob in the street. And spoiler alert, it involves the tacky tourist outfits that we used yesterday.”
He grins at me. “Sounds awful. I like it already.”
“Oh yeah,” I say. “One more thing. We’ll need to make a quick stop at a drug store.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chase
I pace back and forth back in my suite waiting for Kaylee to reemerge from my bedroom. She says she has a plan, but I’m getting a little nervous. After all, the meeting my brother is having with the board will start in a little while and I’m getting restless.
According to what we bought at our drug store pit-stop; her plan involves every cheap, tacky tourist beach accessory ever made. Neon colored beach towels, beach balls, foam boogie boards, cheap plastic folding lounge chairs, and even an igloo cooler are scattered around the room.
The only idea I can think of is that she’s made some kind of drug deal at the Walgreens when I wasn’t looking and none of this has anything to do with figuring out what the board is up to. I pace faster.
That is, until Kaylee emerges from my bedroom. I swallow hard. The bikini she’s wearing is spectacular. Black sequins shimmer in the light. Only, there’s very little fabric involved in the shimmering.
Luckily, I’m not holding a drink in my hand right now, or I would have dropped it for sure. A specific part of me is getting hard and screaming screw the plan and the board of directors. I force myself to breathe. Then I remember what’s going on here. Focus, Chase.
“What’s this big plan of yours, Kaylee? And why does it look like it involves the cheapest parts of the Walgreens kiddie pool section?”
I ask her questions as I exhale and try not to let on how distracting her bathing suit is. “Also, nice bathing suit.” There simply is no use in pretending I don’t notice that bathing suit.
She gives me a wicked, flirty smile that does nothing to calm my excited state. “Like it?”
Of course I like it. Every single guy on the beach will be falling all over themselves. I’m the one who’s fake engaged to her and right now I can barely breathe. So now, in addition to the attraction I can’t deny, jealousy flashes in my mind at the thought of taking her out onto the beach full of other guys.
All of a sudden, I don’t want to share her. Not now, not ever. Not here or there or on the beach or in the air. I blink and swallow and my chest feels tight.
Where did those thoughts come from? I know this isn’t real. Why is it starting to feel like it is? Am I losing my mind?
Thankfully, Kaylee picks that exact moment to fill me in.
“The beach stuff is a decoy,” she says with a wink. “Trust me, when we walk out onto the beach in our stupid hats carrying our own lounge chairs and cooler, nobody will give us a second look. Not your brother, or your sister, or the paparazzi, or anybody else for that matter. And there’s no way they’ll recognize us on our way to the beach if we hold up a beach ball or boogie board over our face.”
Oh, she’s good. I wrap my brain around the plan, and the more I think about it, the smarter it is. Plus, it helps me concentrate on something other than how hot she is and how I think I’m developing feelings for her, which is not part of the deal. For either of us.
It’s not just the bathing suit either. Okay, it’s not not the bathing suit. But it’s also the fact that we work so well as a team. That she helps me even when she’s mad at me.
