“I’m sorry,” she said, laughing. “But you have to admit, she’s really entertaining.”
“I’m surprised you would like any of the Dyker sisters,” I grumbled.
Addy shrugged and smoothed her fire engine red hair with the palm of her hands. We were twins, but we looked nothing alike. Since middle school, Addy had been dying her hair and partying. I, on the other hand had always been more like Elaina. Well, Elaina now. Back then, she was a smart party girl. Whereas I was studious. Kind of nerdy. I was more concerned with getting good grades than being popular. Which was why that night that Chloe kissed me had been so shocking. I wasn’t her type. I was so far out of the realm of her type, I didn’t even think she knew I existed. If our siblings didn’t date back in high school, maybe she never would have.
“I never had an issue with Chloe,” Addy said. “And, even though it doesn’t matter now, Elaina’s growing on me finally.”
“Addy,” Mom hissed with a click of her tongue.
But it didn’t seem to deter Addy in the least. She just rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry… did I not give it enough time before I said she who shall not be named? Her damn sister is sitting at Liam’s dining table as we speak, so maybe we should get used to hearing her name now and then.”
Speaking of, could Chloe hear us? What was she doing in there, alone in my kitchen?
Neil grimaced, his features twisting in a way that I think he meant to look like a smile. “It’s fine. Elaina and I will have to find a way to coexist in Maple Grove.”
“Until you leave,” Finn said. “Which is what? A few weeks?”
Neil darted a glare at our youngest brother. “Yes… but I’ll only be gone a couple of months. Then I’ll be home for good.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Finn said. “We’ve heard that before.”
“This time, it’s true,” I said, stepping in on my brother’s behalf. Hell, I was the first one to give him a guilt trip over leaving us without a goodbye back when he was eighteen. But this time, it was different. “He’s buying the warehouse behind Beefcakes…” I grinned at my brother and turned to go inside. “Tell them,” I said. “They deserve to know so they can trust you’re coming back.”
I’d already heard Neil’s plans to turn the warehouse into a training facility for film stunt work. He was partnering with Jude and Ash, his best friends who worked in movies out in Los Angeles, to create the business. I was thrilled for him. Except, it meant a shit ton more work for me at the bakery. A bakery that I wasn’t really the face of to begin with. A bakery that wasn’t my dream… but the dream I was carrying on for my sick mom.
I glanced over my shoulder at the broken-down truck in front of my condo. Several cars slowed down as they passed, the people inside staring out their windows at the beater. No doubt wondering what vagabond had come through and broke down in front of Liam Evans’s home.
I walked inside, leaving Neil to tell the rest of our family his plans for when he came back to Maple Grove. I’d barely made it down the hall when I nearly ran into Chloe standing there… hiding? Was she hiding?
Her eyes went wide when she saw me, and she ducked back into the kitchen. “Chloe? I can see you.”
She poked her head back up from behind the granite counter. “I heard your family arguing and I didn’t know what to do,” she whispered.
“Sooooo… you thought ducking below my counter was the best option? It’s not like they didn’t know you were in here.” I left out the fact that she was the reason the little scuffle began in the first place.
She stood up and threw her hands in the air. “Well, I don’t know. I panicked.”
I laughed and tucked my hand into my front pocket. “Clearly.”
She sighed and grabbed her purse off the counter. “I can go. I thought you invited me for dinner, but I can see now that you didn’t—”
I stepped in front of her, blocking her path toward the door. “Don’t go.”
She rolled her eyes. “But you don’t want me here. It’s some family thing. I remember Elaina saying you guys do this a lot.” She waved her hands around the kitchen as though having a family dinner was a magical thing.
“We do. Which is why you joining us isn’t a big interruption.” I reached out and slid the strap of her purse off her shoulder. “Come on. Stay. I made puttanesca…”
Her eyes went wide, her plump lips puckering into an excited ‘oh’ and she skittered over to the stovetop, lifting the lid off of one of the saucepans. “Wait… this isn’t pasta.”
“It’s spaghetti squash. With Mom’s cancer, we try to limit the amount of grains she eats.” I shook my head, grabbing a clean spoon and holding the sauce up for her to taste. “Here… try it.”
She leaned forward, parting her lips and slowly wrapping them around the dome of the spoon. With some girls, I would have figured the low, satisfied moan and the slow drag of her tongue across her bottom lip to be intentionally seductive. Hell, even two weeks ago, I would have thought it was intentional from Chloe. But now I knew better. She wasn’t trying to be sexy. She just was sexy. Naturally. The truth was, Chloe was a total goofball.
She pressed her fingertips to her mouth, her eyes fluttering open. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “It’s so good. You can cook. You can bake. You’re fit and hot as hell… explain to me how in God’s name are you still single?”
I laughed, ignoring the fireball that surged through my blood with the knowledge that Chloe Dyker thought I was hot. With a shrug, I dropped the spoon into the sink. “One of the wonders of the world,
