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Stop staring at her lips, jackass.
I drop my gaze, sucking in a deep breath. “We should go find your brother.”
Not that I want to. I could stay here soaking her in.
“Before they send out a search party,” she agrees.
Around the back of the house, in a five-star outdoor kitchen, she introduces me to her brother and Sutton.
“But he’ll always be a little brother to me,” she says, giving the dark-haired man a one-armed hug.
He watches me like he knows every dirty thought I’ve ever had about Katherine. And he doesn’t like it. Did Henry fill his mind with vitriol?
“Alex is taking a call, but he’ll be around in a minute,” she says, oblivious to the tension. “Do you guys need help?”
“Nope. Marissa’s got everything ready for us. Sutton’s gonna grill the steak.”
Katherine chuckles. “Are we sure that’s a good idea?”
“Hey!” he grouses, and I detect an inside joke.
I’m firmly on the outside. Until she leans into me. “He said he’d cook the burgers last Fourth of July, then he got sucked into a conversation about—what was it?”
He rolls his eyes. “Algorithms.”
“And burned them,” she finishes.
As my ears perk up, Katherine laughs and steps toward the grass. “I’m gonna show Gabriel the grounds. He’s in the market for a top-notch landscaping crew.”
I follow her across the massive yard. There’s an herb garden tucked into a nook near the house and what looks like a small orchard in another corner. But I have trouble paying attention to the landscaping when the evening light makes Katherine’s hair glow like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I feel a little like I’m following a fairy through the forest. Except she’s life-sized and touchable.
“What do you think?” she asks, turning. Her back is to a thick green hedge, slightly taller than I am. Her gaze rakes over me, and I get the feeling she’s checking in on me. Which is funny because moments ago, I was worried about her.
“Beautiful.” It’s the only word that comes to mind.
Then I realize she’s asking about the landscaping. “I mean, incredible.” For the life of me, I can’t figure out why I’m so tongue tied. Is it because we’re alone? Because I kissed her? Because she brought me that amazing lunch, complete with the pasta salad I was craving? It’s like she was reading my mind.
“I know you want to concentrate on the interior first, but you have such a pretty lot. I thought this place,” she motions in a circle, “might inspire you.”
She walks backward along the hedge, her lips curling into a smirk that makes my dick sit up and take notice. Then she disappears into the lush greenery.
What the?—
I dart forward and find an opening I didn’t see before. There’s no sign of Katherine. In front of me, it’s just a wall of green with a path to the left and the right, hedging on all sides.
Her laugh floats through the foliage, and a lightness takes up residence in my chest.
“Your father has a maze?” I don’t know why I assumed those were exclusive to pompous English manor houses.
“He does.”
Another giggle.
Fuck, I adore that sound. As I race around a corner and hit a dead end, I wonder what I can do to make her laugh again. My steps are light as I double back through the thick grass.
“Are you lost?” she quips.
“Figuring it out.”
