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Cold sweat breaks out across my chest. I swallow down something that feels like panic.
“So…what did you do last night?” I try to sound casual.
She hesitates. “It was probably boring compared to whatever you did. I washed my hair, watched one of my favorite Jane Austen movies, and ate ice cream.”
The sigh I breathe is so full of relief, it’s nearly audible. “Did you enjoy it?”
“Loved it.” She wrings her hands in her lap and sends me another smile, this one awkward.
She’s not asking what I did last night. Because she doesn’t care? Or because she’s afraid to ask?
“I, um…played basketball with Jake, Nathan, and a few other guys. Then we all hung out at Ian’s bar for a few beers.” I laugh. “Until some dude who’d just turned twenty-one and was absolutely shitfaced puked all over my brother. Nathan ended up throwing away his shirt in the bathroom, and I had to take him home. Thankfully, we came in his car.”
Kiera turns to me with another smile, this one more genuine. Is that relief I see on her face? “Poor Nathan. What a horrible way to end a night.”
“Yeah. Before that, I think he was going to get lucky. Or he thought he was. But after the pukefest…” I shake my head. “Not so much.”
In the silence, I realize what I’ve told her. What I’ve confessed. That I spent last night alone. Hell, it didn’t just slip out. I wanted her to know.
That’s dangerous, J. You’ve gotta stop…
“Apparently not,” she jokes, then bites her lip. “Have you talked to your sister in the last few days?”
That question seems out of left field. Has Mia done something to upset her? “About business. Should I have talked to her about something else?”
Kiera swallows. “She’s suspicious about us. She confronted me in the parking lot after work on Monday.”
“What?” I jerk on the wheel and sling my car into the first parking space in the restaurant’s lot. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. She seems determined to figure out what’s going on. She was also asking Jake all kinds of questions about you and me. He was deflecting, telling her not to read too much into it. But I don’t think she’s going to give up.”
“She never does.” Fuck. And Jake, bless him, must have fended off my sister’s courtroom-style interrogation without telling her about Maya and the potential development there. Like me, he wants to keep that under wraps until the deal is done. “What did you tell her?”
“That my sex life was none of her business.”
I wince. “I’m sorry about my sister. I’ll put a stop to that.”
Kiera sends me a self-deprecating shrug. “I’m sure she asked me instead of you because she thought I’d be the easier mark. And because she caught me eavesdropping on her confrontation with Jake. Speaking of that… Um, I think they might be attracted to each other. Did you know?”
“My best friend and my sister? No.” I scoff. “Mia has been infatuated with Jake since she was a kid, and she was never shy about it. But Jake…he flirts with anything in a skirt. He’s not actually interested in her. He just likes to yank her chain because she falls for it.”
“Ah.” She sends me another of those stilted smiles.
I’m learning to read her. Does she think I’m wrong, and she doesn’t want to tell me she disagrees?
Before I can ask, she’s out of the car and heading toward the restaurant. Quickly, I climb out, lock up, and follow her. In less than two minutes, we’re seated at our table.
“Thanks for agreeing to come here with me,” I say, smiling her way. “Was Mia what you thought we needed to talk about?”
Kiera swirls her finger around the rim of her water glass. “Yes. I would have mentioned it sooner, but you took vacation so suddenly, and you were gone. I figured work would keep her busy during the week, but I worried with the weekend here, she would have time on her hands and…”
“Dig until she came to some conclusion that fit her narrative? Or blindside me with an interrogation?”
“Either. Both.”
“Thanks for trying to save me. I appreciate it.”
Kiera nods. “You’re welcome.”
