“No, that’s fine. I’m—” Her fuck buddy? The contractor for a renovation she has nothing to do with? Dying to get her alone again? “I’m Abbi’s brother. I’ll just head back and find them.”
“Oh! Well, it’s nice to meet you, Abbi’s brother. I’m Holly.”
“Nice to meet you, Holly.”
She beams and sweeps her pretty brown eyes over my chest. I almost laugh. Dean tells me I’m oblivious when women flirt with me, but maybe I’m starting to pull my head out of my ass, because this one is definitely interested. Not that I reciprocate. I have enough on my plate, thank you very much.
She waves toward the entrance opposite the one I just came from. “They’re in the kitchen.”
“Thanks.”
When I get to the kitchen, Stella’s in there with Abbi, as promised. She’s in a black tank top and tight white cotton shorts that lead my gaze right to her ass.
“You’re kidding me,” Abbi says, sliding a tray of cookies into the oven.
“Unfortunately not.” Stella tugs on her ponytail and groans. “He literally pushed out of his chair, folded his arms, and said, ‘This has gone too far.’ He made it sound like I was only interested in the house because he lived there, and of course Kat just met me, so she didn’t know any better.”
“What a dick. How were you supposed to know he was one of the roommates?”
“Right?” She rolls her head from side to side, stretching out her neck. “What a nightmare. Imagine if he’d been the one out of town, and I’d agreed to move in.”
Abbi shudders. “Always a silver lining.”
I clear my throat, realizing I’ve probably already eavesdropped on an inappropriate amount. “Hey, Abs. I’m headed out and just wanted to say hi before I go.” This would’ve been a great cover if I hadn’t told the receptionist I was looking for Stella. I suck at this cloak-and-dagger shit.
Stella spins around, looks me over, and swallows. “Hey, Kace.” Usually, she’s all cocky self-assurance, like she’s inside my brain and knows just how hard this attraction is for me to ignore, but tonight there’s something different about the way she’s looking at me. It’s as if she’s suddenly become shy or . . . regretful? Fuck. I hope it’s not that.
“What’s up, Stella?” I ask. Cool. Casual. But when her gaze drops to my mouth, all my blood rushes south of my belt, and the silence stretches on too long.
“How’s the project going?” Abbi asks, oblivious, thank Christ. “Brinley will be high-strung until those steam rooms are fully functional again. You’d better know what you’re doing.”
Eyes off the sexy redhead and her talented mouth. I shift my focus to my sister. “Believe it or not, I do. Everything’s fine and on schedule.” I wander over to the counter, where dozens of cookies are cooling on racks, and snatch an oatmeal chocolate chip. “What were you two talking about?”
Stella cuts her eyes to Abbi then back to me. “Um. Not much. I was just telling Abbi about my adventures in roommate hunting.”
Abbi grunts. “She’s going to need that pool house.”
I nearly choke at the reminder of why I shut down this thing between us on Saturday. But that ship’s sailed. It seems so obvious now that exploring this attraction, indulging it a little, was inevitable. We’re adults. We can handle this. “The guys are coming over tomorrow afternoon to get started. Dean wants to move you in next weekend so he can rip up the old carpet at your mom’s.”
Groaning, Stella covers her face with her hands. “You shouldn’t have to do that. If I find a place, all that work will be for nothing.”
“Nah, it needed to be done anyway.” I shrug. “Do whatever works for you, but if you haven’t found a place by this weekend, we can work out a month-to-month lease on the pool house, and you can keep looking.”
“That’s really sweet, Kace,” she says softly, but when she meets my eyes, she looks more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen her.
I swallow. She promised me Saturday and again this morning that we could do this without screwing everything up, but I can’t tell if she’s changed her mind. Never mind that those conversations didn’t account for whether or not we’d be seeing other people.
We really need to talk.
“I’m headed out,” I tell Abbi. “Can I walk you to your car, Stell?”
“Crap!” Abbi squeaks. “Stella, if you’re gonna make it to Butts and Guts, you need to hustle.”
Stella glances at the clock and sighs. “Right. I’m here for exercise, not for cookies.” She wanders toward me, then slides an arm through mine. “You can deliver me to Savvy’s torture chamber on your way out.”
I laugh as she leads me toward the door.
“Bye, you two,” Abbi says.
“Bye,” we chorus as we push out of the kitchen. We stroll down the hall through the treatment suites and toward the group fitness room. I wouldn’t call Stella’s pace a “hustle,” and I wonder if she’s as reluctant to walk away from me as I am to go home without touching her again.