Entice Me (Austin Singles 2)

“Here? What do you mean?” she asked confused.

“It’s nothing, Mom. Honestly, I just had a weird feeling someone was watching me. What are you in the mood for?”

My father cleared his throat. “I already made reservations for Perry’s Steakhouse, we need to get a move on if we’re going to make it.”

If only I’d turned around once more, I would have seen Nash standing there.

“DUDE, YOU ARE off in a faraway place. Want to talk about it?”

I hadn’t noticed I was sitting on the floor of the nursery, staring at the crib. Blake plopped down next to me and bumped my arm.

“If you need help putting it together, I can probably help. I am an architect.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “Yeah, I’m the builder who built the damn thing. I think I’ve got it figured out. I was just . . . lost in thought.”

“About what?” Tucker asked.

Glancing between the two of them, I let out a breath and decided to just go for it. “More like who.”

“Kaelynn?” Tucker asked.

“Your sister’s hot friend? You do like her! I fucking knew it,” Blake chided me, wiggling his brows.

“I’m attracted to her, yes. We’ve had a few misunderstandings, and I’m not sure if she likes me like I like her.”

Tucker leaned against the changing table. “Have you asked her out?”

“Yes. Once in person, once via text, and both times she turned me down, the third time when I attempted to ask her out, she got a call from the guy who had beat me to it.”

“Ouch,” both Tucker and Blake said at once.

“Okay, so what has you so lost in thought?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, I can’t put my finger on it. She’s hiding something from me, something about her family. Yesterday I saw her walking out of the Austonian with her parents. She didn’t see me, I was around a corner, but I overheard her call them both Mom and Dad.”

“What were they doing there?”

“I don’t know, but I sort of have a feeling they purchased a place there.”

Blake looked to be thinking, then said, “You think she comes from money, obviously a lot of it if her parents are buying a place in the Austonian, and she’s afraid to tell you? I mean, with her being Morgan’s best friend, maybe she knows the history of you and Lily.”

I stared at Blake as everything started to fall into place all at once. The way she avoided talking about her family. How angry she got at me that day we drove back from Houston when I made the comment about Lily and her money. It was all beginning to make sense.

Slowly, I shook my head. “I think that’s it. You may be right. I told her all about what went down with Lily, and that’s when her demeanor changed completely.”

Tucker laughed when Blake’s eyes widened in shock. “Holy shit, you mean I got that on my first try? I need to join Morgan and get into therapy and shit. I can really read people.”

With a roll of my eyes, I gave him a push, causing him to lose his balance and topple over with a laugh. Standing, I faced Tucker.

“How do I run a background check on someone?”

His smile faded. “What? Are you serious right now, Nash? Why don’t you just ask the girl?”

Shaking my head, I replied, “No. If she’s lying to me now, what makes you think she wouldn’t keep lying to hide the truth? I need to figure this out first, then go from there.”

“Yeah, I don’t like the sound of this,” Tucker said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Blake laughed. “Says the guy who was trying to seduce Charlie first because you found out she was trying to seduce you even though the two of you were still in love with each other and both of you were playing games.” Blake frowned. “Wait. Did that shit just make any sense?”