“Really.” This wasn’t a question, and it sounded rather heavy on the irony. “And why are you good?”
“Why am I good?” Grif asked. “What kind of question is that?”
“I’m sensing a tremor in the force,” Adam said.
“What the hell?” Grif looked at Holly. “What did you do to him?”
“Well, I pretty much screwed him deaf and blind, and then—”
“Christ!” Grif covered his ear. “Don’t tell me!”
Holly laughed, but Adam was still giving Grif a once-over.
Adam was a little spooky sometimes, knowing things he shouldn’t. Grif held his gaze, thinking he couldn’t possibly know.
But Adam just stared back. He knew.
“What’s going on?” Holly asked.
“Ask him,” Adam said.
“All right.” She shoved her new husband aside and looked up at her brother. “What the hell is my husband talking about?”
“Nothing.”
Holly turned to Adam, who gave her a raised brow. Holly gasped and whirled back on Grif. “You didn’t!”
“Going to have to narrow that down, Hol.”
She went toe-to-toe with him. “You didn’t sleep with her. Tell me you didn’t sleep with her.”
Well, there hadn’t been all that much sleeping involved, but Grif knew his sister had one hell of a right hook, and he already had a building headache, so he kept that detail to himself.
As well as the fact that Kate had given him a third yoga tutorial that morning during which she’d put him through his paces. He’d then returned the favor, teaching her some more self-defense moves. It had been a hot and sweaty forty-five minutes that he knew damn well had left her hot and bothered, and him the same.
And then she’d gone to work, and he’d gone to the shower for a self-serve.
“Dammit, Grif!” Holly said. “I told you she’s vulnerable!”
“She’s a grown woman,” Grif said. “Capable of making her own decisions.”
“You were at a wedding, for God’s sake. A really, really, really great wedding.”
“So?”
Holly stared at him like he was the biggest moron on earth. “So weddings make people even more vulnerable. Oh my God, I can’t believe you did this to her.”
Okay, this was starting to piss him off. “Jesus, I didn’t force her!”
“Of course you didn’t! You didn’t have to. She has a huge crush on you, and you know that! All you had to do was give her that look.”
“What look?”
“You know what look! The look you give women, the one that makes them fall at your feet. She probably leaped right into your arms.”
Grif opened his mouth and then shut it.
Adam laughed then sucked it up at a dark look from Grif.
“Women don’t fall at my feet,” Grif said.
“Suzie Mayers, Tessa Winworth, Sugar Madison, Morgan Yzardo,” Holly said, ticking the names off on her fingers. “Tracy Bassinger, Carina Martinez—”
“That was high school!”
Holly let her hands fall to her side, but the temper was still firing in her eyes. “They used to crawl into your window at night.”
At the very pleasant memory, Grif smiled, and Holly hit him again. “Ow!” he said. “Watch it. I’m hurt, you know.”
“Oh, really? Are you fragile, you big, annoying oaf? Are you taking care of everyone else in your world except yourself, leaving you no time for a real life? Are you feeling lonely and overwhelmed and just a little bit afraid that this is all life is going to offer? Are you living in a small town where your only viable options are your own ex-boyfriend or dating some as**ole from Boise you met online?”
Grif went still, his amusement with his sister fading. “Kate’s dating some as**ole from Boise?”
“Is that all you heard?”
No. He’d heard it all, every word. And an unaccustomed emotion was sitting on his chest now.
Guilt.
Because the truth was, Kate had been vulnerable that night, and he’d known it. She’d also been a little bit toasted. And looking for oblivion. He’d given her everything she’d wanted; he knew that. She’d thoroughly enjoyed herself. Her breathy little pants of “Oh yes, Griffin, oh my God, yes” were still headlining his fantasies at night.
But had he taken advantage of her? He didn’t like the thought that maybe he had. He didn’t like that at all.
But he also didn’t like the thought of her dating some dickwad she’d met online.
“Grif,” Holly said far more gently at his silence. “She’s not your type.”
“And you know my type?”
“Yes. Slutty.” She arched a brow, waiting for him to deny it.
“People change,” he said.
“Fine,” she allowed. “I’ll grant you that. Let me come at this another way. I know what’s not your type. Sweet, hard-working, dedicated, loyal second-grade teachers from Sunshine.”
A direct hit.
Seventeen
Kate was standing in front of her class trying to express the importance of being able to spell the states in the continental US when someone peeked into her room.
Holly.
She was wearing a vistor’s pass, which was no doubt thanks to Ryan. Holly and Adam had only taken a few days off. Brady, Adam’s helicopter pilot brother, had flown them to Coeur d’Alene for a lux stay at a resort hotel, but it was high season at Belle Haven and even though they’d hired on new vet Dr. Wyatt to help, business was booming, leaving a real honeymoon slated for early fall.
Holly had enjoyed her little trip if her glowing complexion was any indicator. She gave a finger wave to the class, who knew her from visits to the animal center.
Kate moved toward her. “Everyone say hi to Ms. Reid— Actually, she’s Mrs. Connelly now.”
“Hi, Mrs. Connelly,” the kids said in varying degrees of unison.
Holly beamed. “Hi, everyone. I just need to borrow Ms. Evans for a minute.”
Every seven- and eight-year-old in the class had lost their train of thought at the sight of her, hoping she had an animal with her. Which she didn’t. Unfortunately, Kate really needed to keep them on task because they were running behind today. She took the time to lean into Holly for a quick hug and baby rub on her still flat belly. “I’m so happy to see you,” she said, “but we’re on a super-tight schedule today.”
“Okay, but this is . . .” Holly lowered her voice. “Muy importante.”
“That means very important,” Tommy said out loud, translating for everyone.“How do you even know that, freak?” Dustin asked.
Tommy shrugged and went back to his coloring.
“Dustin,” Kate said, making sure her temper didn’t show. “What happens when we call someone a name?”
He put down his crayon, stood up, and walked to the back of the room to the chair facing the wall. He plopped on it and sprawled out like he didn’t care that he’d been singled out.
Which Kate knew to be true.
What she didn’t know was why. Dustin knew the rules, knew the consequences. And they both knew something else, that if he didn’t pass today’s spelling test, he wouldn’t be allowed to play in his travel team’s tournament this weekend.
Why didn’t he care?
The answer to that wasn’t at all reassuring. She glanced at Tommy, who was ignoring the entire situation, and then shook her head at Holly.
She really didn’t have time for this now.
“It’ll only take a second,” Holly promised.
Kate sighed. There was no deterring Holly when she sank her teeth into something, though Kate couldn’t imagine what she was all worked up about. She’d just spent several days alone with Adam, one of the sexiest men on the entire planet. “Can this wait until recess?”
“No, I have to get to work.” Holly helped run her father’s ranching empire with the precision of a drill sergeant and the care of a den mother. She was good at her job, and doing it in a man’s world had made her tough. Few crossed Holly.
Kate loved her like a sister, but even she didn’t cross Holly. So she glanced back at the class. “Keep practicing,” she told them. “Don’t leave your seats.” She met Holly’s gaze. “So what’s up?”
“I was thinking you might tell me.”
Kate knew that tone, and she went still. She had no idea how, but Holly knew something had happened between her and Griffin. Luckily, she had no way of knowing what exactly—
“Rumor has it,” Holly said, “that you slept with my brother.”
Okay, scratch that. Holly knew everything. Kate took another glance over her shoulder at the kids. Of course not a single one of them was paying her the slightest bit of attention. Dammit. Where was a crisis when she needed one? Mikey had been pulling Nina’s hair all damn day, but was he doing it now? No, he was sitting in his seat like a perfect little angel, tongue between his teeth, brow furrowed in concentration, actually doing as she’d asked, practicing his spelling.
Even Dustin had settled down and was taking his time-out with surprising grace.
“How did this happen?” Holly asked.
Kate could give her the whole chemistry lesson or tell her the simple truth—it should have been just a harmless kiss, but as it turned out, there was no such thing as harmless as it pertained to Griffin. But she doubted his sister wanted to know that.
“Ms. Evans?” Scott called from the front row. “Can I give Bunny some more water? He looks thirsty.”
“I’m sorry,” Kate whispered to Holly. “I didn’t do it to hurt you.”
“Honey, this isn’t about me. It’s about you, and I’m worried. Grif’s only here for the week, or however long the fancy strikes him. You know that, right? Tell me you know that.”
“I know that.”
“He’s not your picket-fence guy.”
“I know that, too,” Kate said, even though the words sent a little stab of pain into her chest.
“And it’s not like I’m not happy you’re getting laid . . .”
“Ohmigod,” Kate said, feeling her face flush. “I can’t believe this is ‘muy importante.’”
“I had to make sure you were okay.”
Holly could have no idea how much that meant to Kate, but the fact was that Kate had never been better. She glanced down at the tug on her sweater. Scott. “Yes, you can give Bunny some water.”
The boy beamed and ran to the bunny cage on the counter that ran along the classroom windows.
Kate let out a breath and met Holly’s gaze. “So how did you find out?”
“Adam took one look at Grif and could tell he’d gotten lucky,” Holly said.
“He could’ve been with anyone,” Kate said. “How did you know it was me?”
Holly gave her a get-real look. “You’re the only one he’s bothered with since he got here.”
This gave Kate a little frisson of pleasure.
“And you need to look in the mirror once in a while,” Holly said. “A guy would be crazy not to want you.” She paused. “But also, I know because I talked to him.”
Kate’s heart stopped as she imagined how that conversation must have gone, what with Holly’s interfering ways and Griffin’s ability to be silent until the end of time. “You did?”
“Actually, I hit him.”
“You what?”
“Hey, it was my sisterly duty,” Holly said. “Don’t worry, I didn’t hurt him too badly.”
“You talked to Griffin,” Kate repeated, mortified.
“Well, as much as you can actually talk to Grif. He’s not exactly a conversationalist.”
Kate closed her eyes. This was true. Griffin wasn’t a big talker. But there were other ways to communicate, and he had those ways down.
“Ms. Evans?” Scott was back at her side. “Bunny’s got a problem.”
“What is it?”
“You know how he was a little fat? Well, he’s not so fat now. I think he’s hungry. Can I feed him?”
“Yes, but don’t touch him until I get there, okay?”
“’Kay.”
“And don’t lick!”
“’Kay.”
Holly looked shocked. “Lick?” she whispered.
“Long story,” Kate said. “Don’t ask.”
Holly shook her head. “Thank God I’m not a teacher.” She took Kate’s hand. “I love you,” she said. “You know that. And I want you to be happy. But I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’m not. I won’t.”
“Kate—”
“I seduced him, Hol.” Kate closed her eyes and then opened them. “It was all me. I knew what I was doing. I just wanted the one night, that was it. It’s done. And we’re good.”
“It’s . . . done?”
“Yep.” Done. Well, except for that chemistry problem.
“And you’re okay?” Holly asked softly. “Really?”
“Really.” Except . . . she didn’t have any idea how to get over the memory of being with him. She hadn’t had any idea at all that their night would literally move heaven and earth for her, that her soul would be woken up, that her body could hum like that. She hadn’t known any of it, but even if she had, she’d still have done it.