Come To Me (Dare With Me #3) - J.H. Croix Page 0,28

assistant after Cat. Do you like to cook as well?”

Harley shrugged. “I could take it or leave it. I’m pretty good at it, because our mom made us all learn, but I’m definitely nothing compared to you.”

I chuckled. “None of us can compete with Daphne’s cooking. We all consider ourselves lucky that she fell for Flynn and decided to stay here.”

Harley smiled between them. “I’m so happy for you, Flynn. You seem a little less cranky.” It didn’t matter who it was, my sister was direct.

Nora almost choked on the sip of water she’d just taken. After she took another swallow, she smiled over at Harley. “I forgot how blunt you are. I love that about you.”

My sister laughed, brushing her almost black hair off her shoulders after she set down her fork. Her eyes whisked around the kitchen. “This place looks great. The last time I was here you guys were still finishing up some of the work.”

“There’s always work, but this main building is completely done,” Flynn replied.

“How long do we get the pleasure of your company?” Nora asked.

Harley let out a small sigh. “I don’t know. Joe and I broke up, which is definitely for the best. I’m a little betwixt and between with life. Most of my work is handled online, so I don’t need to stay in any one location. I figured I would come here and try to make sense of what I want to do next. Please tell me if I’m imposing.” She did transcription and translation for medical companies and loved it because she said the tedium helped calm her down.

“Absolutely not,” Nora said firmly.” Just like Diego, you’re family. Stay as long as you need. That bedroom doesn’t belong to anybody anymore.”

“What’s the scoop with Elias?” Harley asked, glancing around the table.

“He fell in loooove,” Cat chimed in as she walked into the kitchen, catching that question.

“Elias?” Harley’s eyes went wide. My sister knew all these guys, and Elias, of course.

“True story,” I said before reaching for my pint glass of beer and taking a swallow.

“Well, if Elias can fall in love, then so can you,” Harley said, her eyes lasering on me.

I bit back a groan. “Don’t start with that right away, please,” I muttered.

Nora giggled, her eyes glinting with mirth as she split her gaze between Harley and me. “Diego went on a date.”

I glared at Nora. “Is that necessary? If you keep this up, I’m not gonna consider you family anymore.”

My sister smiled widely. “I’ll grill him about that later. I have to be strategic.”

“Fuck my life,” I said, glancing to Tucker who sat beside me.

He snorted. “Dude, you shoulda seen this coming. Last time she was here, she was trying to sell you on a few of her friends.”

Fortunately, conversation moved along. I always loved these nights where we could kick back in the kitchen and relax. Although being a bush pilot in Alaska was considered a risky job, it felt pretty low-key to me. After being on active duty in the Air Force, being able to hang with friends and know my biggest worry was related to the weather and how it might affect our flight schedules kept stress low on my radar.

Later that night, after those of us who stayed in the new staff house had decamped to the living room there, Harley filled me in on her messy breakup with Joe, her college boyfriend who she’d stayed with for no reason other than convenience as far as I could tell.

“I couldn’t believe it. I literally walked in on him fucking Janine,” she explained with more annoyance than hurt in her tone.

“Would you like me to kick his ass?” I countered.

Harley shook her head. “No thanks, bro. It’s not worth the plane ticket to Texas. I threw my keys at him and scratched his ass with them. I didn’t mean to, but it was still funny.” She rolled her eyes and leaned back into the cushions on the couch. “Enough about me. Now, tell me about your date.”

I knew she wouldn’t leave that topic alone for long, so I was prepared. “Her name is Gemma. She runs a yoga studio here in town. We’ve only had dinner once.”

That made it sound like not much, but I wasn’t about to tell my sister about the kiss that blew my mind in the parking lot outside of the coffee shop. I also definitely wasn’t going to tell her about the encounter when Gemma came all over my