Faked - Karla Sorensen Page 0,28

take Iz and leave before he gets here, is there?"

Isabel wrapped an arm around Paige's shoulders. "She does not have a chance in hell of dragging me from this apartment."

Paige glanced sideways at her. "I could still take you, you know."

Iz patted her head. "No, you really couldn't."

Lia stared at Iz. "I don't know why you're so excited to meet him. It's just Bauer."

"Because he's a world-class snowboarder," Iz replied. "Did you see his triple cork at the X Games last year?"

Lia sighed. "Nope."

"That's not a reason to let him warm Claire's ..." Paige paused with a grimace, "anything. We don't idolize athletes in this family, remember? They're just normal people—"

"Who do abnormal jobs," we finished by rote.

Paige's phone dinged, and she raised the screen up to read whatever was on it. "Case in point, your brother—the world-class football player and coach—can't figure out how to use the washing machine."

Paige was right. Normally, none of us fawned over professional athletes because we'd been around them our entire life. Between my brother and his years playing for Washington, and our oldest sister, Molly, who was dating another famed member of the Washington Wolves roster, Noah Griffin, we'd shared plenty of meals with people who made extremely generous livings by playing games.

When I glanced at my alarm clock, I let out a deep breath because he was a couple of minutes late.

The buzzer at the door went off, and the four of us froze.

"I'll get it," I said quietly.

Lia exhaled. "I'm going to hide in my room. I don't need to witness this crazy."

"The crazy that's your fault, you mean," Isabel whispered under her breath.

As she walked out of my room, she narrowed her eyes dangerously in Isabel's direction.

Paige gave me an encouraging smile. "It'll be fine. I promise to be nice."

I snatched my backpack and pillow, mentally girding my loins for whatever circus show was about to unfold. For a moment, I felt bad for not preparing Bauer for the one-woman firing squad.

That only lasted a second because the other ninety-nine percent of me knew it would be awesome to see her knock him off balance. He'd sure as hell been knocking me off balance since the moment he turned around in that tuxedo.

"Come on up," I said into the speaker.

"You didn't even make sure it was him," Paige hissed. "What if it's a sex trafficker?"

"Ringing the buzzer at eight a.m. on a Saturday?" I asked. "Do you think a sex trafficker would ring the buzzer of our apartment early on a Saturday morning?"

She sniffed. "A polite one, maybe."

Isabel was laughing when I opened the door for Bauer.

Then her laughter stopped.

Paige swore.

And my stomach tangled into forty-seven knots.

Because Bauer in a tux was nice enough but not the real him.

Now, I was seeing the real Bauer.

"Good morning, princess," he said. His voice was gruff and grumbly, like he hadn't used it much since he woke up.

In faded, ripped jeans, a dark gray beanie covering his hair, and a black Henley stretched tight across his chest, sleeves pushed up to reveal the sleeves of ink on his muscular forearms, I officially got my first taste of The Bauer Butterflies.

"Claire," Paige whispered in my ear, "go put those wool socks in your backpack, or I will do it for you, young lady."

I motioned for her to back up. "Come on in," I told Bauer. "Ignore them."

"Seems highly impossible." His grin was wide and charming, and dammit, he had dimples I'd not noticed the night before. With an outstretched hand, I watched Isabel melt like butter, and Paige shift right the frick into overprotective mom mode. "Bauer. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

"Isabel, one of the big sisters." Iz gave him a friendly smile. "I'm a huge fan, Bauer. It's nice to meet you."

He dropped her hand and turned to Paige. "And you, I recognize. Paige Ward, wife of the big brother."

Paige shook his hand, and I stifled a laugh when I caught the gleam in her eye. "It makes it easier that you recognize me."

"Does it?"

She nodded pleasantly. "That way, if you hurt a hair on her head, you'll know exactly who's going to send you to your painful, bloody demise."

Bauer froze. "Right. That does make it easier."

Something about this entire exchange made me want to go hide in Lia's room with her.

Bauer was too charming in the harsh sunlight that came with this brand new day. He was too big and tattooed and muscular and ... too Bauer, for me