Rushing In (Bailey Brothers #4) - Claire Kingsley Page 0,30

only just—and I thanked him. Skylar stood off to the side, looking adorably nervous.

A woman pushing a stroller down the sidewalk slowed as she passed. I glanced at her, but looked away. It was Annika Haven, and I was highly conditioned to ignore her, and any other female Haven. I liked a challenge, and okay, sometimes I set my sights on a girl mostly because I couldn’t have her—case in point, every teacher I’d ever crushed on. But going against the feud? That was different. Even I didn’t like danger that much.

Besides, Annika had a kid. That was way too much adulting for me.

I caught Levi watching her. Not that I blamed him. Even though she was a Haven, Annika was hot.

I was loyal, not blind.

But I was still going to give him shit about staring at her. I was the youngest. Giving my big brothers shit was my place in the world.

I leaned close and lowered my voice. “Bro, I know she’s a total MILF, but you should probably stop eye fucking her out in the open.”

He whipped around to face me, rage burning hot in his eyes. It occurred to me that maybe I shouldn’t push him too hard, considering I couldn’t fight back if he decided to tackle me.

“Shut your mouth, Gav.” The warning in his tone was unmistakable.

I liked giving him shit, but not too much shit. After all, he had come down here to help me out.

“Just messing with you.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks again for coming. I’m pretty sure Skylar is strong enough to push the scooter back to the store, but that would have been hard on my ego.” I winked at her.

“Whatever. You owe me.”

“I totally do.”

Levi drove us over to Nature’s Basket. The manager, Ed Michaelson, came out and helped us get it out of the SUV. He’d gotten my note.

He rolled his eyes at me, but I was pretty sure we were cool.

After Levi left, I gave Skylar a ride back to the Steaming Mug where she’d left her car. I probably could have just let her out and gone home, but it was hard to tear myself away from her. So I got out and walked with her to where she’d parked, about a block from the coffee shop.

“Thanks for hanging out with me today,” I said.

“You’re welcome. Thanks for the tour.”

“Anytime.”

She smiled back and for a second, I got caught in her dark eyes.

Fuck, she was beautiful.

That no I was holding onto really wanted to switch sides and become a yes.

Go for it, Gav. Chase her. See if you can catch this one. It’ll be fun.

It would be fun.

My eyes dropped to her mouth. I bet kissing her would feel amazing. And the way she was looking at me, with her chin tilted up, she’d probably let me.

But I couldn’t ignore the buzzing in the back of my brain, telling me to back off. It was like standing at the top of the slope looking down at the wildfire, and knowing it was going to turn.

So I pulled my gaze from her lips, tempting as they were.

“Have a good night,” I said. “I’ll text you?”

“Yeah. That would be great.”

Walking away from her was harder than it should have been. If she’d been any other girl, I wouldn’t have left her there. I’d have gone for it.

But she was Skylar Stanley, so that wasn’t going to happen.

11

Skylar

My fingers rested on the keyboard, unmoving. I traced the familiar ridges on the F and J keys with the tips of my index fingers while I gazed out the window.

Lips. Full, soft lips. What would it be like to be kissed by those lips? Would he be rough, or gentle? Or maybe a delicious mix of both?

What would it feel like to be kissed by someone who really wanted to kiss me?

Sucking in a quick breath, I blinked at the screen. I’d written those words. God, what was wrong with me? I quickly backspaced to get rid of the errant sentence. I was supposed to be writing about a serial killer, not a woman pondering the nature of a man’s kiss.

But after hanging out with Gavin yesterday, I was having a hard time thinking about anything else.

My mind kept drifting to the way he’d looked at my mouth when we were saying goodbye. That subtle dip of his attention had sent a cascade of tingles across my skin. Just thinking about it now gave me a twinge of pressure