one another.”
My face slaps with embarrassment, and for the first time in my life I wish the floorboards would magically rot out so I could fall right through them.
“Oh, right.” My throat constricts. “It’s just a stupid game,” I say while staring blankly at the stainless-steel behemoth taking up the south wall.
“Oh my God.” She jumps up in front of me. “Are you okay?” Her voice grows small as if she were afraid that one more vowel might set me off, and in truth it might. I’ve never been good at hiding my emotions.
“I’m fine, I swear.” I give a mean shudder. “I guess I just thought things were moving in another direction. God, how could I be so stupid?”
“I’m so sorry,” she says each word as if it were its own dramatic sentence, and it’s all I can do to keep from bashing my skull against the creamy white marble because I. Am. So. Sorry—that I was such a fool.
Knox and Ryder come back and we lead the happy couple to the other two houses on the street. Laney selects the one with the white picket fence as a forerunner for her friend, Baya. Knox does most of the talking as I’ve dwindled to a whisper of the happy-go-lucky person who stepped into that office this afternoon.
We say goodbye to Laney and Ryder who decide they’re going to walk around the yard at the house they fell in love with.
Knox leans in with that devilish grin and my heart does a ridiculous pitter-patter. I’d swat it like a fly if I didn’t think a good wallop would kill me.
“They’re all cash,” he says enthusiastically. “We could have this sale buttoned up in a few weeks. Not bad for a couple of interns without a real estate license between us. We’re a pretty good team. Not to mention the fact we’re done for the day.” He holds out his hand and I’m slow to slap him five. He pulls back a notch. “Whoa—everything okay?”
Something about the level of concern in his voice only endears me to him that much more and my emotions beg to flood out.
Stop. I close my eyes. You are not head over heels in love with some boy you hardly know. You are in lust! Get ahold of your head and your quivering pink parts! Down Sylvia. This boy is not heading south to meet you anytime soon.
I take a deep breath and force a smile as I look up at his commanding features. I’m not in love with Knox, but if I were, I could totally see how something like that could happen. The boy is hella gorgeous.
“Are you free this afternoon?”
“I’m all yours,” he says it low and slow and the aforementioned pink parts riot just begging for a single touch. It’s obvious I’m on the verge of climaxing right here in the street while under the spell of Knox Toberman’s bedroom blue eyes.
“What did you have in mind?”
An orgasm, I want to say, but thankfully don’t. “How about we head to Jepson and I show you exactly what I have in mind?”
No sooner do we pull up to Jepson Uptown Gallery than I suddenly have a pang of regret. It looks like I have conveniently forgotten that my mother’s exhibit is strictly adult in nature, and looking at naked couples going at it—albeit a tad abstract—may only bring me closer to home plate, considering the boy who has me all riled up will be staunchly by my side. Both Sylvia and I are sunk into a deep level of regret.
Crap. We head inside and I bounce past the receptionist to the main hall and find my mother on the floor sitting across from her bohemian boyfriend with a man bun and yoga wear, her new boy toy, ten years her junior, Brad.
“Harper Jane Shelton!” Mom springs up with the grace of a ballerina and Brad follows her directive. “Is that you, or am I having a hallucination?” She wraps her arms around me.
“Nope. The acid must be bad. This is reality.”
“Very funny.” She pulls back and holds my hands out to inspect me. “You’re getting too thin! Eat something, would you?”
Mom is beautiful with her red hair and light eyes. My father’s Blackfoot genes are certainly prominent in me, but I have that Irish red hair of hers even if I do wear it several shades darker.
“Dude.” Brad knuckle bumps Knox and I’m actually embarrassed at his effort to relate to the youth.