The Spark Between Us by Stacy Travis

Chapter Thirty

Sarah

And. . . the savages descended.

I loved my family, but collectively, they were a piece of work.

Before they arrived, I made a sweep of the house, making sure there was no evidence of sex. I did find one lace thong inside one of the living room sconces—don’t ask—but I reasoned that even if something like that were discovered, most savvy adults would assume it belonged to one of Braden’s bed buddies, not me.

It wasn’t like I’d have to scurry around the house and create a charade that Braden and I were just roommates. All my clothes were still hanging in the spare room that I’d barely slept in. My toiletries were still in the bathroom, and other than sexy showers together, I didn’t use Braden’s bathroom. I got ready for work in my own quarters.

“I can’t believe you cooked!” Cherry yelled as she came through the door with two bottles of red wine.

“Why can’t you believe it?” I’d have felt offended if the comment wasn’t coming from Cherry, my second-to-youngest sister who most definitely did not cook. “I can follow a recipe like the next person.”

“Well, yes, but I thought you were smart like me and let everyone believe you can’t do it, so they do all the cooking. Ever notice how it’s always Finn or Isla who has us all over? By design!” She raised her hand to give me a high five.

I laughed and hugged her tight. Despite my nerves and grumbling, I missed her. I missed all my siblings, who’d come down in two separate cars because no one had a car big enough for everyone.

Cherry drove from San Francisco with my oldest sister Isla and her fiancé Owen and my mom, who only came to our sibling dinners about half the time. She claimed it gave her a headache when we all talked over each other.

“Mom, I’m so glad you came. Yay!” I was happy to see her. We were similar, and I understood why she avoided our chaos much of the time. It grated on me too. But I’d been missing her since I’d been away for so long.

“Oh honey, I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to see my brilliant daughter and the troublemaker who threw up on my lawn,” she said, reaching to pull Braden into a hug. “It tickles me that you two are roommates. Who’d have thought?”

“Not me,” I said, trying to recall Braden as the teenaged troublemaker my mom must have sort of loved. The memories were only vague.

Braden could not have been a more gracious and inviting host. “Mrs. Finley, it’s been way too long.”

My mom swiftly smacked him. “Stop it with the ‘Mrs. Finley’ nonsense. And thank you for giving Sarah a place to stay so she can protect our national security.”

“Um, not why I’m here.” I rolled my eyes. My mom gave me an extra squeeze and went over to check out the cheese plate.

Owen and Isla came armed with bread from Isla’s bakeries and a few bottles of white wine from Owen’s most recent trip to Napa, where he owned several hotels.

“That should all go right on the table outside and we’ll serve it with dinner. Good?” I pointed and gestured like I was directing traffic, and given the size of my family, I kind of was.

Isla kissed me on the cheek and did as I asked, but not before leaning in and whispering, “I know you’re stressed about hosting, but it’ll be fine. And also, your roommate is a hottie.”

“I’m not admitting to either of those things.” I scowled, hoping Braden hadn’t overheard her.

“Nice to see you again, Braden. Been a long time,” she said as Owen moved her along. Owen was a good guy, and as the most recent inductee to our family craziness, the most sympathetic. Which meant he’d make small talk and not rock any boats.

“I’m going to start pouring the wine,” he told me with a wink.

We herded everyone through the house, where they commented on Braden’s excellent taste and my good fortune at finding such a nice roommate. Once they were outside and plied with drinks, I started to relax.

For a moment.

Braden cornered me in the kitchen while Owen opened the wine outside and started pouring. “You okay?” he asked, leaning in and giving my hip a squeeze, out of view of everyone else.

I nodded. “They make me nuts, but I love them. Thanks for letting me bring their crazy here.”

He glanced outside and seemed assured that everyone was distracted and busy—which seemed clear from their loud voices and laughter—then he pushed his hand into my hair and brought an electrifying kiss to my lips.

“Mmm, on second thought, can we send them all away and just do that?” I whined.

“Later,” he whispered. “But not soon enough.”

Then the other carload arrived, and I freaked out all over again.

That group drove from Berkeley—Finn and his fiancée, Annie, my middle sister Becca and her fiancé Blake, and Tatum, the youngest, who’d invited herself to stay in my house.

“Hey, you probably don’t remember, but I’m Becca, the middle sister. Also known as the best sister,” Becca said to Braden, pulling him in for a hug. She introduced Blake, a chef who owned several restaurants, and made sure to tell me he’d be judging my cooking.

“Don’t make me regret inviting you,” I threatened, pointing them to go over and get drunk with Isla.

“Oh sweetie, you know I’m kidding. I’m the only one who’ll be judging you.” Becca and I had an on-again, off-again relationship. Of all my siblings, she and I could be the closest and the most at each other’s throats. It had always been that way.

Finn pulled Braden into a bro hug and clapped him on the back before introducing him to Annie. “I heard you made Finn look like an angel. But I want the real stories,” Annie told him.

“I will make good on that.” Braden winked and waggled his eyebrows.

“And you will die if you do,” Finn told him with a menacing grimace.

“Finn, stop threatening him,” Annie said, playfully punching his arm. Finn kissed her cheek, then shrugged.

“Whatever, he knows where he stands.” He started talking Braden up about some brand of Scotch he liked, and they went outside.

I ignored Finn and put an arm around Tatum to show her the house. Becca and Blake went outside to join the others. Not that I’d ever tell the rest of them, but Tatum was my favorite sister. Maybe it was because she was nerdy like me, or maybe it was because she was the youngest and therefore the least annoying.

“So . . . tell me everything. How’s work?” Tatum asked while I pointed out the still-unused living room.

“So good.” I exhaled and smiled, thinking about the lab.

“Specifics, please.” Her eyes flashed and urged me forward with her hands. Just like me, she knew that work was the most important reason to be here in Carolwood.

“It’s been going really well. If we stay on the path we’re on, there’s a good chance we’ll hit our goal before six months.” I took her upstairs and showed her the gym. Unlike me, she enjoyed working out.

Her eyes popped at the variety of weights and machines. “Wow, nice setup. And you’ve got a hunk to keep your fitness up at night as well.”

“You’re hilarious,” I said, walking down the hall to show her the guest bedroom. “Here’s my room.”

She laughed. Actually laughed.

“Um, try again.”

“What?”

“You’re totally sleeping with him.” I looked around the room, panicked and struggling to see what would give her that idea. The bed was made, but so what? I always made my bed.

“Come on, let’s go downstairs before I get worried you’ve lost your mind.”

She followed me. “Fine, if you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll let it go. For now.”

“Thank you.”

But it was killing me.

My sisters and I didn’t keep secrets like this. If there was someone important in my life, I wanted them to know. Especially when I was going to leave in just over a month. I’d need them to tell me I wasn’t crazy to be second-guessing whether I really wanted to leave. But I wasn’t ready to have a conversation about it, so I kept quiet.

Tatum picked up a throw pillow from the bed that had been sitting in the same spot for weeks. Even when Braden spent the night at the station, I slept in his room. The pillowcases smelled like him, and he said it made him happy to think of me there.

“Anyhow, we should probably go downstairs. I only used the excuse of showing you around so I could get away from everyone for a few minutes,” I said, feeling the exhaustion from cooking.

“I know you did. Well, we can hang up here a little longer, or we can go downstairs where there’s wine.”

Before I could answer, the door flung open, and three more sisters were standing there. “We brought the wine to you.” Isla handed me a glass of cabernet.

Sweeping into the room and plopping on the bed, Becca grinned. “Yes, this is the wine welcoming committee. Here to talk about your hot, sexy boyfriend who you haven’t told anyone about. Why?”

I opened my mouth, hoping something intelligent and halfway believable would come out, but after the cooking and cleaning, I was too exhausted to get creative. I slumped against the bureau of drawers and took a sip of wine.

My sisters took that as confirmation.

Cherry ran up and hugged me. “Sweetie, he’s darling. And he’s crazy about you.”

Isla piped in, “He was always gorgeous. Don’t you guys remember when Finn was in high school and Braden used to come over?” Most of us shrugged. “Maybe you were too young, but I had a serious crush on him.”

I waved my hands at them. “Okay, hold the parade. He’s my roommate. And, it’s been . . . fun while I’ve been here, but that’s all it is. Temporary fun. But seriously, what did I do that made you all so sure I’m having sex with him?”

My sisters looked at each other, and I watched them exchange glances for a moment before they all burst into hysterics. I looked at Tatum, my one voice of reason in the bunch, for help. She put a hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t do anything. You just seem really happy, and he looks at you like you hung the stars. That’s it.”

“But I’m a generally happy person. I like my job. I have a good life. What’s different now?” I still wasn’t seeing what they were seeing.

“Love. That’s a different kind of happiness,” Becca said. “And it’s plain as day with you two.”

“It’s not love. We’re just having fun,” I said. I’d been saying it in my head for months, and it rolled out automatically now.

“Okay, well, fun is good too. Here’s to fun with a hot firefighter,” Cherry said, raising her glass. There was the clinking of glasses and discussion of firefighters, and someone may have even mentioned a firefighter calendar.

But I was still stuck in my head.

My sisters were right. It wasn’t just fun—I did love Braden. And instead of having the guts to tell him, I let him believe I was still fine with our arrangement of sex with no strings. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I wasn’t fine at all.

I’d promised not to lie to him—that was one of our rules at the outset.

Then I’d fallen for him and broken that rule too.