“You soft or hard?” Zach asked, grinning at James.
Crap, had Zach really asked that?
“Soft,” James answered, moving to the table. “Anyone eating hard eggs needs their head examined.”
Heat flooded Sienna’s cheeks. It seemed her mind was in the gutter while everyone else’s was on food. Oh boy, she really was in trouble.
“Soft it is.” Zach turned back to the fry pan.
She cast James an askew grin. “Can you come for breakfast every morning?”
“Absolutely.” He dropped his head to brush his lips over hers.
“I heard that,” Zach complained, a chuckle in his voice. “No kissing in the eating area.”
James straightened. His eyes danced with mirth. “Sorry.” He dropped her a wink and then joined Zach in the kitchen. “Can I help with breakfast?”
“I’m going to go wash up,” Sienna announced before heading for the bathroom.
Washing the oil paint and linseed residue from her hands, she allowed herself a moment to study her reflection in the mirror.
No matter how much she tried to keep her expression composed, a smile kept breaking out on her face. She wished it wouldn’t. With every smile, the fact she was falling hard for James became more and more impossible to deny.
And still, her lips curled in a grin and her heart fluttered with a happy beat.
“Oh, woman.” She stared hard at her reflection. “You need to get a grip and get this sorted out. Now. Before he hurts you.”
Her reflection didn’t answer. Or argue.
With a shaky breath, she turned from the mirror, wiped her hands, and exited the bathroom.
James and Zach were laughing when she joined them at the table.
“No, no, no.” Zach shook his head, a grin plastered over his face. “The shark tried to eat me after I hit on the lifeguard’s wife, not before.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I’m sorry? What?”
“Fuck.” Zach ducked his head and scrambled from the table, as if he desperately needed the bottle of ketchup ASAP. “You weren’t meant to hear that.”
She blinked at his back, trying to suppress her smile as he shot her a harried look over his shoulder.
“We were swapping stories about the life of the celebrity,” James clarified. “Your brother won with his unplanned and rather auspicious television appearance on Bondi Rescue last year.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t you own that show?”
He laughed. “God, no. I own Sydney Harbor Water Cops. Infinitely better. And with more boats.”
“I love that show.” Zach returned to the table, flicking Sienna a sheepish smile before plucking a croissant from the pile. “And boats. We’ve got a boat and Dad sometimes…” He stopped, a frown tugging at his eyebrows.
Sienna leaned forward and reached for his hand.
Opposite her, James caught her eye and shook his head. Wait, he mouthed.
Throat tight, she sat back in her seat.
“I mean, we had a boat.” Zach studied the pastry in his hand. “I guess the bank has the boat now. Still…” He looked up at Sienna and her smile wobbled. “I don’t need a boat. And I’ve got a sister, so that’s something.”
She wanted to hug him. Instead, she arched her eyebrow with playful sarcasm. “Something? I would suggest that’s the best thing ever.”
He rolled his eyes. “Geez, Si. Ego much?”
James burst out laughing, making both Sienna and Zach jump. “Can’t half tell you two are related. I remember Sienna saying those very words to me only a few short days ago.”
“And I stand by them.” She chose a croissant for herself from the stack.
James flashed a grin at her.
Her heart leaped into delightful flight. Could breakfast be any more wonderful?
“So, Zachary?” James scooped two fried eggs from the platter and deposited them on the plate in front of him. “Tell me about school. You go to The Point, correct? Is Mr. Dee still teaching history there? I don’t know how many times he put me on detention for not wearing my tie straight.”
“He is.” Piling his plate high with food, Zach pulled a face. Sienna didn’t know how he was going to fit it all in. “And he put me and Ricco—my best mate—on detention last week for the same reason. Then, during lunch, proceeded to give us lessons on how to tie a Windsor knot.”