“What’s his name?”
Except that.
“I’m taking care of it, Sam. No need to bother about him.”
A growl rolled through him, and Tansy leaned back to look up at him. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight and he was so close.
She wanted to stretch up on her toes and touch her lips to his. Better yet, she wanted to hop onto the railing and then wrap herself around him.
“What’s his name, Tansy?”
“What?” Her brain was focused on his closeness and not the conversation.
Sam narrowed his eyes. “Your asshole ex. I want to check him out.”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
“I don’t need you to fight my battles for me. It’s done.”
“Then why is he still emailing you?”
“Because he’s not smart enough to know it’s done. He’ll figure it out.”
“He’ll figure it out faster once I have a chat with him.”
“I promised I’d ask for help if I need it. You’re my first call.”
Sam’s frown told her he didn’t like it. She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek to thank him.
The kiss sent tingles through every bit of her. And she’d only touched his cheek.
Instead of dropping back to her feet and breaking the embrace, she stayed and let her eyes drift to his mouth and then back up to his eyes.
His expression didn’t change, but he also didn’t back away.
Risk it?
Just as Tansy leaned in, Sam’s phone rang with a guitar riff.
His hands dropped away from her like he’d been yanked into a tornado. He backed up so quickly; she had to drop to the flats of her feet or stumble.
She immediately missed the heat of his body, the comfort of his presence. And the warmth of his eyes.
They were carefully blank as he pulled the phone from his pocket.
“Hey Joe, how’s it going?”
Tansy sighed.
She loved her brother more than anyone else on earth, but right now, she wanted to kick him to Mars.
Sam watched Tansy walk away.
Regret filled him. Had she been about to kiss him? Had he been about to kiss her?
Did she think of him that way? Or as a brother?