Page 16 of Falling for my Brother's Best Friend

Six

Liam

Ipocket my cell phone and open the door of Bailey Timber Corporation. The four-story lumber building is still impressive, even after being here so many times. Mr. Bailey is the one who worked with an architect when we were growing up to build the larger office. Bailey Timber had outgrown the small building near the production building.

I step up to the receptionist and I’m about to say who I’m here for, but she slides a name tag over the top of the desk.

“Here you go, Mr. Kelly. Ms. Bailey is expecting you. Do you know where her office is?” The woman is in her mid-twenties and she’s cute. Her smile says she might think I’m cute too.

“Don’t even think about it, Carrie, he’s in love with my sister.” Phoenix pops out of nowhere. “Liam.” She raises her eyebrows.

I grin at her. “I heard you were sticking around.”

She shrugs, her long dark hair a stark contrast from her older sister’s. “LA didn’t pan out yet, but I won’t be here for long.”

“Heading to New York with Sedona?”

“No way. I hate that place. Besides, Broadway isn’t my calling. Stardom is.” It’s not the first time I’ve noticed that her eyes light with fire when she talks about her singing aspirations. “I love Hollywood, but it’s so expensive.”

I put my arm around Phoenix because she’s like a kid sister to me. “Fall-back plan?”

“Uuugh! You sound like Savannah. What’s wrong with pursuing your dream?”

She presses the elevator button for the top floor, where all the executives are. I remember Denver, Rome, and I riding our bikes over here to get money from their dad back when we were twelve.

“Because there’re little things called rent, bills, food. Those necessities you need to survive in life.”

After politely waiting for everyone to file out, we step into the elevator. “I know, I know. Austin keeps reminding me of how me moving in with him and Holly has increased those costs for them.”

“Why don’t you move in with Juno for the summer while Kingston’s off smoke jumping?”

“Last I heard, Savannah had dibs there.”

I whip my head in her direction. “What?”

She covers her mouth as if she spilled a secret. She can spare me the drama. “Oh sorry, I figured you knew.” Her shoulder hikes up in a shrug, but her smirk is in place. “She must have wanted to surprise you.”

The elevator dings and I follow Phoenix down the hallway.

“So you’re into the older woman thing, huh? And the older sister of your best friends at that.” Only Phoenix would ask me point blank. That’s her style. She’s a lot like her grandmother that way.

“What are we, thirteen?”

She nudges me with her arm, stopping us in front of a corner office with Dori Bailey etched in the foggy glass door. “I can keep a secret.”

“None of you Baileys can keep a secret, and there’s nothing to tell. Savannah and I run cold together.”

“Except when you run hot. Like the night of Holly and Austin’s wedding?” She leans forward as though she wants in on the gossip Buzz Wheel is reporting.

“You can put your notepad down, detective. There’s nothing to tell.”

I knock on the glass because Phoenix’s dark eyes are still trying to figure out the situation between her oldest sister and myself.

“Come in,” Dori says, and Phoenix opens the door.

Low and behold, there’s my soon-to-be ex-roommate, sitting on the couch with a pen between her teeth and her fingers pecking at the keys on her laptop. That’s how I find her most days. Saturday and Sunday included.

“Liam!” Dori rises from behind her desk, an oversized pair of dark glasses on, and heads toward me.

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