Page 12 of Too Sweet

“I guess not.”

“Right. So can you unclench now?”

I look at her hand, where she’s white-knuckling her seat belt.

“K,” she says.

“Sounds like my shy little sister is a little sex obsessed, though,” I tease.

“Shut up.”

“Just saying, you want to talk about furtive looks? Cooper would not say no if you jumped his bones.”

“Summer!”

I smile to myself as we head inside.

The door opens as we climb the broad front steps. Both Carter and Cooper are there. I don’t know why I’m surprised they answered the door themselves. I guess I was expecting a butler. I decide it’s good that they don’t have a huge staff doing things for them. The money hasn’t gone to their heads.

“You look different,” Carter says.

I smile at him. “Different in a good way or a bad way? I can’t tell by your face.”

“Good. Definitely good. Better than before. Not that you looked bad before, but …”

“I know what you meant,” I say, reaching out and squeezing his forearm.

Cooper leads the group through the foyer into another room with cozy but expensive sofas and a fireplace. The art on the wall speaks to an enviable private collection. But I don’t know much about art. And is this a sitting room? A waiting area? A library? A fully stocked bar and a credenza with a dozen crystal cocktail glasses sit off to the side.

“What do you ladies like to drink?” Cooper asks.

I eye the various bottles and request a gin and tonic with a twist. Harmony tenses up beside me, and Cooper clocks it. “You can help yourself to whatever you like,” he says to her.

She and I exchange a look, and her shoulders relax a little. She doesn’t trust men to pour drinks for her.

“I appreciate that,” she says.

We chat quietly while we make our drinks.

“I’m not ready for this,” Harmony says. “I’m going to mess this up.”

I glance backward at the twins. They speak close together, but nothing about their body language gives me red flags.

“I can read people pretty well, and you’d have to do something totally out of pocket to make this deal fall through, Harmony.”

“I don’t trust myself around him,” she says. “He’s too cute, and I’m all mixed up inside.”

“So, you are attracted to him!” I whisper.

Her shoulders lift to her ears. “Half of me wants to touch his stomach and the other half wants to fight him. Something is wrong with me!”

I think I know what she means. She’s nervous. She doesn’t enjoy small talk, and it’s been two years since she felt comfortable around any man. Also, she’s probably hangry.

“No talking until you’ve had something to eat,” I tell her.

The boys lead us through the main hallway into the kitchen, where the food has been prepped.

While the sitting room was dark and moody, the kitchen was bright and cheerful, with splashes of color from the art on the walls, potted plants, and sumptuous fabrics. The moat and the fountain outside might be cheesy and over the top, but this kitchen is sexy.

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