Page 2 of Take Me, Sir

“I'll still offer,” I said. “I can get a taxi back to the hotel whenever I'm ready.”

I bit my tongue to keep from adding that I'd been living on my own for six years. Okay, so the first two had been in dorms, but by the time I turned eighteen, I'd gotten my own apartment.

“All right,” she said. “But don't be too late, sweetie.”

I smiled without giving a response. It wouldn't do any good. Most kids who were the youngest in a family were looked at as the baby, but I'd never really gotten that impression from my parents. It'd always felt more like they knew how old I was, but didn't believe I could be responsible enough to do much of anything important.

Fortunately, I didn't have to fake it with Mom any longer because Dalton and Juliette were coming toward us.

I spoke up before my mother could say anything, “Hey, I was just telling Mom that I can stay around here, make sure things get locked up after the caterers are done.”

My brother's eyes narrowed a bit as he looked at me, trying to figure out what I was up to. I didn't have to pretend much because I didn't know what the hell I was up to either. I just knew that I didn't want to go back to the hotel at six o'clock in the evening and spend the rest of the night doing the same thing I'd been doing for the past three days.

Pretending to be okay with the fact that everyone in my family acted like I'd been goofing off my whole life and now I needed to settle down and get serious. Well, not so much Dalton, but it wasn't like he'd defend me either. He had enough going on in his life.

“That would be great, Kyndall.” Juliette gave me a wide smile, making me think again how lucky my brother was to have turned a one-night stand with a gorgeous woman like Juliette into a family.

I liked Juliette. I really did. But I couldn't deny that it pissed me off that both of my siblings had made unwise decisions with some life-changing consequences, but I was the one who needed to be watched.

“Let me get you the keys.” Juliette looped her arm through mine and pulled me away from my family. “Dalton said you've been finishing up an internship of some kind since graduation.”

I nodded. “More or less.”

She gave me a sideways look, those unique light violet eyes gleaming. “I'm getting the impression that an internship for school might not be exactly what kept you in Cambridge.”

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to speculate. I didn't know her well enough to know where this conversation was going, so I chose to play my cards close to my chest until I did.

“Do you have a boyfriend back there that you don't want your family to know about?”

I laughed at that. “Not even close.”

“Girlfriend?” She grinned at me.

I grinned back. “Now, it wouldn't be fair of me to try to steal my brother's wife right after their wedding.”

She laughed, and if the past three days hadn't been enough for me to see why Dalton had fallen in love with her, that laugh would've done it. I was glad for them both. The age gap had kept my brother and me from being as close as we could have, but I loved him and wanted him to be happy. Juliette made him happy. From what I'd heard, it wasn’t easy for the two of them to get together, but it was clear they were perfect for each other. I looked forward to getting to know her better.

“Dalton tells me you have a doctorate from MIT.”

I liked the fact that she hadn't pushed things, that she'd let me blow it off with a joke. “I do.”

“He also said you're a genius.”

I nodded as she picked up a set of keys from her purse and handed them over to me. “Don't worry, I let Dalton think he's smarter than me most of the time. Wouldn't want to give him a complex.”

“Oh, no, we wouldn't want that.” Juliette slipped off her shoes, then turned to look at me, her expression more serious. “Are you planning on going back home to your parents or back to Massachusetts?”

I shrugged. “I haven't decided yet.”

“You should stay here,” Juliette said. She handed me a second key. “That's to Dalton and my place. You're welcome to stay there if you'd prefer it to a hotel. If you decide not to, just leave the key here when you lock up.”

My confusion must've shown on my face because she reached out and squeezed my hand.

“I know what it's like to need to get away from family and make your own way. We can love them, and know they love us, but still need some distance.”

She got it, I realized. She understood in a way that other people didn't. A way that Dalton couldn't understand. As I thanked her and headed back downstairs, I thought about what she said...and I continued to think about it as I hung in the background and watched everyone finish things up. By the time the caterers were gone, I'd drank enough additional champagne to take the edge off of things and to make Juliette's idea sound appealing enough for me to decide to stay at least a couple days to see how things felt.

As I locked up, I decided to go back to the hotel for tonight, then head to their place after I told my parents I was staying for a while. I was so caught up in my plan that I didn't see anyone standing in front of the house until I ran straight into a wall of solid muscle.

Dark-haired, blue-eyed, ruggedly handsome muscle.

Well, damn.

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