Page 81 of The Spark Between Us

Chapter Thirty

Sarah

And...the savages descended.

I loved my family, but collectively, they were a piece of work.

Before they arrived, I made a sweep of the house, making sure there was no evidence of sex. I did find one lace thong inside one of the living room sconces—don’t ask—but I reasoned that even if something like that were discovered, most savvy adults would assume it belonged to one of Braden’s bed buddies, not me.

It wasn’t like I’d have to scurry around the house and create a charade that Braden and I were just roommates. All my clothes were still hanging in the spare room that I’d barely slept in. My toiletries were still in the bathroom, and other than sexy showers together, I didn’t use Braden’s bathroom. I got ready for work in my own quarters.

“I can’t believe you cooked!” Cherry yelled as she came through the door with two bottles of red wine.

“Why can’t you believe it?” I’d have felt offended if the comment wasn’t coming from Cherry, my second-to-youngest sister who most definitely did not cook. “I can follow a recipe like the next person.”

“Well, yes, but I thought you were smart like me and let everyone believe you can’t do it, so they do all the cooking. Ever notice how it’s always Finn or Isla who has us all over? By design!” She raised her hand to give me a high five.

I laughed and hugged her tight. Despite my nerves and grumbling, I missed her. I missed all my siblings, who’d come down in two separate cars because no one had a car big enough for everyone.

Cherry drove from San Francisco with my oldest sister Isla and her fiancé Owen and my mom, who only came to our sibling dinners about half the time. She claimed it gave her a headache when we all talked over each other.

“Mom, I’m so glad you came. Yay!” I was happy to see her. We were similar, and I understood why she avoided our chaos much of the time. It grated on me too. But I’d been missing her since I’d been away for so long.

“Oh honey, I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to see my brilliant daughter and the troublemaker who threw up on my lawn,” she said, reaching to pull Braden into a hug. “It tickles me that you two are roommates. Who’d have thought?”

“Not me,” I said, trying to recall Braden as the teenaged troublemaker my mom must have sort of loved. The memories were only vague.

Braden could not have been a more gracious and inviting host. “Mrs. Finley, it’s been way too long.”

My mom swiftly smacked him. “Stop it with the ‘Mrs. Finley’ nonsense. And thank you for giving Sarah a place to stay so she can protect our national security.”

“Um, not why I’m here.” I rolled my eyes. My mom gave me an extra squeeze and went over to check out the cheese plate.

Owen and Isla came armed with bread from Isla’s bakeries and a few bottles of white wine from Owen’s most recent trip to Napa, where he owned several hotels.

“That should all go right on the table outside and we’ll serve it with dinner. Good?” I pointed and gestured like I was directing traffic, and given the size of my family, I kind of was.

Isla kissed me on the cheek and did as I asked, but not before leaning in and whispering, “I know you’re stressed about hosting, but it’ll be fine. And also, your roommate is a hottie.”

“I’m not admitting to either of those things.” I scowled, hoping Braden hadn’t overheard her.

“Nice to see you again, Braden. Been a long time,” she said as Owen moved her along. Owen was a good guy, and as the most recent inductee to our family craziness, the most sympathetic. Which meant he’d make small talk and not rock any boats.

“I’m going to start pouring the wine,” he told me with a wink.

We herded everyone through the house, where they commented on Braden’s excellent taste and my good fortune at finding such a nice roommate. Once they were outside and plied with drinks, I started to relax.

For a moment.

Braden cornered me in the kitchen while Owen opened the wine outside and started pouring. “You okay?” he asked, leaning in and giving my hip a squeeze, out of view of everyone else.

I nodded. “They make me nuts, but I love them. Thanks for letting me bring their crazy here.”

He glanced outside and seemed assured that everyone was distracted and busy—which seemed clear from their loud voices and laughter—then he pushed his hand into my hair and brought an electrifying kiss to my lips.

“Mmm, on second thought, can we send them all away and just do that?” I whined.

“Later,” he whispered. “But not soon enough.”

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