Page 77 of Tempt Me

“Jackson? What are you doing here?” I could hardly squeeze out the words with my heart ping-ponging in my chest. Of all the places he could be on a Saturday in May, he had to be here, on the same mountain, on the same trail as Jamila and me.

“Just riding my favorite trail,” he said. “I think you’re the one who should explain whatyou’redoing here. Don’t you normally spend Memorial Day weekend helping Mother schmooze with politicos?”

“It’s my favorite trail too,” Jamila said. Her voice was buttery smooth. “I invited her.”

I gaped at her. With all her talk about casual and secrecy, was she really going to tell Jackson about us? My heart accelerated, and my fingertips buzzed.

“Hey, Jamila.” He chuckled. “First, she comes to work for you, and now you’re out together on the weekend? The PR stuff must be going well.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Natalie’s really saved my bacon. I asked her to come with me as a thank you.”

My heart thudded once as all my hopes and dreams fell—splat—on the dirt.

“That’s fantastic. You might’ve liked a reward that was less strenuous, huh, Nutter Butter? Like a trip to the spa.” He guffawed.

“Rude,” I sniffed. “I was having a delightful time until you came along.”

Turning my back to both my brother and Jamila, I limped to Noah and hugged him. Like me, he was hot and sweaty, and his helmet clanked against my head.

“Having a good time?” I asked.

“Yeah.” His thirteen-year-old voice came out grumbly and gruff. He cleared his throat. “Are you?”

I glanced over my shoulder. Jamila and Jackson weren’t paying attention, too focused on their own breezy conversation. “Eh.”

“You should come riding with Jay and me next time. The ride up is kinda hard, but on the way down, we fly. It’s so cool.”

“Does Alicia know about the flying?” My sister-in-law was one of the most cautious people I knew. She and my brother epitomized opposites attract.

He squinted one eye. “We keep it on the down-low. Besides”—he rapped his helmet—“we play it safe.”

Safewasn’t a word I associated with my brother. However, he’d surrounded himself with careful people like Alicia and Cooper. Jamila, though, was anything but safe. Was she telling my brother the truth? That we’d been about to lock lips when they’d come up behind us? From the way Jackson was laughing, I doubted it.

“What’s so funny?” I asked testily.

“Nothing, Nutter Butter.” He sauntered toward me and reached out with one of his long arms to ruffle my hair.

I leaped away. “Cut it out!” I tugged my hair elastic out and finger-combed the tangles he’d made. Then I scraped it back into a fresh ponytail and snugged it tight. When I looked up, Jamila watched me with hunger in her eyes.

Maybe we could still salvage our hike—and my reward.

“Noah says he can’t wait to reach the summit,” I said. “Guess you guys should get going.”

“Yeah, let’s go, little man.” Jackson picked up his bike and straddled it. “Nat, we’ll miss brunch tomorrow. I’ll see you next weekend. Later, Mila.” He kicked off and stood on the pedals to climb the incline. Noah did the same, and soon they disappeared around the bend.

Jamila shook her head. “That was close.”

Suddenly, the energy drained out of me, and it wasn’t only exhaustion from our hike. “I don’t suppose you told him about us?”

She blinked her eyes wide. “Aboutus?”She lowered her voice.“You mean, did I tell him I’m casually fucking his little sister?”

Her words shredded my heart like dull steak knives. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure my crush had escalated into love, but my feelings toward her were anything but casual. “Well, when you put it like that—”

“Look.” She stepped closer, not as close as we’d been before Jackson interrupted us, but into my personal space. With a knuckle under my chin, she lifted my head until I looked her in the eye. “This is very new. I think it’s reasonable to see how things go before we go telling the world about us.”

Her reasoning was…reasonable, but my feelings were not. “Jackson is one of your closest friends. Wouldn’t you tell him about someone you were seeing?”

“Normally, yes. But this isn’t a normal situation.” She whirled around, flipped off her cap, and ran her fingers through her short hair. “You’re his kid sister.”

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