Page 63 of The Reluctant Flirt

“Why not? Age gap is the hottest thing in the romance genre right now, and Marco is more charming than you give him credit for.”

“Now my mind is officially blown.” Montgomery strolled in to check on leftovers and circled Aspen’s feet. “No, baby, you ate already. I’ll give you a treat later.”

Aspen knelt and gave the cat some love. He allowed her to stroke and pet him, crooning how handsome he was, and when his ego was full, he flicked his tail and prowled out. “He’s the sweetest thing. It’s as if he knows you saved him, and he’ll do anything for you and the people you love.”

“Right? He did well in Flirt so I’m bringing him in a few more times to test things. Some of the customers jumped at first, but he didn’t hiss once! If he becomes a regular, I’ll post a sign so people know to expect him around.”

“Love it. Did Kane end up dropping off those gifts he bought? It was so cute—he seemed excited for you.”

She dropped her gaze. “Umm, yeah. I think I’ll have one of these cookies.” She took a few bites and decided to dive right in since Kane was mentioned. Why drag out her misery to the end of the night? Better to get it over with. “You were right about me having something important to tell you.”

“Finally. Tell me.”

“I slept with Kane.”

The ear-splitting shriek made her almost fall off the chair, but she should’ve been prepared. A combination of shock, temper, and marvel flickered over her sister’s face. Sierra glanced over at Montgomery to make sure he didn’t get upset, but he’d already disappeared into the sun room. She braced herself for the next outburst.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Oh, my God, I should’ve known you two were hiding sexual tension behind hate. I should retire as a writer for not recognizing what was right in front of me the whole time. When did this happen? This week? A month ago? Are you having a secret affair? Was it good? Forget that—I imagine it’s the best sex you ever had in your life. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Sierra bit her lip and spoke carefully. “Well, do you remember when I visited you in New York right after I got divorced?”

Aspen scrunched up her face. “What does that have anything to do with this?”

“Humor me. Do you remember? You had that book event and left me alone one night and suggested a few bars for me to go and have a drink?”

“Umm, yeah. I guess?”

“I met Kane at the bar, and we had a one-night stand.”

The second round of screaming commenced. This time, Sierra expected it and covered her ears until the noise died down. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? You met Kane before and never told me?”

Sierra sighed. “Yeah. I thought it was just a one-night stand and decided to keep it a secret. We never even exchanged names. I was such a wreck after the divorce, and we connected, and one thing led to another. I ran away in the morning and never thought we’d see each other again. Until you introduced me to him here.”

Aspen’s brown eyes were so wide that they were about to pop out of her head. “This is too trippy. Wait—I don’t understand. Why didn’t you just tell the truth when you met each other? You raced out of the room with a headache! And Kane left right after and seemed like a mess! And I can’t seem to stop yelling in exclamation points!”

Sierra couldn’t help it. She laughed and then began to tear up after realizing how hard it was to keep a big piece of her life from her sister. How it almost didn’t seem real because Aspen didn’t know. “I panicked. I never thought I’d see him again, and I wanted to run away and not deal with it. Later on, the idea of sharing something so personal that I’d tucked away and tried to forget was overwhelming.”

Aspen shook her head hard as if to clear it. Then stared at her for a long while. “You pretended not to know each other for months? This isn’t like you, Sierra. You’re the most direct, let’s-deal-with-this-shit-now type of person I know. Which means…”

Sierra winced. She sensed what was coming.

“Which means you have real feelings for Kane! You never got over him. And you don’t know how to handle it!”

The truth more than hurt. It irritated the crap out of her. “Maybe,” she said grudgingly.

“Not maybe. Definitely. How does he feel about you?”

She squirmed in her seat. “He wants to give us a chance.”

Aspen blinked. “Why don’t you look thrilled by that? A guy you fell for blasts back into your life and wants a second chance to see what you could be to each other, and you look like you lost your best friend?”

“I don’t know! When we first met, I realized we were two different people. He was obsessed with money and power, and I needed to rebuild my life. We lived in separate states. There was no way it could work. Am I supposed to just drop everything and open my life to a possible chance with a man who was in jail and may not have changed? A chance to get annihilated and hurt for no reason? A chance to make things even worse with all of us if it blows up and will be awkward and awful forever and ever when we’re all together?”

Aspen smiled. “Yes. Exactly that.”

Sierra jumped from the chair and took a few steps back, as if her sister was about to pounce on her. “Why? That makes no sense!”

“Because love doesn’t make sense, babe. It’s a prickly, painful, agonizing mess. But if it works the way it’s supposed to, love is the best damn thing in the world. And you know this. Which makes me want to ask another question.”

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