“Oh please, you’re family. Gideon has to listen to you… it’s family rules.”
Kira’s phone dinged and she said, “Hey, check what that is, would you?”
Grace scooped Kira’s phone from the cup holder. “It’s from Rose. She said she moved your showing from one to three today and that you’re a go for the two showings on the weekend.”
“Perfect!” Kira said. “One thing I love about being a real estate agent is the flexible hours.”
“Work is going well for you,” Grace said.
“It really is.” Kira grinned at her. “It’s like I just needed that one sale from Mr. Stark and then boom… I started kicking ass at selling houses. You know, when I got my real estate license, I did it because I didn’t really know what else I wanted to do. But now, I actually kind of love it.”
“That’s awesome, honey.”
“I’m still looking at some places for Lucas to buy.”
“Oh yeah? I thought he wasn’t moving here until September.”
“He doesn’t start his new position until September. But he’s actually moving here in August.”
“That’s a hell of a commute to New Cassel for work,” Grace said.
“He has a month’s worth of vacation built up that Mr. Stark said he had to take before he started his new position here in Harmony Falls.”
“Lucky him,” Grace said.
“He’s a really great guy. Don’t you think?” Kira said.
“I don’t know him that well,” Grace said.
“I know he comes off as kind of sarcastic sometimes, but he’s actually really sweet. He sure thinks you’re gorgeous. And funny and smart.”
Grace laughed. “Just say what you want to say, Kira.”
“I think you should date Lucas. He’s totally into you. He’s mentioned to Connor a few times that he’d like to get to know you better.”
Grace picked at her nails. “I’m not interested in him.”
“Why not?” Kira said. “He’s good looking, he has a good job, he’s funny. I don’t get why you’re not interested.”
“I’m just not, okay?”
“You haven’t dated anyone in...” Kira paused in thought, “at least three years. At least. Maybe even longer. Hell, you’re not even having a sex only fling with someone. You can’t tell me you don’t miss sex.”
She squinted at Grace. “Wait, are you having a sex only fling with someone and not telling me?”
“No,” Grace said. “There’s not a lot of room in my life right now for a relationship.”
“Now you sound like Gideon,” Kira said. “He hasn’t dated a single person since he moved back home. Not one, Gracie! I guess he could be having sex with someone and not telling me about it.” She made a face. “Which I’m actually thankful for because I don’t want to think about my brother banging someone.”
“No one does,” Grace said.
Kira laughed. “Anyway, I really do wish you’d give Lucas a chance. Just one? For me?”
Grace hesitated before shaking her head. She knew Kira meant well, but she wouldn’t do that to Lucas. It was bad enough that she’d agreed to have coffee with him last Sunday. She shouldn’t have gone out with him, and she wouldn’t make that mistake again. She wouldn’t lead Lucas on when she couldn’t get the sound of Gideon’s voice or the memory of his fingers on her clit, out of her head. “I can’t, Kira. I’m not interested in him.”
“Okay,” Kira said. “It’s probably for the best anyway. Gideon can’t stand Lucas for some reason, and he’d probably freak out if you started dating him. You’re just as much his baby sister as I am, and you know how weirdly protective he is of who we date. Wait, that’s not why you haven’t dated anyone since Gideon moved back home is it? Because you’re worried what he’ll say? Because he might be our brother but that doesn’t give him the right to tell us how to live our lives.”
“No, that isn’t it,” Grace said. A wave of depression was washing over her. Kira would never see her and Gideon as anything but brother and sister. Grace needed to accept that and move on or she’d never be happy. So, why couldn’t she just move the fuck on?
“Hey, are you still sleeping okay?” Kira asked.
“It comes and goes,” Grace said. “I didn’t sleep at all last night, but I got a few hours on Saturday night.”
“Sweetie, you really need to talk to your doctor again,” Kira said.
“I know.” Grace stared out the window. The doctor would do what he always did which was prescribe sleeping pills that either made her feel logy and slow or didn’t work at all. Her Gideon shirt talisman was starting to lose its power and it panicked her more than she would admit. The last week or so of getting solid sleep every night had made her realize just how bad her sleeping habits were. If Gideon’s shirt stopped working completely, she didn’t know what she’d do.
Sleep in Gideon’s bed.
Not a chance. What had happened between them on Wednesday was a one-time thing. A mistake. A break in Gideon’s usual control. It would never happen again, and she knew it wasn’t her imagination that Gideon was back to ignoring and avoiding her again.
He can’t avoid you forever.
That was true. They were meeting tomorrow night to go around to a few of the businesses at the mall. She wasn’t looking forward to it. She was certain the whole night would be one giant ball of excruciating awkwardness.
* * *
“You good with stopping in at a couple more stores before we finish for the night?” Gideon studied Grace in the harsh florescent mall light. He didn’t think it was the unflattering light that gave Gracie the dark circles under her eyes.
She wasn’t sleeping again, and it was all his fault.
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“I said yes, didn’t I?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
Gracie was a bit short tempered and impatient even when she wasn’t royally pissed at him. He shouldn’t be surprised that she was barely speaking to him tonight.
He deserved it. He’d temporarily lost his mind last Wednesday, and now he didn’t know how to walk it back.
You can’t, idiot. What’s done is done. You need to apologize.
Yeah, he really did. Instead of apologizing, he said, “Is your insomnia back?”
They were standing near the food court and she checked her watch. “We need to hurry. The mall closes in half an hour.”
She was carrying a clipboard in one hand and she looked over the papers clipped to it as Gideon looked her over. She was wearing her scrubs from work and her curly hair was piled into a messy bun on top of her head. It was a far cry from the sexy tight top and curve hugging jeans she wore to the meeting at Wanda’s, but if she was trying to look less attractive to him, it was a battle she’d never win. It didn’t matter what Gracie wore, she always looked amazing. Always.
Although, he could admit the way the shirt she wore last Wednesday clung to her breasts had given him one hell of a woody. He’d barely been able to concentrate on what Wanda was saying the entire meeting.