He had to fight the urge to walk over to her, wrap his arms around her, and pull her in for a kiss. It seemed so natural to have this desire, but he was fully aware, out of the corner of his eye, of Miller standing at the oven. There was a part of him that thought about walking over to Miller and saying, “You know that girl we talked about yesterday? It’s Drea, and she’s perfect and I want nothing more than to sweep her off her feet,” but he knew there was no way it would end the way he wanted it to while he was still an employee of the Indigo Royal Resort.
“Morning, girls!” Miller called out, not turning around from where he was working.
“Morning, Uncle Miller,” Leona called out. “Kyle.” She smirked in his direction, giving him an I-know-your-secret smile. He shook his head—of course she knew.
“Leona,” Kyle responded, handing her a knowing smile right back. He carried the carafe over to the family table and picked up a mug, pouring coffee into it. He handed the mug to Drea, who took it, her smile lighting up her whole face. “Morning, Drea. Sleep well?”
“I did. Yourself?”
“Like never before.”
He pulled out a chair from the table and motioned for her to sit. She slid into the seat, trying to hide her emotions from taking over her face as she did. Trying not to look obvious, he did the same for Leona, pulling out the chair to Drea’s left and then sitting in the one to her right. Reaching over to her underneath the table, he gripped her thigh just above her knee and gave it a little squeeze. He could see the little shudder her body gave as he made contact, and he hoped it was because she was reliving last night in her head.
Vaughn, Simone, and Grayson all paraded in together and sat in various spots around the table. Vaughn was on his phone typing furiously while Grayson flipped through a stack of papers, furrowing his brow trying to make sense of something.
“Did you see my text about the dress?” Simone asked Drea as she poured herself some coffee.
“Yes! You decided just to wear that champagne one you have?”
“I did. It’s my favorite and what better day to wear your favorite dress than on your wedding day, right?”
“Perfect. So, what do you want me in?”
“I’m thinking black if that works for you. I figured you could pull that off,” she laughed.
“Absolutely!”
“Hey, would you two mind running a booze cruise today?” Grayson chimed in. “It’d be a small one.”
“Sure,” Kyle shrugged. “Something happen with Bobby or Kenny?”
“No, but somehow paperwork got screwed up, and I can’t figure out how, but basically, we have three scheduled for today. Good news is, if you’re willing to do this, I can make it so you have nothing tomorrow and Sunday, so you can take the Runnin’ as early as you want tomorrow.”
“That’s fine,” Drea answered, looking at Kyle. He smiled back at her, thrilled at the idea that they could have two whole days away, just the two of them. He just hated hiding said excitement in the moment.
“Where are you two going?” Vaughn asked skeptically, looking up to eye Drea and Kyle.
“I don’t know, we haven’t figured that out yet. But we have Sunday off so we thought it might be fun to go sailing, and Uncle Gray said we could borrow the Runnin’.”
“I was thinking maybe we’d head over to San Juan and hit up that empanada stand. We could bring you some back if you want,” Kyle injected, hoping the mention of Simone’s favorite street food would be a good distraction.
“I don’t know how I feel about the two of you being gone for an entire weekend,” Vaughn said.
“Why, you need her for something?” Miller asked, leaning over him to place pans of eggs and breakfast meats in the middle of the table.
“No. But just the two of them?”
“We’re right here, Uncle Vaughn,” Drea said.
“Oh no. Our twenty-six-year-old niece is going away for the weekend with her twenty-seven-year-old best friend!” Grayson snarked sarcastically.
“Well, when you put it that way.”
“She’s an adult, Vaughn. As much as it kills me, you know, having raised her and all, as your lovely bride-to-be pointed out the other day, she owes us no explanations,” Miller stated, finally sitting down at the table.
Kyle could feel the heat of embarrassment rising up his neck. He wanted to chime in, but he didn’t want to intrude on a family discussion. He knew that Vaughn had always been the serious one in the family, the worrier, and that his overprotectiveness of Drea stemmed from his own methodical way of handling life. He also knew it wasn’t personal, that he’d be just as concerned if it were Leona and Drea going away for the weekend. Although if he knew all the things Kyle had imagined doing to his sweet little niece on that boat, he might never let him near her again.
“Can everyone stop talking about us like we’re not here?” Drea exclaimed. Leona looked down, stifling a giggle. “Look, if it’s that big of a deal, we won’t go. But we both haven’t had many days off lately, so when Uncle Gray floated the idea of a weekend away, it sounded nice. But not if it’s going to be a great debate at breakfast!”
Kyle inhaled slowly, and reached over to squeeze Drea’s hand lightly, in what he hoped looked like a best friend move and not something more. He wanted to lean over and kiss her temple to help calm her, but instead just kept holding her hand.
“Vaughn, Miller, Grayson, I promise to not let anything happen to your baby girl,” he said calmly. “Or the boat.”
Everyone at the table laughed, even Vaughn.
“So, back to the real problem at hand,” Grayson said sternly, glaring at his brother. “Booze cruise today? It’s those blondes and their meathead counterparts.”
“Ugh, no,” Drea grumbled. “Give us someone else. Make Dalton take them.”
“Dalton was specially requested by some very hot-to-trot old ladies,” Dalton said, referring to himself in the third person as he walked into the kitchen. He grabbed a mug from the rack and poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot.
“Well done, dude,” Kyle replied, holding out his fist for Dalton to bump. He saw Drea roll her eyes out of the corner of his and he laughed.
“Why, thank you! But that does mean you all get to spend the day with Staci with an i.”
“Is she gonna be less hot-to-trot today?” Drea asked.
“Maybe,” Dalton replied, making a clicking noise and winking.
“I take it back, Uncle Gray. I’ll work the next six weekends, no days off, if it means I don’t have to get on a boat with her for the third time this week,” Drea said, pleading with her uncle.
“She’s not that bad,” Dalton shrugged.
“Based on your reaction she must not have been that good, either,” Leona snarked under her breath.
Dalton just shrugged in response, refusing to confirm or deny Leona’s assessment. Leona simply shook her head—Kyle just wasn’t sure if it was in amazement or disbelief.
“It’ll be fine,” Kyle said, putting his arm around her, trying to make it look casual. “We got this, you and me versus the airheads and the meatheads.”
“My money's on you kids,” Miller interjected.