Page 84 of Catch a Wave

He blushes. My big brother is blushing. What on earth is going on?

Mila comes back downstairs alone, and I look between the two of them.

“Oh, Kai. Hi. What brings you over here today?”

“Hey, Mila. Uh. Yeah. Well, I just wanted to check on the faucet. Make sure it was holding up after that repair.”

“It is.” Mila ducks her face down slightly and tucks a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear. “Thanks. You didn’t have to come all this way just to check.”

Oh. My. Gosh. It’s like watching Kai in high school all over again. I might be crazy, but this version of Kai usually only comes out when he has a crush. And from the way he looks like he doesn’t know what to do with his hands … or head … or eyes, I’m guessing he’s got it bad for Mila.

“Good. Good. That’s good.” The blush on Kai’s face might even deepen.

It’s nearly painful watching my brother, who is usually super pulled together and in-charge, stumble over his words like a prepubescent boy who just literally bumped into the homecoming queen. It would be downright embarrassing if it weren’t so amusing.

Mila looks at Kai with an expression that’s either compassionate or concerned. It could be something more, but it resembles the face a mom makes when her son falls off his bike, not a woman who can’t stop thinking about a man. Which, ewww. That’s my brother.

“Would you like a scone? I just baked them.” Mila offers. “Want one, Kalaine?” she adds as almost a polite afterthought.

“I’m good,” I say, typing a bunch of random letters on the keyboard in front of me as if I’m composing a letter to someone very important. Sakdfjsljfsildjfksl;fjsldfj fills my screen while my eyes continue to observe my brother in his very-not-natural-habitat.

“I’d love one,” Kai says. “I was wondering what that amazing smell was.”

I nearly chuckle. He’s got itbad. It’s pretty cute.

“Awww. Thank you.” Mila smiles over at Kai while she walks toward the kitchen. “They’re cranberry orange with white chocolate chips and an orange glaze.”

“Mmm.” My brother looks nearly dazed, and I don’t think it’s over the idea of fresh baked goods.

He starts to follow Mila, and when he steps down from the elevated entryway into the living area, one of his feet catches on the lip of the step and he does this sort of superman sprawl forward with both arms reaching in front of himself and his legs trailing behind, followed by what looks like the running man dance, and then this slow motion winding arm flail which is an uncanny impersonation of a human windmill. To his credit, and probably at least in part due to his years surfing, Kai doesn’t go down.

I can’t help myself. I try to hold it in, I really do. But a snort of laughter flies out of me. Since I’m trying to contain myself, it comes out more like a congested seal bark than a burst of laughter.

“Watch it,” Kai growls in my direction.

“I’m pretty sureyoushould watch it,” I tell him, still chuckling, but trying hard to restrain myself on his behalf.

Mila smiles shyly over at my big brother. “That step is always something I wondered if I should have removed. It’s part of the original architecture and I love it, but it’s a hazard.”

Kai’s all business now. “If you need it taken out, you’d have to do it during a mid-week when you don’t have guests here. I could get Bodhi and Ben to cover the shack so I could do it for you. Just let me know.”

“You already do so much around here,” Mila says.

He does?Okay, then.

Mila walks into the kitchen and Kai follows behind her.

“Watch your step,” I mutter with the grin of an annoying baby sister on my face.

Kai shakes his head and brushes his hands down the front of his jeans and then he’s in the kitchen alone with Mila and I’m dying to put a cup up to the wall to eavesdrop, but I busy myself deleting the gibberish letters off my screen and then responding to actual emails from future guests about their bookings.

On his way out of the inn, Kai pauses at the reception desk. When I look up, he says, “I forgot to tell you when I got here. A woman stopped by the house a few hours ago. She was looking for you.”

“Looking for me?”

“Yeah. She said her name was Megan. She said she’d catch up with you later.”

“Megan?”

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