Page 30 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

I wanted to punch myself in the face, but I couldn’t let him see that. I had to come up with a damn good reason for being there. Telling him I’d followed Jill was not going to keep my pretty face intact. “Yes, Noah. I wanted a vacation. Somewhere different, somewhere quiet, and I found this place. Thank whoever you’ve got doing your marketing for that.”

He took a step back, looking genuinely confused, but also…Proud. “Aubrey’s been doing the marketing, she’ll be—”

“Nope,” May said, stepping in front of Noah. “I might buy that story…” She looked over her shoulder at Noah. “Because Aubrey is doing an amazing job with the marketing, Noah.” She turned back to me. “The problem with your story is that Jill is here. Just got in this afternoon.”

“She is?” Noah asked.

May rolled her eyes and looked at Noah. “Didn’t Aubrey tell you?”

“Aubrey knew?”

May shrugged. “I assumed she did. Kayla said she’d told her when they were working together updating the new website for the inn, but maybe she forgot.”

Noah shook his head. “Or Aubrey just forgot to tell me. Between the concussion scare we had with Liam and the stomach bug hell that erupted last week, we’ve been a little preoccupied.”

“Noah,” I said, grabbing for a change of subject like a drowning man grabbing for a life raft. “You dropping your kids on their heads?”

Just as expected, Noah’s jaw clenched. “I wasn’t even there, Owings. He was running through the house, chasing the dog, and hit his head on the coffee table when he fell.”

I tsked. “You weren’t there? You mean you left your…What was it? Your under-three child alone to fall and hit his head?”

Noah’s face reddened. “He wasn’t alone. He was with Aubrey. I was—”

“Enough,” May said. “He’s baiting you, Noah, because he doesn’t want to tell us why he’s really here.”

I narrowed my eyes at May. She was dangerous, this one. “I would never. I just want to make sure my dear Aubrey’s children aren’t being mismanaged the way Noah mismanaged—”

“Enough,” May said, slapping a hand over my mouth. “Do not speak until I tell you to speak or I will kick you out.”

I shrugged, and she dropped her hand. She spun to Noah. “Maybe you should wait outside.”

Noah glared at me. “I’m not leaving you alone with this Neanderthal.”

I gave him my most charming, shit-eating grin. Noah growled, but May didn’t back down. She shoved her brother onto the porch, ignoring his warnings and shutting the door on him. Then, she turned to me.

“Why are you here? And no bullshit. I grew up with four older siblings. I can smell bullshit a mile away.”

Somehow, I believed her. I figured I was going to get kicked out no matter what I said and…This was Jill’s sister and I already liked her, as much as she annoyed me. I didn’t want to let her down by lying to her. But I could fuck with her a bit before I broke. So I sat there and said nothing.

She stared back, her eyes getting incrementally larger as the seconds ticked by. “Are you just going to sit there?”

I mimed zipping my lips and throwing away the key. She rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “Oh, for the love of green jellybeans. Yes, you can speak. As long as you answer the question, you can speak.”

“I’m crazy about your sister,” I said. “I want to get to know her better, but she won’t give me a chance. I thought if I followed her here on her vacation, I could spend some time with her away from work and I might be able to convince her to go out with me.”

She frowned, but her gaze softened. She was liking what I was saying. “You stalked my sister on her vacation so that you can get in her pants?”

Was there something wrong with that? Judging by May’s tone, I’d guess she thought so. “I want to date her,” I said, hand to chest. “I have only her best interests at heart.”

May snorted. “Right.” She crossed her arms over her chest and considered me. “You know the last time Jill had a boyfriend?”

“No.” I leaned forward not sure I wanted to hear about Jill’s exes, but also breathless with anticipation.

She shrugged. “Me, neither. Which is why I’m willing to let you stay.” She narrowed her eyes. “You do still want to stay, right? Even though my entire family hates you and Noah has lots of friends he can recruit to help kill you and bury the body?”

I bit back a smile. “I want to stay.”

She grinned. “Good. Jill needs a guy who won’t back down.”

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