Page 16 of Finding New Dreams

Gina snorted and Rose covered her mouth, but her eyes gave away her smile. My opinion of the two women rose further.

Even Chloe smirked a bit. “No, genius. That’s where my drum set is.”

I nodded in approval. “Excellent. One should always have a secret lair for one’s creative pursuits.”

“Do you have a lair back in L.A.?”

I tensed because the question came from Rose, not from Chloe. For the first time that day, I saw a bit of the Rose I’d seen last night: confident. Teasing. Steady gaze.

Folding my arms, I leaned against the patio door and looked at her with hooded eyes. “I make my lair where I lie. Which tends to be in many different places.”

Her mouth twisted to one side as if she’d bit into a lemon. “Makes sense.”

My ego deflated a bit. Most women I hung around wouldn’t bat an eyelash at my wandering ways. Usually because they did the same. If anything, my…explorations were a plus.

But Rose looked like she’d just had an unpleasant suspicion confirmed.

Forgetting my sister and Gina were watching us, I smirked at Rose. “Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.”

Her spine straightened and her chin lifted. A wicked glint lit up her dark eyes like it had last night when I’d suggested the guessing wager. The same heated attraction had crackled under my skin then, too.

“Who says I haven’t?” she challenged me.

“Care to prove it?” I taunted her back.

A silence that was anything but comfortable rippled between us. Our staring standoff was broken by Hunter.

“Uh, I can start the pancakes now, if everyone’s still hungry.”

I blinked as Rose picked up her pen and went back to writing addresses as if nothing had happened. Gina’s eyes, now wider than an owl’s at night, were darting between me and Rose. Chloe, however, was glaring solely at me.

Shrugging myself into a standing position, I smiled at a bemused Hunter. “Yep. Let me help you out.”

“Okay, thanks.” Hunter glanced once at Chloe as if hoping for a telepathic explanation, but she was too busy raining mental hailstones on my head.

I quickly steered the conversation toward the cabins he and Chloe were almost done building on their property adjacent to Pine Grove Lodge. Eventually, Chloe reluctantly joined in as we whipped up a batch of blueberry pancakes.

Once we were done, Rose and Gina joined us at the long countertop to dig into piles of fluffy pancakes drizzled with melted butter and maple syrup. But watching Rose lick sticky syrup off her lips was far more delicious than the five or six pancakes I mindlessly shoveled into my mouth to keep from gaping.

She caught me staring and lifted a long, dark eyebrow. Then she ate a precise forkful of pancake, her lips capturing every drop of syrup.

I smirked and slowly, purposefully lifted my thumb to my mouth, sucking it as clean as her fork.

Her eyes followed every movement I made. The expression in them hooked something in my chest. Hard.

“Flynn? Did you hear me?” Chloe’s impatient voice penetrated the thickening steam in my head.

I jerked my attention over to her and smiled. “Sorry, didn’t get much sleep. What’d you say?”

“What are your plans for the day?”

I shrugged, using my last bite of pancake to mop up all the syrup on my plate. “Didn’t really think about it.” Remembering something, I snapped my fingers. “Oh, I did want to check out that new art place in town. Exquisite Moments, I think it was.”

Rose’s fork landed on her plate with a harsh clink, although no one but me seemed to notice.

Gina’s face split into a wide grin. “That’s an excellent idea. I’m sure Rosie here would love to give you a full, private tour of her lair. I mean, studio.”

My eyebrows shot up as I glanced at Rose. “You own it?”

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