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“And the one always on her phone is Ember, and Ellie is the youngest. Ellowen.” Jesus, her parents had really done a number on them with the names.

“No siblings for you?”

“None,” I said, hoping my tone made it clear that was a topic that was off limits.

“I can’t imagine. My siblings are growing up and I don’t know what I’m going to do when they go off and do their own thing. It’s going to be awful.” She sounded more like a parent than a sibling, but from what I had observed, that was a role she had filled. Or that she’d had to fill.

“You’re going to stay with your parents?” I couldn’t think of a worse hell on this earth.

“For now. They need me.” She shrugged as if that was an answer.

“They’re adults, though. If your siblings are older, then why do you have to stay?”

For the first time, I saw some of her sunniness drop. How interesting.

“Why do you care?”

Sneaky little thing. She’d deflected beautifully.

“I don’t,” I threw back at her.

“Well, Bren, this is the longest conversation we’ve had so I’m calling it a win. And I’m eating lobster. That’s a double win.”

Fucking hell. She’d done it.

“You’re dangerous,” I blurted out and it made her laugh. Instead of having one of those high kinds of laughs that stabbed your eardrums, her laugh was low and dark and made me want to wrap it up and put it in my pocket so I could take it home with me.

“No one’s ever called me dangerous before. I like it.” I bet no one had called her that before.

We finished our lobster rolls in silence, but I couldn’t help grimacing when she dipped her onion rings in ketchup.

She noticed and deliberately licked some ketchup from her finger. Then I wasn’t thinking about the disgusting condiment. I was thinking about a whole lot of other things.

Honey made a sound in her throat that was something like a laugh. As if she knew exactly what she was doing.

Dangerous. I was right on the money.

Chapter Twelve

Honey

Bren was doingher best to ignore me, but it wasn’t working, which delighted me. I was going to crack that hard candy shell around her if it was the last thing I did.

There had to be a gooey soft center underneath and I wanted to taste it. I wanted to gorge myself on it.

The need to see her soft underbelly was intense. More intense than I was willing to admit. Bren was a challenge, and I wanted to win.

She’d finally talked to me. Reluctantly, but it was something. Progress. Slow and hard-won progress.

And then she’d called me “dangerous” in a way that made my face go numb and my clit throb between my legs like a heartbeat. I couldn’t help but respond in kind and my words came out flirtier than I’d intended. Oops.

To be fair, Bren was sexy. So sexy she made my eyes cross. Her crop top left a sliver of pale belly exposed that I wanted to lick and taste and leave my mark on. Don’t even get me started on her legs in those shorts. I almost had to sit on my hands so I wouldn’t reach out and touch her.

She was every sexual fantasy I’d ever have come true and she was sittingright there.

Friend. Bren needed a friend. Not someone who was going to constantly think about getting her legs on either side of my face.

I’d never had to reel in my libido this bad. Hell, I didn’t need to reel it in. I needed to put it in a cage with multiple locks.