Page 41 of Crossing the Line

Gasps erupt, and the chatter turns a few decibels quieter.

“No. I will not be doing that with you ever again. And I own this place. So, as I said, your table will be far, far, far away from mine, or frankly, you can eat somewhere else.” With that said, Treasure rakes her fingers through both sides of her hair and then glares at me. “Leave my cousin alone.”

I’m uneasy as I watch her stroll confidently back to her table.

“Everybody’s dinner is on me tonight,” Orion announces.

Treasure stops in her tracks and whips around to stare at him like she wants to wring his neck. Snickering, Orion wraps an arm around Clara’s waist and winks at her. I shoot a look over at Paisley, taking her temperature, trying to figure out if her expression will tell me what she thinks about how the scene between her cousin and my brother is playing out. But either she’s unreadable, or my inner turmoil isn’t allowing me to see what I’m looking for.

* * *

“We haven’t discussedour honeymoon yet,” Lauren says to Clara, who asked if we made any plans yet.

“Try any resort along the Indian Ocean. A client… somebody took me to a resort along that ocean. It was nice. That’s all.”

“Maybe we should look into it,” Lauren replies. I think she’s talking to me.

“Hey,” Orion barks, snapping his fingers in front of my nose.

I flinch, blinking myself out of the trance that staring at Paisley has put me in. She hasn’t looked at me since we were seated across the restaurant and far from their table. Orion doesn’t have a line of sight on Treasure, but fortunately, I have one on Paisley. She’s tight. I think she’s fighting the urge to turn in my direction. I keep willing her to do it.

“What the hell,” I growl, glaring at Orion. In my peripheral vision, I see Paisley stand up and walk away from her table. “I’ll be back.”

I hop to my feet and follow her to wherever she’s going.