“There’s an office party this Saturday,” Sam said.

We were lying in the lawn chairs by my pool. I was tanning, he was reading. I wasn’t sure what. Dennis Lehane’s latest if I had to guess. I shifted onto my stomach to tan my back.

“And you’re telling me this why?”

“Because you’re part of the company right now and you should come.”

I scoffed. “I’m only there for two weeks. That hardly makes me part of the company.”

Besides, I still wasn’t over the idea that they were splitting it up or that Monte belonged to them. I wouldn’t say this to Sam, though, because I loved him and didn’t want to make him feel bad.

“Fine,” he said. “I want you to go with me. Both of my parents will be there, and I have a feeling they’ll take the opportunity to fill everyone in on what’s happening.”

“And you need me to hold your hand.”

“It would be nice.”

I frowned, turning onto my side and fixing my top so I didn’t flash him. “You’re serious.”

“I am.” He glanced over the book in his hands. “If you really don’t want to go, it’s okay. I just figured you were probably free anyway.”

“Is it super fancy?”

“Not really. Cocktail attire. Little black dress and all that.” He grinned. It was so similar to his brother’s. A show-stopping grin, for sure, and Samson had a dimple to boot. I sat up.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

“You sound less than thrilled about this.”

“Well, I don’t want to go, but you already called me a loser for not having plans, and now I feel like I need to hold your hand.”

He snorted out another laugh and went back to his book, but I wasn’t done with the conversation yet.

“Why don’t you already have a date to take?”

“I have the party, and the girl I’m kind of seeing isn’t ready to meet my parents.”

“Your mom’s a vulture. I wouldn’t introduce any girl to her.”

He peeked over his paperback. “She got you that bad, huh?”

I shrugged, fell onto my back again, and threw an arm over my eyes.

“You know she has a twisted way of telling people she loves them, right?”

“If that was her way of telling me she loved me, I can’t even imagine what hate must sound like spilling from her lips.”

“Venomous.”

“I bet she loves Camryn.” I smirked and then looked over at him, eyes wide. “Will she be there?”

“I doubt it. I mean, she has no reason to go that I know of, but I don’t talk to my brother, remember?”

“Why is that? You two used to be close.” It was something that we rarely discussed and, before I’d started talking to Rowan again, I felt weird asking. I was always walking the fine line between wanting to know everything Ro was up to and not wanting to know anything at all.

“He thinks I’m in love with you and that I’m the reason you’ve been avoiding him for four years.”

I let out a laugh and then sobered. “Wait, you’re serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

“Why would he . . .” I let my words hang. My heart pounded hard against my chest as Sam looked at me. Oh my god. Was he? I sat up quickly, gripping the edge of the chaise. “Are you?”

He closed his paperback with a thump. Didn’t even bother marking the page. My heart plummeted. He couldn’t be. We were friends. Such good friends. If he felt that way toward me, it would ruin everything. It already had between Ro and me. He grabbed the edge of the chaise he was sitting on and dragged it with him until our knees were touching.

“Sam,” I whispered, emotion gripping my throat and squeezing. I shook my head to will the emotion away. He shrugged.

“Nope. Not in love with you.”

I let out a laugh and slapped him. “You had me going.”

“I mean, they say the way to know if you’re in love with someone is to kiss them,” he said, his lips forming a slow smile. “We can give it a go.”

“I prefer not to,” I said, but his face was mere inches from mine when he moved forward. Finally, when he moved even closer, I held my breath, my fingers tightening on the edge of the chaise.

“Fuck it. I’m going for it,” he whispered.

I could have stopped him, but I didn’t, because how easy would it be to be in love with someone like Sam? Someone who would follow me around the world and take a job anywhere because he wasn’t married to this company or this city. My heart pounded even harder. He leaned in, his lips brushing mine lightly before fully pressing them against mine. I felt nothing. Even as our tongues touched and danced, I felt nothing. We broke apart quickly and looked at each other.

His eyes searched mine for a beat. “You pulled away faster than people pull away in spin the bottle.”

“I hate spin the bottle, and I didn’t feel a need to continue to kiss you,” I said, but my eyes were wide on his. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing.” He shrugged. “It’s like kissing a sister or something. No offense.”

I exhaled heavily. “Oh, thank God.”

The backdoor slammed, making us both making us jolt away from each other, and we turned to look at it. Rowan stood, arms crossed, beside a man I recognized as Enrique the realtor. I shot to standing and grabbed my maxi, pulling it over myself to cover up my bikini.

“That’s the realtor.”

“Yeah, Enrique,” Sam said, nodding as he stood.

He grabbed his paperback and walked with me. With each step, I wondered how much of that they saw. Did Rowan see me kiss his brother? My stomach churned at the thought. A part of me wanted to be proud of it, but it just made me sick. My face was beet red by the time I stood close enough to make out both of their expressions. Enrique was smiling wide, hand out ready to greet me. Rowan’s expression could freeze the ecosystem. I focused on Enrique, shaking his hand in introduction.

Sam spoke to him next, small talk I couldn’t even pay attention to because I was so focused on my sandaled feet. I wouldn’t dare look Rowan in the face. I felt his eyes on me, though, burning, questioning. Enrique and Rowan headed inside the house, and I nearly jumped when Sam grabbed my elbow.

“I’ll see you later, gator,” he said.

“Later, gator.”

He walked away, saying his goodbyes to the guys as he went. When he got to the front door, he turned around and looked at me again. “Don’t forget about Saturday.”

“I won’t.”

I showed Enrique around, stood by while he took pictures, and spoke to him about the house. I fully intended to clear things up with Rowan. I wasn’t sure whether or not he’d seen me with Sam outside, but if he had, I wanted him to know there was nothing going on there. Halfway through the tour, Rowan’s phone rang, and with barely a goodbye, he was striding back through my front door. As I watched him leave, I vowed to tell him tomorrow at the office. Definitely tomorrow.