“What’s wrong with you tonight?”
“Nothing. What’s wrong with you?” Kira said.
Gideon patted Tank’s head before leaning against the counter. “You’re acting weird.”
“You’re acting weird.”
He rolled his eyes and grabbed a tart from the cupboard. “Have you shown that tech guy the properties yet?”
“No, that doesn’t happen until Friday.” She stared at her hands as Gideon sat down across from her.
“Nervous?”
“Yeah. If I can’t find a property he likes and wants to purchase, I’ll lose my job.”
“Sorry, kid,” he said.
She shrugged. “I just need to think and stay positive. There has to be something he likes, right?”
“Yeah. How are things going with your new boyfriend?”
“Don’t say it like that.” She scowled at him as he shoved the rest of the tart into his mouth.
He chewed and swallowed before saying, “It’s Wednesday and we still haven’t talked about it.”
“You’ve been busy at work and there’s nothing to talk about. I’m dating Connor.”
“But you’re in love with Daniel,” Gideon said.
“No, I had a pointless crush on Daniel that I’m now over.”
He studied her silently and wilted under his gaze. She hated how her brother could always tell when she was lying.
“I haven’t seen Connor’s car here since Saturday,” he said.
She glared at him. “Are you spying on me?”
He gave her a grin, not the least bit ashamed. “It’s not spying when I’m a cop, Kira. It’s called doing my job.”
“It’s called spying and you need to stop. Besides,” she lied, “I’ve been at his house a couple of times this week.”
“Now I know you’re lying,” he said.
“Shut up.”
“Connor lives in an apartment, not a house,” he said.
“How do you know that?”
“I’m the sheriff,” he said as if that answered everything.
“Well, I just,” she waved her hands around, “meant house in general.”
“Oh yeah? What’s Connor’s address?”
“I don’t know his exact address, Gideon.” Sweat was dripping down her back. “Hey, did you see they have steaks on sale at Safeway? I know you’ve been itching to barbeque again.”
“Stop changing the subject. Where does Connor live. Just give me a general area of town.”
She stared at him before sighing. “Fine, I don’t know where he lives, all right?”
“You’ve been dating him for almost three weeks, and you don’t know where he lives,” Gideon said.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” she said. “He usually comes here.”
“Kira, you’re hiding something from me,” Gideon said. “Why?”
“I’m not. God, Gideon, I’m not a little kid anymore. Stop treating me like one.”
Gideon tapped his fingers on the table and Tank sat up, making a soft ‘woof’ as he stared toward the front door.
“I realize you’re not a kid, but you’re my kid sister and I’m going to worry about you. Especially if you’re dating someone who isn’t a good guy.”
“Connor’s a great guy,” she said. “You hate Daniel, I would think you’d be happy that I’m dating someone else and finally over him.”
Gideon stood and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. “I would be if I thought you were actually over Daniel. Come by the house tomorrow night at six for dinner. Bring your… boyfriend with you.”
“I’ll check and see if he has plans,” Kira said.
“Love you, kid.” Gideon whistled for Tank and the big dog lumbered to his feet and followed him out of the kitchen.
“I love you too.” Kira waited until the door shut before grabbing her phone. She hesitated and then typed Connor a quick message. She hadn’t heard a word from him since Saturday, and to be honest, she wasn’t even sure if they were still fake dating. He’d been super pissed when he left.
Yeah, well, that’s not your fault. He was the one who was acting all weird and shit.
It was true, he had been acting weird and shit. She’d had supper with Grace last night and, without telling her what happened on Saturday, asked her what Connor’s mood was like.
“Terrible,” Grace had sighed. “He’s been a real bear all week. Why? Did you two have a fight?”
She’d brushed off the question and although she could tell that Grace wasn’t buying any of her excuses, she didn’t question Kira further.
She stared at her message, rereading it quickly.
Hey. My brother wants us to come over for dinner at his place tomorrow night around six. Are you available? Fair warning, he’s even more suspicious because I couldn’t tell him where you lived.
She hit send and then hesitated before typing some more and sending it.
Hope your knee is better. Are we even still fake dating?
She didn’t have to wait long for a response. Her phone dinged and she scanned his text a little too eagerly.
Hi. Yes, we’re still fake dating and yes, I’m available for dinner tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at quarter to six.
She slumped in her chair. That was it?
What were you expecting? Her inner voice sounded grumpy.
She didn’t know, she supposed. It’s not like he would tell her he missed her or something. Or that, like her, he’d slept terribly the last four nights with weird sex-dreams that left him cranky and sexually frustrated.
She rubbed her forehead before leaving her phone on the table and heading upstairs to draw a bath. Maybe the combination of a hot bath and – her cheeks flushed – some dedicated time spent masturbating would help her actually sleep tonight.
* * *
Worried his knee was still bothering him, she was waiting on the porch when he pulled into the driveway the next night. She hurried down the stairs and climbed into the car, giving him a tentative smile. “Hey.”
“Hi, Kira.”
“Thanks for doing this.”
“Of course.”
“My brother lives on Wilshire Avenue.” She put her seatbelt on as he pulled out of the driveway.
“All right.”
There was silence and hating the awkwardness between them, she said, “Connor, I -”
“Kira, I shouldn’t -”
They both stopped and she smiled at him. “Go ahead.”
“I shouldn’t have acted the way I did on Saturday. I’m sorry. I was wondering if we could just, I don’t know, forget the fight and start over? I was in pain and being an idiot.”
“Yeah, I’m - I mean, I wasn’t exactly acting mature, so, I’m sorry too.”
“So, truce?” His dimple deepened when he smiled at her and a healthy dose of lust washed over her.
“Truce.” She silently thanked God she’d had the foresight to wear a tank top, t-shirt and a thick sweatshirt to hide her traitorous nipples. She’d discovered over the last few days that just thinking about Connor and his perfect mouth, made her nipples go hard. Seeing his mouth in person, with that stupidly adorable dimple, proved she didn’t stand a chance.
The idea that her brother might realize she was horny was too horrifying to even properly comprehend.
“So, uh, how was work this week?” she asked.
“Good, busy. How about you?”
“It’s been good. I have an appointment on Friday to show a client some commercial properties.”
“Oh yeah?” He glanced at her. “That sounds promising.”
“It is. It’s kind of weird though, he said I was recommended to him, but I don’t know who would have done that. I asked Rose and Ray if maybe they had done it, but neither of them had even heard of the guy before he came into our office.”
“Strange,” he said as he turned onto Wilshire.
“I thought so,” she said. “Gideon’s house is third on the right.”
He pulled into the driveway and parked before shutting the car off. She smiled at him. “I’m going to apologize in advance for the grilling you’re about to get from my brother.”
He grinned at her. “It’s cool. I can handle some big brother grilling.”
She sighed as she climbed out of the car. “See, you think you do, but you haven’t been subjected to Gideon yet. I mean, we’ll be lucky if he doesn’t handcuff you to the chair and, I don’t know, waterboard you or something.”
He laughed out loud as they met in front of the car. When he held out his hand, she took it and made a little squeak of surprise when he pulled her in close. “Don’t worry about me, little Kira. I promise I won’t crack under the pressure.”
He studied her mouth before leaning down and pressing a kiss against it. She returned his kiss, knowing she should keep it chaste, but unable to resist skimming her tongue along the seam of his lips. To her surprise, he parted them, and she slipped her tongue into his mouth, moaning quietly when he sucked on the tip.
He pulled back and she said, “I thought you weren’t into PDAs.”
He grinned and squeezed her hand. “Just putting on a show for big brother.”
Gideon was standing on the small front porch and she waved at him before muttering, “Shit.”
“What? Was that the wrong thing to do?” he asked. “I thought it might help with the suspicion.”
“No, it’s just...” she stared at her boobs. “Can you see my nipples?”
“What?”
“My nipples? Are they, uh, visible? I wore layers but I’m not taking any chances. I am not walking up to my brother with hard nipples.”
“No, you can’t see them,” he said. “But if you don’t stop talking about your hard nipples, we’re gonna have a bigger problem. Trust me when I say that me sporting a full-on boner in front of your brother will be a much larger issue than your,” his gaze dipped to her breasts again, “hard nipples.”
A flush of heat went through her and her giggle was a little high-pitched. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…that is, I’m not….”
He squeezed her hand and gave her an adorable grin. “I know you didn’t. C’mon, let’s get the interrogation over with.”
* * *
“So, Connor, apparently you haven’t even told Kira where you live. Is that right?” Gideon set the plate of steaks down on the table as Kira brought over the bowl of salad and the grilled mushrooms.
“Knock it off, Gideon.” She sat down next to Connor at the table.
To her surprise, Gideon had been perfectly polite to Connor from the moment they walked in. He’d gotten them both a beer and they’d made small talk on the patio in the back yard as Gideon grilled the steaks.
But now, it seemed like the niceties were over, and her stomach churned as she patted Tank on the butt. “Tank, go to your bed.”
The Great Dane had taken a liking to Connor and was currently standing in front of him, his long tail waving happily as he rested his big head on Connor’s shoulder. Connor patted his side as Gideon, said, “Tank, to your bed.”
The big dog chuffed but left the kitchen. Kira heard him make a loud sigh as he flopped down on the bed in the living room.
“Connor do you want another beer?” she asked.
He shook his head and sipped at his water. “No thank you. Water is good.”
She could almost feel Gideon’s silent approval. Not that her brother had anything against drinking beer, but Connor was driving and the fact that he stopped after one, would earn him a point in Gideon’s mind.
“This looks delicious,” Connor said as Gideon handed him the steaks. He took one and handed the plate off to Kira who took the smallest one. She put some salad on her plate and handed the salad bowl to Connor.
“So, about Kira not knowing where you live,” Gideon said again. “Any particular reason for that?”
Connor shook his head, squeezing Kira’s thigh under the table when she started to protest. “No, other than that my apartment is pretty small and not as nice as Kira’s place. We just naturally go to her place, but I’ll bring her by my apartment this weekend. Give her the tour.”
He cut into his steak and ate a piece. “Really good. Thanks.”
Gideon nodded and cut into his own steak. “So, you grew up in Willington?”
“I did. Born and raised.”
“Why’d you move here?”
“Gideon,” Kira said.
“What?” Gideon gave her an innocent look. “I’m just making conversation. What’s wrong with me getting to know your boyfriend?”
“There’s nothing wrong with it, but can you make it less like a police interrogation?” she said.
Connor laughed. “It’s fine, Kira. Really. I moved to Harmony Falls because I met Grant Henderson at a dental convention. We got along well and when he asked me to open a practice with him here, I said yes. The chance to be a partner in a dental firm before your thirty-five is rare and I didn’t want to give up that opportunity. Even if it meant leaving Willington.”
Gideon studied him before taking a bite of salad. “How do you like Harmony Falls?”
“It’s very clean,” Connor said.
Kira snorted laughter and Connor grinned at her. “What? It is. In all seriousness, I like it here. The people are nice, and the town is quiet. I do a lot of running at the Falls park and it’s surprisingly peaceful.”
“Wait until tourist season starts,” Kira said. “By the end of June this place has swelled to like three times its size. Those nice quiet runs through Falls park will be a thing of the past. None of the locals even go near the Falls or the park during tourist season. The campgrounds are overflowing with tourists.”
“Which is desperately needed by local businesses,” Gideon reminded her. “Those tourists bring in a lot of money to the town and are the reason why we can do things like build a shiny new sports complex.”
“I know,” Kira said. “I’m just saying – the town gets a little overrun by tourists.”
Connor grinned at her. “I’ve lived here for two years, remember? I know what it’s like.”
“Right.” She shook her head. “God, sorry. I haven’t slept well the last few nights so I’m not thinking straight.”
“Have you dated anyone else since you moved here?” Gideon asked.
“Subject change,” Kira said. “I saw on the Harmony Falls Daily website last night that they’ll be showing that firebug movie you like so much at the Falls Theatre. Did you see that?”
Gideon’s head shot up. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. You didn’t see it?”
“Firebug movie?” Connor gave her a confused look.
“She means Firefly and the movie is called Serenity, Kira,” Gideon said. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“Maybe I’ve blocked it out because you made me watch the show and the movie so many times.” Kira turned to Connor. “I was eight when the show premiered. Gideon was babysitting me while Mom and Dad were out, and he made me watch the show with him. I was traumatized.”
“Please,” Gideon said. “There was nothing traumatizing about the show.”
“There was a bloody corpse hanging by its feet, Gideon!” Kira said.
“I would have thought Mal kicking Crow into the Serenity’s running engine would have been more traumatizing,” Connor said.
Kira stared at him as Gideon said, “Are you a fan?”
Connor grinned. “Does owning the series on DVD, the director’s cut of the movie, all the Funko figurines and an autographed photo of Alan Tudyk, make me a fan?”
“Holy shit,” Gideon said. “When did you meet Alan Tudyk?”
“I went to Granite State Comicon a few years ago. He was one of the guest speakers. He and Nathan Fillion were there, but the lineup for Fillion was huge.”
Gideon was staring wide-eyed at Connor. “What was Tudyk like?”
“Really cool guy, actually,” Connor said. “I heard that he’s going to be back there this year. I’d go again to meet him. I’ve been obsessed with the series since I was fifteen.”
Gideon sat back in the chair. “I swear you’re the only person in this town besides me, who even has an inkling of an understanding of how fantastic the show was. Kira, when did you say they were showing Serenity?”
“In a couple weeks, I think,” Kira said.
“If you’re not busy, we should grab tickets to the show,” Gideon said to Connor.
Kira’s mouth dropped open as Connor nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Good. What’s your favourite episode?”
“Well, I love ‘Ariel’, but I have to go with ‘Our Mrs. Reynolds’,” Connor said.
Gideon actually grinned like a school boy. “Me too! Here’s the thing, people don’t get just how incredible Christina Hendricks is in that episode. They totally wasted her in the ‘Trash’ episode, which is why people forget how good she was in episode six.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” Connor said.
As Gideon and Connor talked animatedly about the stupid bug show, Kira stared in silent shock. Holy crap. Gideon and Connor were…bonding.