Flawless (Chestnut Springs #1) (11)

“Summer Hamilton.” She smiles, and it still borders on a smirk. Like she’s amused by this whole thing. When she’s alone, I bet she has a nice, long, rich-girl laugh at my expense.

“And sorry, how do you know Rhett?” Cade’s scowl is now curious.

Here it is, the moment everyone has a big laugh at my expense. My dad already knows, but as much as he jokes around, I don’t think he’d throw me under the bus. We both know my dickhead brothers are going to get a real kick out of Baby Brother being in trouble. Again.

He’ll just sit back and enjoy watching it all unfold.

But Summer doesn’t miss a beat. “I’m a new junior agent with his firm. Just trying to learn the ropes with someone established.” Her smile is soft and demure—sincere.

And she’s lying through her goddamn teeth.

The girl is good. I’ll give her that.

My brother’s brows tug together, and my dad’s eyes twinkle as he watches the exchange. I hold my breath, hoping that’s all there is to it. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get away with this without being completely embarrassed.

Cade’s head quirks. “But why are you he—”

“I’m hungry,” Luke announces.

“Bet you are,” Summer replies. “What’s your favorite snack?”

Instant redirection. My dad catches my eye and winks.

“Popcorn!” Why do kids always exclaim everything? Like they’re going to win some sort of prize for shouting it out first.

Summer quirks a hip and crosses her arms, like she’s weighing the child’s response. “With M&M’s mixed in?”

“Oooh!” Luke exclaims as the rest of us men wrinkle our noses. “I’ve never had that!”

“No?” Her eyes flare dramatically as she crouches down.

“What are emnems?” Luke asks, admitting he hasn’t got a fucking clue what she’s talking about. The exchange is cute, and my eyes snap to my brother, wondering if he’s falling in love with Summer Hamilton on the spot. But he just seems perplexed.

“They’re a candy. With chocolate. And peanuts. I saw stores on my way here that would have them for sure. I bet your dad would take you to get some.”

And just like that, Cade looks colossally annoyed.

“Can we, Dad?” Luke’s big blue eyes light up.

“After you ran away from poor old Mrs. Hill?” Cade’s jaw pops, and he shoots Summer a disapproving glare. Some women would shrink under that scowl, but not this one.

She shrugs and mouths, “Sorry,” looking a little chagrined as they turn toward their house to leave. But when she glances over her shoulder at me, that smug smirk touches her mouth.

And that’s the moment I realize she wasn’t chagrined at all. That entire exchange was a completely intentional way of cutting off my brother’s line of questioning.

To help me save face.

“I’ll go give Cade a hand with Luke,” my dad says, dropping his head down to hide what I know has to be a grin under the brim of his cowboy hat.

Which means Summer and I are here on the top of the dry, scrubby knoll, all alone for the very first time. But she doesn’t give me any attention. She just stands gazing out over the hills toward the peaks of the Rockies.

She’s so still that for a few moments I can’t help but watch her. The cool wind whistles through the bare branches of the sparse trees. There’s a solid nip in the air, and when it gusts, her shoulders come up tight under her ears, the puffy down coat rubbing against her earrings as the breeze tosses her silky brown hair around behind her.

And then she sighs, deep and heavy, and I watch her shoulders slowly drop, entranced by her reaction. When my eyes track lower, I shake my head. I have to remember that even if she throws me a bone, she and I are not friends.

We’re not even on the same team.

“Using a five-year-old boy to get your way. Is that a new low?”

She huffs out a laugh and shoves her hands into her back pockets before turning around to face me, all wide eyes. “I didn’t use him. I enlightened him. Mixing candy with your popcorn is a life experience that every child deserves.”

“Cade is going to hate you for that.”

Her lips press together, and she shrugs, seeming truly unaffected by the prospect. “I guess I’ll have to hope Brother Number Three likes me. Or maybe I’ll go for the trifecta? Get you all to hate me? That might be nice for me.”

The balls on this girl.

“You could have told the truth.”

“I did.”

My teeth grind. “Learning the ropes? We both know you’re here to babysit me.”

Her head tilts, and she stares at me in the most unnerving way. “I guess we all see things the way we want to. I am new at the firm. They only recently hired me as more than a summer intern. And you are established. And I’d be an idiot to think I’m not here to learn something. Or Kip would have sent someone with more experience, no?”

Then she walks back toward the main house.

“Why didn’t you just throw me under the bus then? They’re going to figure it out, eventually.”

“Because that’s not my job. Keep up, we need to go over some things.”

I hang back for a few minutes, because when Summer Hamilton tells me to jump, I refuse to respond with, How high?