The Lemon Sisters (Wildstone #3)(59)

“The job is real. And they’d like to see you today to go over what they want.”

She blew out a breath. “I feel like you’re not hearing me.”

“It’s tailor-made for you, Brooke. You take pictures. Great ones. That’s all they want.”

The back door opened and in walked Garrett, wearing his typical work gear: boots, jeans, and a T-shirt advertising some tattoo shop in San Francisco called the Canvas Shop. His hair was still damp from a shower. He had his tool belt slung low around his hips, the leather creaking as he strode across the kitchen, looking sexy as hell, which pissed Brooke off.

His dark gaze met hers and memories crashed around in her head: him pressing her into the mattress, his hands fisted in her hair, his talented mouth on hers, their bodies moving fluidly, in sync . . .

Damn.

If any such memories from last night hounded him, he didn’t give a single hint of it. He hadn’t shaved, and there was a tension in his sexy, scruffy jaw belying the multiple orgasms they’d shared in the night.

“Hey,” Mindy said, clueless to all of it. “Morning.”

Garrett headed for the fridge.

“I keep meaning to ask you,” Mindy said, apparently unbothered by his lack of verbiage. It wasn’t like he was Chatty Cathy on the best of days. “How’s Callie?”

At this, Garrett broke eye contact with Brooke to look at her sister. “What?”

“Remember I set you up on a date with Callie, my friend from the DMV in Paso Robles? You took her to coffee a few days ago after one of her shifts . . .” She trailed off at the look on Garrett’s face. “Oh shit. Tell me you didn’t forget to go.”

Brooke had gone to school with Callie. She was a pretty, petite blond surfer who, at least in high school, couldn’t have been sweeter or kinder.

Brooke decided she hated her.

Garrett grimaced.

“Are you kidding me,” Mindy said, whipping out her phone. “You are such an asshole.”

Whether he’d forgotten about the date or just hadn’t wanted to go, Brooke no longer hated Callie. She hated herself for falling for a man she’d told herself she no longer felt anything for. A man who’d just told her she was a mistake.

Maddox came barreling into the room, naked, holding a lightsaber and yelling “Arrrrrgggggg!” He took a flying leap at Garrett, who easily snatched him in midair.

“Look what I caught,” Garrett said. “A naked fish.”

Maddox grinned and set his head on Garrett’s shoulder.

Brooke’s ovaries squeezed.

“Missed you, too, little man,” Garrett said, and pressed his jaw to Maddox’s. After a cuddle, he set the heathen down. “Go find some clothes and you can be my assistant today. Shoes would be good, too.”

Maddox went racing out of the room, barking in excitement.

Garrett, with a long, steady look at Brooke that quite clearly conveyed what he thought of her, left as well.

Brooke let out a shuddery breath.

“What was that about?” Mindy asked.

“No idea.” She set her cup in the sink. “Gotta go.”

“Hey. The dish fairy’s dead.”

Brooke took her cup out of the sink and put it into the dishwasher.

“Where are you going?” Mindy asked.

“There’s something I’ve got to do.”

“Go sit at the top of the bluffs and take pictures?”

When Brooke gave her a look, Mindy shrugged. “Xena’s sister’s daughter’s boyfriend saw you up there looking a little shaky. I worry.”

Brooke ran the pads of her thumbs over her fingertips back and forth. “You know I haven’t been out in the wild on the job.”

“Because of the helicopter crash.”

Brooke nodded. “It changed me. I couldn’t . . .” She shook her head. “I couldn’t perform like I used to. And now adrenaline rushes give me panic attacks. I’m working on it, though.”

Mindy’s expression went earnest. “But don’t you get it? That’s why this photo job is perfect for you. It could be a step toward finding your old self again, right? Getting back into the action?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then tell me,” Mindy dared her.

Brooke couldn’t find her words, because suddenly she wasn’t so sure of what she wanted, or what might make her happy.

Mindy, looking like she was following along, reading between the lines, went from earnest to worry. “Brooke—”

“No, it’s fine. I’m fine,” she said, because why get into it all now? She was leaving, and she intended to go back better off than she’d been when she left LA. Today she’d conquer the bluffs once and for all. Maybe tomorrow, she’d hit up the Playground, which was the locals’ nickname for the rocky stretch of cliffs about ten miles north of Wildstone. Only the talented climbers ever dared go there. She’d taught herself to climb there as a kid, and had climbed it too many times to count. The very thought of going there now made her stomach hurt.

But she was tired of being afraid. If she climbed the Playground, she’d know she’d conquered that demon, at least.

All her other demons would just have to get in line.