Page 26 of Viper

Her heart sank.

“I know what I want,” he said quickly. “But once we take that leap, we can’t get things back to the way they are. Between us, and between your brother and me.”

She nodded slowly. “All right. You figure out what we’re doing for breakfast. I’ve got the perfect date.”

She patted his chest then turned for the bedroom before she climbed up his sexy body like a feral cat up a tree.

Chapter Seven

Troy piled bacon, eggs, and hash browns onto his fork and polished off the last of his breakfast skillet along with a bite of toast.

Paige sat across from him picking at the remains of her omelet, sourdough, and fruit. “Mmm,” she said emphatically, shoving away her plate. “That was so good.”

“I know. This is my third time eating here since Thursday.” The cute beachside diner had a killer menu. He’d already eyed tomorrow’s seafood special.

“How long are you staying?” she asked.

He grinned. “That depends largely on you.”

The bell on the door chimed as another wave of people came in. Good thing they’d gotten here early. Saturday would surely bring in a lot of vacationers.

She dusted off her hands on a napkin. “Well, I made my intentions clear already.” She gave him a winning smile—as if she hadn’t nearly sent him into cardiac arrest that morning.

Having Paige draped over his cock was something he’d dreamed about a million times. And each of those times, he’d envisioned being buried deep inside her.

Turns out, a lot could be said about how well he honored guy code.

Striker had better fucking appreciate how hard he’d tried to put this off. But, no, he wouldn’t. Striker was hotheaded. Even more so where his sister was concerned.

He’d be pissed.

The question was, how pissed? And would violence be involved?

“Why’d you go radio silent on me?” Paige asked, sipping her banana-sunshine smoothie.

A server came by and scooped up their empty plates, leaving the bill on the table. Christ, he loved how direct she was. Paige wasn’t the type of woman to beat around the bush. If she had something on her mind, you fucking knew it. And if that something had pissed her off, the whole world knew it.

“Just looking at how pretty you are.” It wasn’t a lie. The sun streamed in through the window, accentuating her natural blond highlights.

Her skin was brighter today. Surely she was experiencing some lingering effects from the previous night—the bruise on her cheekbone was evidence of her ordeal—but she wasn’t showing it.

“You’re a kiss-up and I like it.”

He belted out a laugh. “Is that all I need to do to calm you down?”

“What makes you think I need to be calmed down?” she shot back.

“I’ve heard a few stories about you and your temper.”

She rolled her eyes. “Stories from my brother don’t count. Unless you grew up with that pain in the ass, you can’t comment. Do you know he peed outside until he was five? He’s got nothing like that on me.”

He snickered at the familiar story. “I’ll have to remind him of that.”

“Seriously,” she said, setting her glass on the table. “I love my brother, but only he knows the pissed-off-little-sister side, so don’t take his word as gospel.”

“Never would.” Not when it came to Paige anyway.

She smiled at the server as she passed, but a shadow crossed Paige’s face.