“Sabrina’s the biggest gossip in this town,” I blurt before I can remind myself that I like being on her good side. “Don’t tell her anything you don’t want anyone else to know.”
Everyone in the room cracks up.
Everyone.
Including Zen. And Mimi.
“Sweetheart, when you’re my age, you won’t care who says what about you either, including people who have seen you naked.”
And now I’m picturing Sabrina naked.
Beneath me.
On top of me.
Sideways and upside down and in a bedroom and on the beach and against a tree.
Fuck.
“But don’t worry,” she adds. “I’m not telling anyone anything about my favorite grandson that they can’t find out with a simple internet search.”
Sabrina props her cheek on her fist, one-handing a steaming mug of coffee. “Your favorite, hmm?”
“Such a sweet boy. He was a surprise ten years after his next-closest sibling, and the poor thing got the short end of every stick. Tired parents, the family trust fund running low—”
“How did you get here?” I interrupt. Zen’s been with me practically nonstop. They didn’t go get her. They couldn’t have. They didn’t have the car.
And they didn’t say Mimi was coming.
They would’ve told me that Mimi was coming.
“I walked,” Mimi says dryly. She sips coffee, then closes her eyes and sighs with deep satisfaction. “That is delicious. Where did you say these beans are from?”
“Honduras,” Sabrina answers. “We don’t serve them here, which isn’t my choice, but when you said you loved coffee, I broke into my home stash for the best stuff.”
I look at Zen, but they seem to be actively avoiding making eye contact with me.
“Zen—” I start, but Mimi interrupts me.
“Grey, you need to serve these beans here.” She sips and sighs again, and it doesn’t matter how wrong this is or who told whom what.
She looks happy.
For the first time in over a year, Mimi doesn’t have a cloud of sadness and gloom hovering around her.
“Whatever you want, Mimi,” I force out around an unexpected lump in my throat. “When did you get here?”
“Last night. I stayed at that hotel at the airport, and Sabrina’s friend Theo drove all the way over to pick me up this morning. You know. The naked knitting one. Isn’t that sweet of them to make arrangements for me?”
Sabrina’s friend Theo picked me up.
They made arrangements for me.
All while we were sitting and having fucking drinks together last night.
I look at Zen again.
They look back at me this time, a slight guilt bringing a blush to their cheeks, but a belligerent I am not on your side on this one in their steady gaze.
“You got in a car with a complete stranger?” I can barely keep my voice controlled.
“Of course not. Even if I didn’t know exactly who everyone here was after that video, I’m still sharp enough to hire the family’s private investigator before trusting a minor character in a viral video and her porn star friend when they invite me to town.”
Sabrina chokes on her coffee and comes up laughing, though there’s some strain in her expression if you know how to watch for it.
And I do.
I know how to watch for it.
“Oh my god, what did he find on us?” Sabrina asks.
“She,” Mimi says pertly.
“Did she find anything good?”
“Not on you. You’re remarkably boring for someone with so much personality and who knows everything there is to know about everyone else.”
Sabrina visibly lightens.
No one else seems to notice. And I don’t think I’m making it up just because I know some of her secrets.
Mimi smiles. “But Theo. My goodness, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he was actually disappointing in person after everything she dug up on him.”
Sabrina laughs again. “Miss Madeleine, you are the best.”
“The feeling is mutual.” She turns to me. “Now. Greyson. You didn’t tell me you bought a coffee shop in the Arctic Circle. I had to hear it from a stranger calling to express concern about your overall well-being.”
A stranger calling to express concern.
Sabrina’s cheeks go pink too.
And not a cute pink.
A guilty pink.
Way guiltier than Zen’s pink.
My blood pressure hits the roof, which is a bad place for it to be.
How long has she been planning this? Is this why she’s been keeping her distance?