“These are wonderful.” Colby patted Gentry’s back.
“What’s missing are photos of you and Alec. I think we need those for the ‘About Us’ page. Let’s do that now, before the sun sets.” Gentry reached for Alec’s hand. “You first, handsome.”
Sara’s eyes bugged with surprise. Hunter scowled, and Alec froze in the face of the bald flirtation. Then his lips quirked and he rose. “Lead the way.”
Gentry led Alec to the corner of the patio and positioned him to take advantage of the soft evening light. Colby’s focus on whatever Hunter and Sara were discussing faltered because she was eavesdropping on Gentry and Alec. Epic fail there. Only Gentry’s playful laughter pierced the melodic murmur of Alec’s deep voice.
“Colby, your turn,” Gentry finally called. Before Alec could escape, she grabbed his arm. “Actually, let’s get some with you two together.”
Colby glanced at Alec. The setting sun glinted in his eyes, making the gold in his olive-colored irises sparkle. He shrugged before stuffing his hands into his pants pockets. Those gray pants that fit him so well, their flat front calling attention to his trim waist and narrow hips. Horrified by her observation, she yanked her gaze back up to his face only to catch him cocking one brow. Shoot. Busted like a kid with a mouthful of cookies.
Her entire body flushed, but she managed to walk toward him and Gentry with confidence. She stood beside Alec and smiled for the camera, hoping her photos didn’t turn out like those awful middle school ones where she’d tried to hide her braces.
“Side by side doesn’t look right. Stand in front of Alec, like a prom picture,” Gentry ordered.
In her peripheral vision, Colby noticed Sara watching them with her head tipped, her wineglass at her lips.
Colby stepped in front of Alec. She could feel the heat of his body in the space between them. That, plus the faint bergamot scent of his cologne, made her dizzy. The hairs on her neck and arms prickled with awareness when his breath brushed softly against her hair. Had he just touched her waist, or was that wishful thinking? Honestly, this mad infatuation couldn’t continue. Hyde. Hyde. Hyde, she reminded herself, determined not to make another impulsive mistake like she had with Mark.
Gentry shot Colby an annoyed look. “It would help if you’d smile instead of giving me that deer-in-the-headlights look.”
“Sorry,” Colby mumbled, wishing she could rein in her thoughts. She noted Sara smothering a giggle.
“Should I tell a joke?” Alec was clearly fishing for a way to break the tension.
“She asked me to smile. If I recall, your jokes were never very funny.” Colby remembered his childish jokes, and how he’d often ended them with a silly “bah dum bum.”
“Did you know that atheism is a non-prophet organization?” He paused. “Bah dum—”
“Stop it.” Colby elbowed his ribs, grinning.
“You’re smiling now, though, right?” he murmured.
She was indeed.
“You two look good together.” Gentry snapped several photos, then turned off her camera. “Maybe you ought to rethink that stupid rule, Colby.”
Colby’s heart stopped. Truly.
“What rule?” Sara asked.
“No luuuv between coworkers.” Gentry winked at Alec. “Maybe I ought to rethink this job.”
“Maybe,” Alec joked, playing along with her flirtation. Or maybe he wasn’t playing. Maybe he liked the attention. Colby felt a frown form.
“Good rule.” Hunter nodded at Colby.
“Shocking that you agree with her.” Gentry zipped up the camera case and then sank onto a chair. She crossed those long legs, letting the one with the Taurus ankle tattoo casually swing. “Sultry” would be the right word to describe Gentry’s poses. No doubt most were done for effect, although this one might have been accidental. Colby buried a pathetic sigh, having never been sultry a day in her life.
“You never told me that,” Alec announced, tipping his head to the left. His quizzical gaze effectively snapped Colby from her depressing self-assessment. “When did you decide it?”
“The second I told her I thought you looked hot.” Gentry swallowed some wine, shameless as ever. Smiling, even.
Colby checked the ground for the pools of blood that she actually felt draining from her body. My God, her sister had no boundaries. She risked a glance at Alec, who sported the same expression she’d seen him wearing whenever embroiled in solving a difficult puzzle.
“Okay, stop.” Hunter waved his hand. “I know you love to shock people for attention, but let’s not be ridiculous, Gentry. Besides, you’re making Alec uncomfortable.”