Free The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron Page B

she answered her thought out loud.
    “Well, in my defense, you never said we were going to a beach party to talk business.”
    He half smiled, a curious grin that tipped the corners of his mouth, then reached in the backseat and tossed a khaki jacket in her lap.
    “It might be a little big, but at least it will keep your shoulders warm,” he said, and hopped out of the Jeep. Sera looked down at her lap, sheepish, it seemed, every time she opened her mouth in his presence. She shrugged the jacket up over her arms as he came around to her side of the car.
    Add gallantry to his list of unforeseen virtues , she thought, and stepped out the door he held open for her.
    She stood in front of him then, noticing how he towered over her. And in her little black dress and jacket that fell down to balloon about the hem, she looked up, probably with an all-too-blushed look to her face.
    “And for the record,” he whispered, and leaned in to close the car door behind her with a click . He lingered there for a fewseconds, looking at the contours of her face before he spoke again. “I would have said you looked nice, had you given me the chance.”
    Sera swallowed hard and tried not to get caught up in the openness of those eyes that were looking down at her. He smiled and tilted his head toward the group on the beach. They’d broken up and one faction lingered, chatting and laughing over a collection of blankets and driftwood logs, while a group of younger guys played football. The sun had bled in a cascade of blues and golds as it stretched out to the west, creating a perfect canvas backdrop.
    “Come on.” He motioned for her to follow him and began plodding through the sand in his flip-flops. “Macie will want to say hi.”
    Sera caught up to him and tugged at his sleeve to turn him around. He looked back at her, eyes wide.
    “Wait a minute. You brought me to a family dinner?”
    “Yeah. Is that a problem? You’ve already met them, so . . .” A casual shrug pinned his shoulders up with the last words. “I didn’t think you’d mind.”
    “A dinner with family, right before a wedding.” Understanding was quick to dawn. “You brought me to your sister’s rehearsal dinner?” Sera stopped in her tracks, panic freezing her with her feet half buried in the sand. The man couldn’t be that clueless about such things. “I can’t intrude. Not like this.”
    He looked to the group and then quickly turned back to her. “It’s okay, Sera. They know you’re joining me. I thought under the circumstances it would be okay.”
    “Under the present circumstances, they think I’m taking their inheritance away.”
    “I thought you said you weren’t.”
    “I’m not,” she fired back.
    “Good. There’s no problem then, right?” he said, taking herhand in his as he tried to tug her toward the group around the fire. She wiggled it free from his grasp and stood, feet planted like a statue in the sand.
    “Like it or not, I’m the enemy. I’m looking for the painting that could ruin their lives.”
    “You’re not the enemy if we hire you.”
    Sera shook her head. “But I thought everyone would hate me . . .”
    This was worse than she’d thought. A rehearsal dinner with the people who thought she was there to empty their bank accounts? There was no way they’d accept her.
    “They don’t hate you.”
    “No?”
    “No,” he confirmed, shaking his head.
    She stiffened her chin. “But you do.”
    William smiled again, but this time, the heart-stopping grin gave away the fact that he was amused by her comment rather than just trying to be polite.
    “I never said that,” he sighed. “Paul may have, and I will kill him later for it, but I never did.” He paused and, with some discomfort, kicked the sand at his feet. “Look, I owe you an apology.”
    He did?
    “You do?”
    “Yes. I realized after you left that this isn’t your fault. You may be a part of it now, but you never intended for any of this to happen. And I