Free Stroke of Love by Melissa Foster Page A

around his arm as well, and short of yanking her arm off and causing a scene, Sage was trapped. She stood just a few inches shorter than him, which made him think of how petite Kate was—and how much better he felt beside her.
    “We’re going to get dinner. You guys eat already?” Stupid question. There was no way Penelope or Cassidy had eaten. Sage was sure they existed on air.
    “Nope. We’ll come along.” Clayton slung an arm around Cassidy’s shoulder. “There’s a café in town that has dancing, too. We were there last night.”
    “Doubt I’ll be dancing,” Sage said under his breath.
    They walked down the middle of the road, Clayton and Cassidy talking loudly. Caleb shoved his hands in his pockets, and Sage could see in his darting eyes that he was thinking of escaping.
    He leaned in close and whispered, “I’m glad you’re coming along. Thanks.”
    Caleb nodded, his eyes finally focusing on the road ahead.
    Sage tried to keep a modicum of distance between himself and Penelope and took a step to the side. She tightened her grip on his arm. Damn . Shuffling in the bushes drew his attention away from Penelope and to the sound of laughter and fast footsteps. If he hadn’t heard the laughter he would have wondered if the sound of the foliage shuffling was from a peccary or some other animal.
    Kate and Luce burst through the forest and ran into the middle of the road, laughing so hard they had tears coming from their eyes. Sage was struck by the sound of Kate’s laughter, her eyes full of happiness, her wet hair clinging to her T-shirt. His eyes locked on the two wet patches covering Kate’s breasts, her nipples standing at attention.
    Before he could tear his eyes away, Penelope put her cheek against his and whispered, “That what you like? I’ll show you better, later.”
    Sage shook his head at the idea. Hell no . He looked up and saw Kate crossing her arms over her chest, staring at his and Penelope’s intertwined arms.
    Luce stifled her laughter.
    “We goin’ or what?” Clayton asked, pulling Cassidy forward.
    Penelope dragged Sage past Kate. Sage locked eyes with Kate as he passed, seeing shadows of hurt and anger in them. The edges of her lips drew down, her jaw tightly clenched. He couldn’t look away. He couldn’t say anything, not with Penelope’s tentacles wrapped around his arm. He drew his brows together. It’s not what it looks like. He hoped Kate could read the discontent in his eyes, but she never had the chance. She’d already stomped away.
    Clayton sidled up to Sage and grabbed his other arm; then, remarkably, Cassidy looped her arm into Caleb’s, and they headed into the town. The celebs and the nons. Sage took one last glance behind him and decided to man up , as his father would say. Kate had her own beliefs about the type of person Sage was, and just thinking about her made his gut twist. The hell with it. A few drinks might ease the pain.

Chapter Seven
    “KATE. KATE!” LUCE caught up to her as she blazed through the path to her cabin. “Jesus, woman, slow down.”
    “Slow down? Slow down! Did you not see what just happened? Why was I even considering that he wasn’t that guy?” She spun around, and Luce ran right into her chest. “ Ugh . You know, watching him with Javier and the other kids today, I just about believed that he was this nice guy. I had even disregarded the comments from his brother after what you said about siblings. But come on, Luce.” She spun around, batting the plants out of her way. “What kind of guy hooks up with…with…her?”
    “Penelope? She’s not that bad. A little spoiled, but come—”
    “Luce! Not helping!”
    “Sorry. Well, if you want him to know you’re interested, then you gotta do something besides making him feel like he’s a bad guy who wants to do all the wrong things. I mean, even I know that, and I’m not very aggressive when it comes to dating.” Luce followed her up the stairs and inside. “Wow. I love what