Just One Touch: A Black Alcove Novel (The Black Alcove Series Book 3) by Jami Wagner Read Free Book Online

sister,
Kelsey. Kelsey and Ethan, this is Alex. She just moved into the
apartment across from mine.” I hold out a hand to help my sister on
the boat while Ethan starts to spray sunscreen on Clara.
    “Older sister,
smarter sister, I’m one in the same.” Kelsey shakes her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
    “It’s nice to meet
you, too,” Alex says, and I can’t help but enjoy the smile on her
face. Ethan extends his hand as well. They, too, shake but Ethan
doesn’t let go.
    “Have I met you
before?” he asks.
    “No, I don’t think
so.”
    “Are you sure? You
look really familiar.”
    “She just moved here
from …” I pause because I don’t know the answer to what I was
saying.
    “North Carolina,”
she finishes for me and a little bit of her accent comes out.
    “Huh, that’s just
crazy. You seriously look like someone I know.”
    “Ethan, stop freaking
her out,” my sister says. “What is taking Beth so long?”
    Ethan finally lets go
of Alex’s hand and takes a seat next to Kelsey at the back of the
boat. He leans over, whispering something in her ear, and my sister’s
eyes quickly dart up to Alex. I’ll have to ask him about this
later.
    “Should you be in the
boat?” I ask my sister, changing the subject.
    “I asked the same
thing,” Ethan answers for her. “Yes, she can, so let’s just
leave it at that.”
    “I wasn’t that
mean.”
    Ethan’s brows rise.
    “I wasn’t.” My
sister laughs.
    I shake my head,
laughing silently with my sister, when I catch Alex’s movement to
my left. She’s sitting down now, leaned forward, digging in her
bag. Her shirt inches up in the back, revealing the top of her bright
yellow bikini. Now I can’t wait to see what she looks like in a
bathing suit. Come on sun, warm
up.
    Beth finally joins us,
pulling her cooler behind her by the handle. Ethan helps her load it,
and everyone takes their seats as I untie the boat and pull away.
    We spend the morning
cruising around the lake, showing Alex the local beaches.
    Once lunch comes
around, we take the boat into the canyon and let it sit idle while we
eat the sandwiches my sister brought.
    “So what brings you
to Wind Valley?” my sister asks the moment the engine is off.
    “Just something new,”
Alex answers.
    “Yeah, this must be
quite the change up. Are you working anywhere?”
    “I applied at the
gym, near the east side of town as I heard someone call it.”
    “Oh, Conner works out
there,” Ethan says.
    “Can you make enough
money working there?” Kelsey shoots off another question, and I
have to grind my teeth together to keep myself from looking like the
rudest guy on earth by snapping at my sister. Mom and Dad never
taught us to be this nosy.
    “Okay, that’s
enough of the twenty questions for Alex,” I interrupt, taking a
more mature route and reaching for a can of Pringles, offering them
to Alex. She mouths “thank you” and takes one. I know she wasn’t
thanking me for the chips.
    “I’m sorry. I just
wanted to know more about the girl who’s dating my brother, is
all.”
    “Oh, we’re not
dating,” Alex replies right away.
    The word “yet” is
on the tip of my tongue, and the idea sinks my stomach. I’m
supposed to be trying with Heather, and yet one good interaction with
Alex has my mind in a jam.
    “Oh, from what I saw
earlier, I just assumed,” Kelsey adds.
    “Why couldn’t Sara
and Logan make it again?” Beth finally speaks up. She’s been
glued to her phone all afternoon. It usually bothers me when people
are more focused on their phone than spending time with their
friends, but right now, I’m thankful she wasn’t paying attention
and successfully changed the subject without it coming off as too
obvious.
    “Sara had an
appointment today, and Logan, as usual, went with her.”
    “I still can’t
believe both my best friends are having kids. Thank goodness I met
you when I did, Alex.”
    Because I haven’t
been able to stop since she admitted why she was