Dancing with Deception by Kadi Dillon

keep an eye on her. She wanted to go for a run, so we ran. She’s damn quick, too.” Colin pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it.
    “That doesn’t explain why you guys have been gone for two hours.”
    “I think it does. We were running.”
    Gideon jerked a shoulder as they walked through the gate. “Why the hell would I care?” Colin remained silent as they walked into the office. He pulled out a notebook and flipped it to the page with Jefferson’s number and dialed it.
    “No answer,” Colin said and sat the phone in the cradle. “That’s odd for a man who couldn’t get a boat fast enough.”
    “Maybe he found someone else.”
    “Or bought one from a dealer.” Colin shrugged it off. “His loss.”
    “Yeah, it’s not like I don’t have other things to deal with besides a quickie boat job.” Gideon scratched the guy’s number down on a post-it note and stuck it in his pocket. “I’ll give him one more call, that way he can’t tarnish our reputation any. We did all we could do.”
    They left and locked up the boatyard and made their way back to the main house. It was relatively safe on the island, but the Avery men didn’t put anything past fellow competitors when it came to safety measures. They locked up every night when they left and had automatic sensor lights installed all the way around the office and yard. Both the main house and Colin’s house could view the boatyard from at least one window of each house which was no coincidence.
    Gideon’s house—when it was built—would also have a good view of the boatyard. He had the plans and he had the pipes and lines ran to the site the house would sit on; he just needed to build it. And he wouldn’t do that until Jess was comfortable with people coming to the island. It would take a team of at least five men to have it done in a relatively short amount of time. But Jess’s own tragedy and fears borne from it caused her to shun just about any human contact. Except Rebecca, Gideon mused. She’d embraced their unexpected guest and had even formed a kind of friendship with her in the time she had been there. Considering that was less than twenty-four hours, Gideon was both elated and curious about the bond.
    So when Jess was comfortable with people—other than her family—again, Gideon would arrange for the laborers to come build his house. Colin, he, and their father could take a stab at it, he knew. But he wanted everything done correctly.
    Gideon scowled at Rebecca’s bedroom window when they reached the house but was unaware he was doing so until Colin chuckled.
    “You’re gone, man.” He crushed out his cigarette, shaking his head.
    “What the hell are you talking about?”
    “Hey, I wouldn’t poach. You don’t have to be jealous.” Colin opened the front door and waited for Gideon to go inside. Gideon only stared at him. “What? You’re mad because we went off alone but like I said, I wouldn’t poach on my little brother. And you saw her first.”
    “I am not gone.”
    “You’re headed that way.”
    “There’s no way I’m heading that way.” Gideon pushed past him and stormed into the living room cursing.
    “Cool then. I guess the field’s open.”
    Gideon stared after Colin as he walked out of the room. Field’s open? What the hell did that mean? He felt his blood begin to boil as he followed Colin into the kitchen.
    Colin poured a glass of tea and asked Gideon if he wanted one. Gideon fumed, telling him what he could do with his tea.
    Colin chuckled. “You told me to do the same thing with my promise and let me tell you. Not only would that be embarrassing and uncomfortable but that last part may even be impossible.”
    “You think you’re real funny, don’t you?”
    “I think you’re really pissed. Care to tell me why?” Colin sat down lazily at the table and winked at Jess as she walked down the stairs and into the room with them.
    “What’s going on?
    Gideon ignored her. “What the hell did you mean