His mouth hovered above hers, a whisper away, as if waiting for a green light to complete its journey and claim hers.

Inching closer, she slid her arms around his neck and rose on tiptoe until their lips touched . . . and the world disappeared.

“Whoops!”

Somewhere in the distant depths of her consciousness, the startled exclamation registered.

But the full realization that they were no longer alone took a few seconds to fight its way to the surface.

Once it did, she gasped, broke the lip-lock with Zeke, and peeked around him to find Grace and Eve gawking at them as if they were watching a sideshow in a circus.

A word she never, ever said flashed through her mind.

It took Zeke longer to emerge from the kiss, but as he angled toward her sisters he managed to find his voice faster—and it was remarkably calm, given the passion that had been seething between them moments ago.

“Grace. Eve. Long time no see.”

Eve managed to snap her jaw shut first. “Uh, Zeke?”

“Guilty.”

“Hi.”

“Hi back.”

No response.

For once her smooth-talking radio-show-host sister was at a loss for words.

Cate could relate.

“Um . . . we can, uh, come back later.” Grace fumbled for the doorknob behind her.

“Don’t leave on my account. Cate and I were just saying goodbye.” Zeke turned to her. “See you next week. Enjoy the rest of your get-together.” He crossed to the door, and her sisters parted like the Red Sea to let him pass. “Happy birthday, Grace.”

“Um . . . thanks.”

He slipped into the hall and shut the door behind him.

Her sisters swung toward her in unison—and moved in for the kill.

The flush on her cheeks grew hotter as they swooped in on her.

Best plan? Go on the offensive.

“What are you guys doing back so soon?” She twisted her wrist and tapped her watch. “You should be in the spa, indulging in a glass of lemon-infused water between your facials and pedicures.”

Eve elbowed Grace. “Deflection.”

Grace cocked her head. “I noticed.”

“I also smell an ulterior motive for me being included in your birthday treat.” Eve grinned. “Cate wanted the suite all to herself for a couple of hours.”

Cate propped her hands on her hips. “For the record, I had no idea Zeke was going to stop by until forty-five minutes ago.”

“Whatever.” Grace waved off the explanation with a flip of her hand. “What I want to know is when you and your old flame got back together.”

“We haven’t.”

“Yeah?” Her youngest sibling didn’t attempt to hide her skepticism. “That kiss seemed pretty together to me.”

“I’ll say.” Eve smirked at her. “It looked like you two were trying to make up for lost time.”

“Appearances can be deceiving. We ran into each other a couple of weeks ago in the course of our jobs. Pure coincidence. Turns out he’s interested in rekindling the romance.”