The Kane Cross (Cross 1)

34 - Siblings

Baxter's idea to spend the day together in his office was ingenious. He wanted to be near her. Looking at her with her head bent over her notes motivated him. He purposely hadn't kissed her yet. Smiling, it would be his reward for cleaning out his inbox. Plus, he would never concentrate with the taste of her on his lips. After a night of dreaming about her, he loved seeing her sitting across the room.

His head jerked up at the knock on the door. He and Ivy stared at each other and he jumped up first. "We were going to tell her."

Ivy sunk in her seat. She could never be invisible. He positioned himself in front of the door as he opened it. "Tate. You never work on weekends."

She sighed. "I'm not. No one was at the house. Percy didn't know where anyone went except mother and you."

"I didn't see anyone except Mother before I left."

"I called you but you didn't answer." She pouted.

"I must have left my phone in the car." He cleared his throat. "What's so important."

"Your friend. He went out with a big-breasted bimbo last night!"

"Be careful. Doyle will give you an earful for your stereotype. Breasts and brains have no correlation." He heard a snicker behind him as he mocked.

"Whatever. He's a jerk. How am I going to tell Ivy?"

He smirked, causing her to narrow her gaze. "I need to tell you something."

She looked up to him with her big eyes. He felt an ache in his heart afraid he would lose her trust. "What?"

Band Aid. Rip. "Ivy's here. We're friends."

"What? No, you aren't. Since when?" She pushed through his blockade and froze.

Baxter smiled at the vision his sister gawked at. Ivy sat with her legs tucked under her and her laptop on her lap waving with a sly smile. Tate turned back to Baxter and knitted her brow.

"Since when."

They both responded at the same time. Baxter said, "Aspen."

Ivy said, "The union contract."

Tate turned to her brother. "Aspen! You said you ignored her."

"Tate, Ivy is hard to ignore, and I wore the cross."

"The cross. I'm so confused. Priscilla?"

"I tried. Believe me, but I just couldn't like her enough."

She turned to Ivy. "What about Jimmy?"

"I told you we were just friends. He wanted to win."

Tate put her hands on her hips. "Win?"

Ivy nodded. "The fake story about him and Kasper. He wanted to win."

"He also knew about Aspen and tried to make me jealous."

Tate walked in a circle mumbling. She plopped in a chair with a long sigh. "I don't understand. Why am I the last to know?"

"Tate, you're the first within the family. Ivy was planning to tell you."

"What exactly?"

"We're seeing each other."

Ivy's response caused Baxter to sag his shoulders, but only for a moment. He raised his chin as he looked at his sister. "We're serious."

Tate shook her head. "You can't be." She threw up her arms. "And I was worried about Sinclair. Let me talk to Ivy alone."