Текст книги "Rule of Three"

Автор книги: Kelly Jamieson

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 Rule of Three
Rule of Three – 1
Kelly Jamieson

Chapter One

“In the shower?” Kassidy looped her arms around Chris’s neck and gave him a sexy look up through her eyelashes. “That’s where you want to have sex for the first time in our new home?”

Chris pressed her up against the kitchen counter with his hips and rubbed his jaw against hers. “Well, if you’d rather do it here, I’m good with that too.”

Kassidy glanced around the messy kitchen, still piled with boxes from the move, and laughed, a bubbly joy rising inside her. “You’re a sex maniac.”

“You knew that,” he murmured, and she melted against him, against his big, hard body. She peered up at his face, his strong, square chin, dark green eyes and short nose. So handsome, so big, so knee-weakeningly male. “And you moved in with me anyway.”

She nuzzled the side of his neck, inhaling the warm, sexy male smell of him, let her fingers climb his chest to his shoulders. “Yeah. I must be crazy.”

“Hmmm. I think—” he pulled her hair aside so he could kiss the side of her neck, “—you’re a bit of a sex maniac too. Admit it. You love it.”

Heat flared between Kassidy’s thighs and she pressed closer. Chris’s mouth on her neck, nibbling down to where it met her shoulder, sent hot shivers sliding over her.

She did love it. She loved him. She was a sex maniac for him. They’d been together for a year now, and she was still as hot for him as the day they’d met.

“I’m just trying to be efficient,” Chris continued, his lips on her collarbone in the open V of her T-shirt. Her head fell back and she tried to focus her distracted thoughts.

“Efficient…”

Then she remembered. Chris’s old friend Dag was in town and they were meeting him for dinner. “God, Chris!” She managed to get her wrist into her field of vision so she could see her watch. “We have to get ready!”

“I know. That’s what I’m saying. In the shower.”

She laughed as she let him drag her into the bathroom—their bathroom, the one off their bedroom, theirs!

And they did indeed have sex for the first time in their new home together in the shower.

It was quick but hot, bodies slicked up with water and soapy suds, a cloud of scented steam surrounding them. He lifted her against the wall of the shower, pinned her there with his body while his mouth devoured hers and his cock impaled her. The feel of him inside her, big, hot, hard, filling her, fucking her, sent tingles radiating over her body from where they joined.

She tilted her pelvis to the right angle so her clit bumped his pelvic bone with every hard thrust. Pressure built, burned, pleasure filling her to the point of overload then bursting out of her.

“Jesus.” Chris gasped, his cheek against her wet hair. His hands tightened on her thighs and he came too, pulsing inside her. “Jesus Christ. I love you, Kass.”

“Mmm.” She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. “Love you too. So much.”

After, he toweled her off with gentle hands and left her to blow-dry her hair while he dressed. He appeared in the doorway of the bathroom moments later, dressed in black pants and a gray sweater layered over a white T-shirt. Yum.

“You need another hour?” he asked, and she swatted him with the hair brush and laughed.

“I won’t take that long. And it’s your fault, dragging me into the shower like that.”

He grinned and stood beside her at the counter while he ran a brush through his short hair, a lighter golden brown than her mink brown. She turned off the blow dryer and reached a hand out to tousle the top of his hair. He always wanted it neat and perfect, but it looked good messed up just a bit. He shook his head but smiled and left the hair alone.

She’d laid out her clothes earlier as she’d been unpacking and putting things away, so her white jeans and silky pink blouse lay on the chair.

“You must be happy to see Dag after all these years,” she said as she dressed. Chris watched her and the heated look in his eyes almost made her want to strip everything off again and roll into bed with him. But they could do that later.

“Yeah.” His eyes lit up. “Man, I’ve missed that guy.”

She smiled. She’d never met Dag, but she’d heard a lot about Chris’s friend from college. They’d been best buds until Dag had moved away for business, first to Los Angeles then San Francisco. Strangely, he’d never come back to Chicago, not even to visit. Until now.

She moved to the dresser against the wall and quickly darkened her eyes with shadow, brushed some rosiness over her cheeks, though they were still flushed from the hot shower and hot sex.

“So why’s he back after all this time?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, I know he sold his business, so he’s basically unemployed.”

“Can you call someone who’s a multi-millionaire unemployed?” she asked with a smile.

“He doesn’t have a job. Ergo, he’s unemployed. He says he’s here to look at business opportunities. Something to invest in.”

“Mmm.” She took one last look at herself in the mirror. She wanted to look nice when she met Chris’s best friend. She knew how much Chris had missed him, how much it had bugged him that Dag had never come back for even a visit. She tipped her head to one side.

“You look gorgeous,” Chris said, coming up behind her and laying his hands on her shoulders. He met her eyes in the mirror and smiled. “As always.”

She smiled back at him. “Thank you.” She glanced around. “Just need my shoes… Oh there they are.” She stepped into the strappy high-heeled sandals. The jeans made her legs look longer and the pink top fluttered over her bare arms. Yeah, she looked okay.

“Ready.”

“Let’s go. Don’t wanna keep Dag waiting.” He grinned and the excitement and anticipation of seeing his friend gleamed in his eyes.

Dag sat in the restaurant at the table set for three, waiting for Chris and his girlfriend to arrive. Kassidy. He hadn’t met her. She’d been nowhere in the picture when he’d moved from Chicago to Los Angeles six years ago. He wasn’t surprised to know there was a woman in Chris’s life. He sighed as he tapped his fingers on the table.

The sleek, modern steakhouse occupied part of the main floor of the trendy boutique hotel he was staying at in downtown Chicago. He watched the sexy blonde hostess seat another couple, leading them through dark wood tables and chocolate-brown leather chairs. This was the first time he’d been back and it felt weird. He’d been a college student for most of the time he’d lived in Chicago, then had started his first job at Ensign Technology. It had only been a year after that that he’d decided he had to get away.

And now he was going to see Chris again after all these years. Yeah, they’d talked on the phone, although less often lately, and they’d emailed, but…

There he was. Dag forced a smile and stood so they’d see him. Chris spotted him and a genuinely happy grin spread across his face. He started toward Dag, holding the hand of a slender, dark-haired woman.

“Dagster! Man! I can’t believe you’re here!”

Chris released the girl and reached for Dag’s hand to shake it, but with his other hand grabbed Dag’s shoulder and pulled him in for a masculine hug. Dag’s stomach tightened and he closed his eyes briefly at the contact.

Chris’s smile was so sincere and warm when they drew apart it made Dag’s chest hurt. “Good to see you, buddy.”

“You too,” Dag said. He turned his gaze to the woman standing just behind Chris. “This must be Kassidy.”

“This is.” Chris reached for her and drew her forward. She extended a hand, all fine bones and soft skin, and Dag shook it.

Their eyes connected. Silky dark hair brushed her shoulders. Her smooth cheeks grew a little pinker as they looked at each other. Her unusual mouth—wide and full lipped—curved into a smile, and brown eyes sparkled with gold flecks. What eyes! Now that’s what you’d call bedroom eyes—big and long lashed and sexy as fucking hell. She was gorgeous.

Shit.

“Hi, Kassidy. Good to meet you.”

“Dag. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Oh now, that makes me nervous.” He sent her a smile and she blinked at him and grew even pinker. “Let’s have a seat.”

He held Kassidy’s chair for her so she was seated between him and Chris, Dag facing his old friend across the square table.

The waitress approached to take drink orders. Dag requested Scotch, Chris went with his usual beer and Kassidy ordered a glass of Pinot Grigio.

“So.” Chris shot him a grin and shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re back in town. What the hell, man? You were too busy making money to even come back and visit once in a while?”

Dag laughed. “I guess so. I didn’t plan it that way. It has been a long time, huh?”

“Too long.” Chris’s smile faded. “I would’ve visited you, but it seemed like every time I suggested it you were too busy traveling or having meetings or something.”

Dag’s chest tightened but he gave his friend a rueful smile. “I know. It never seemed to work out.”

“Are you here to stay?”

“I don’t know. I’ve got a few business meetings lined up next week. I’ll have to see what develops.” He smiled at Kassidy. “Chris didn’t tell me how gorgeous you are. Wow.” He put a hand over his chest and turned back to Chris. “How the hell did you hook up with someone this good looking?”

Chris’s smile broadened and he glanced at Kassidy. “Yeah, she’s pretty sweet.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re talking about me like I’m not even here.”

Chris reached over and covered her hand on the white tablecloth. “I know you’re here, sweetheart.” Their eyes met in a shared exchange that had Dag’s stomach rolling over.

“This looks serious,” he drawled, watching them eye each other. His gaze moved between them. “Chris. What’s up, man?”

Chris looked at him. “We just bought a condo and moved in together,” he said. Pride and obvious love shone on his face. “As of today.”

“Wow.” Dag nodded, heart descending slowly in his chest. “That’s great. Where’s the new place?”

The waitress arrived with their drinks as they described the condo to him, and the same warmth and affection sparkled in Kassidy’s eyes as they talked. She was as happy as if she’d just won a multi-million-dollar lottery, shacked up with Chris. Dag’s chest tightened.

“How’d you two meet?” he asked, picking up his Scotch and taking a big, burning mouthful.

“At work. We both work at RBM.”

Dag lifted a brow at Kassidy. “And what do you do there, Kassidy?”

She smiled. “I’m in Human Resources. Training and Development.”

“Cool.”

She glanced at Chris. “Just over a year ago I was assigned a training project for Chris’s department. That’s how we met.” Her eyes moved over Chris warmly. “We started going out after the project was done.”

“That’s okay?” Dag asked. “I mean, RBM doesn’t have any policies against that kind of thing?”

“No.” She shook her head, her silky hair sliding. “You have to use some judgment of course. But since that project, we haven’t worked directly together again, and the company is so huge, we often don’t even see each other during the day. Right now I’m working on a project for our marketing division.”

“I see. That’s great.”

“Yeah. I really love it. This time I’ll have to travel a bit, as I’ll be delivering training in Minneapolis and Detroit later this year.”

Chris frowned at that. “Yeah.”

Chris was going to miss her. How touching.

Then Chris looked at him. “What about you, man? No wife, no girlfriend?”

Dag laughed. “No. I’m not ready to settle down.”

“Will you ever be?” Chris shook his head, smiling.

“Who knows?” Dag had had all kinds of relationships, but the idea of spending the rest of his life with one person scared the crap out of him. He changed the subject. “What about you, buddy? How’s work? Vice President of Product Development. Impressive.”

Chris grinned. “Hell yeah. Didn’t I tell you I’d be VP by the time I’m thirty?”

“Just under the wire, huh?” Dag returned the smile. “Turning thirty next month, aren’t you?”

“That’s right. And you the month after that.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve done all right too.”

“Yup.” Dag swallowed more Scotch. “And I’ve been having a blast.”

“Making a living off fun,” Chris said with a grin.

“You bet.” He wasn’t going to apologize. The online games and fantasy sports he’d developed had become hugely popular. And what was wrong with fun? Much as he admired Chris and his business sense, he couldn’t do what Chris did—slaving in a corporate box developing data storage solutions. Thankfully it took all kinds.

The waitress returned to take their order but they hadn’t even looked at their menus yet, so they spent the next few moments studying the selections. Finally, Dag closed his.

“Let me guess,” Chris said with a grin. “Steak.”

“Prime rib.”

“Close enough. I knew you’d order a big hunk of beef.”

“Probably because you want the same thing,” Kassidy said dryly. She, too, closed her menu.

“I’m betting you’re a chicken or fish kind of girl,” Dag said, watching her. “Or maybe salad.”

She reached for her glass of wine with a graceful motion of her hand and flashed him a look. A faintly hostile look. “Chicken or fish kind of girl?”

He tipped his head to one side. “Don’t tell me you want beef too?”

She gave him a slow smile that sent heat sliding right through him. “I believe I will have a steak tonight,” she said softly.

“Attagirl,” he replied, holding her gaze. Another flash of heat jolted him.

Huh. Something flowed between them, something warm and magnetic, something that felt a lot like…attraction. He could not be feeling that for his best buddy’s girlfriend, for Chrissake. He tossed back the rest of his Scotch.

And yet, better he flirt with her than… Hell. Luckily Chris knew what he was like. Chris would know it didn’t mean anything. Dag flirted with every female he met—that was just him.

Her smile went a little crooked, her eyes grew wary and she broke the connection to look down at her wine.

“Well, if we’re all having beef, let’s order a nice bottle of red wine,” Dag said. They looked over the wine list, and when the waitress returned, he ordered a bottle of Shiraz he knew was excellent.

He saw Kassidy and Chris exchange a glance.

“What?”

“That wine…” Kassidy began.

Chris just shook his head and laughed. “Quit showing off, asshole. We know you’re loaded.”

Ah. Hell. The money he’d made still blew his fucking mind. Him, a kid who’d grown up with nothing, less than nothing in fact. But he must be getting used to the good life because he hadn’t even thought twice about ordering an expensive wine. He just ordered it because it he liked it. He forced an answering grin. “Didn’t need to do that, huh?”

Kassidy’s pretty lips pressed tightly together. Had he pissed her off? He leaned toward her, close enough that he caught a whiff of her scent—vanilla and amber, warm and sexy, sweet and provocative.

“Sorry,” he said, laying his hand on her bare forearm. He curled his fingers around her and gave a gentle squeeze. “I didn’t even think. I’m buying dinner and I like that wine. So let’s just enjoy it.”

Her big eyes met his, mouth still pinched. He held her gaze, ignoring the sparks ricocheting inside his body, trying to disregard the softness of her skin, the hitch of her breath. Then her lips softened.

“Thank you,” she said politely. “That’s very nice of you.”

He had pissed her off. What? What?

Suddenly his entire focus became trying to get back to that place where they’d been locked in an eye clinch, warm and sensual. Because this was his friend’s girlfriend. It was important they get along.

And it was important Chris not know how he was really feeling.

Chapter Two

Chris watched the exchange between Dag and Kassidy. Damn, he wanted Dag to like Kassidy. Because she was so important to him. They hadn’t talked marriage, but that’s probably where they were headed. It was…right.

But he also wanted Kassidy to like Dag. First, he wanted her to know Dag. The guy had showed him what hard work was. Motivated him. Kicked his ass when he tried to slack off. He knew he’d been lucky in life and Dag had definitely not, and he’d learned from Dag that rewards were so much sweeter when you’d worked for them. When you’d earned them. Chris had always wished Kassidy could meet him, could know how big a part Dag had played in shaping who he was. And finally he was here.

Typical Dag, even though he’d come across as mocking and sardonic, he was looking at Kassidy as if she were dessert and he’d missed his last three meals. But he always did that. The guy was a chick magnet, no question, yet he’d never been serious about anyone, basically a man-whore who’d slept his way around campus and continued it in the business world when they’d graduated. Was Chris jealous? Nah. There might be a tiny element of jealousy there, but Chris had to admit to a tinge of admiration for the ease with which the guy attracted girls, and truthfully, he’d reaped the benefits of that magnetism himself, with some of the things they’d done.

But Kassidy…didn’t seem impressed. Chris’s stomach tightened as he sipped his wine, watching them eye each other, Dag with heated interest, Kassidy with wariness.

“This wine is very nice,” Kassidy said. She set the glass of ruby Shiraz down. She was being all polite and he could tell Dag had pissed her off when he’d ordered the wine. She hated pretention and she hated people who showed off their money.

“Thanks,” Dag replied, sitting back so the waitress could place his dinner in front of him. Chris smiled at the girl as she served him his, and picked up his knife and fork. The charbroiled smell of the meat rose to his nose. Damn, it smelled good and he was starved.

“How’s your steak, sweetheart?” he asked Kassidy.

“Delicious.” She smiled at him.

The weird thing was, Dag wasn’t the type to show off his money. Chris had made the joke about it, but really, it had been a joke. Because he knew Dag, and that wasn’t him. Or at least it never had been before. Because Dag had never had money. Had making it big changed him?

“So, you’re out of a job,” Chris said, trying to get things back on track.

Dag laughed. “Yeah. It feels weird.”

“I heard you made a killing when you sold to Momentum Media.”

“I did okay.” Dag made a face.

Now that was more like it—more like Dag to downplay his success. The seven-figure deal had been in the news a month or so ago.

“What are you going to do with all that money?” Chris asked.

“That money is my freedom to do whatever I want.” Dag grinned. “You know I don’t like being tied down to stuff.” He shrugged and cut a piece of meat. “Like I said, I have a few meetings lined up. I need something new to sink my teeth into.”

“You always need something new.” They shared a smile. “What kinds of ideas do you have?”

They talked business for the next while as they ate, and Chris watched Kassidy listen to them. She was relaxing, he could tell, thank god.

The conversation fell to reminiscing about college days, which also left Kassidy out, but she laughed at their stories and asked questions, and seemed to warm up to Dag a bit.

“How did you two end up friends?” she asked.

Chris grinned and shot Dag a glance. “Mostly because we were in all the same classes. And we were the two best-looking dudes on campus.”

Kassidy laughed. “Well, yeah, I can see that.”

One corner of Dag’s mouth lifted. “We had other things in common too.” He slanted a glance at Chris. Oh yeah. Chris didn’t exactly want to go there, not with Kassidy, not now. But yeah, he and Dag had shared some good times.

“I should set something up for all the old gang,” Chris said. “You remember Jeff and Sarah? And Cole.” He named a few others. “How about next Friday we all go out somewhere? You should see everyone while you’re here.”

“Sounds good.” Dag leaned back in his chair, his dinner finished. “More wine, Kassidy?” He lifted the bottle.

“Sure. Thanks.”

He filled her glass then Chris’s, and drained the small amount left in the bottle into his own glass. “Should we order another? Or do you want to go somewhere for a drink?”

“Let’s just go in the bar here,” Chris suggested.

“We’d invite you back to our place, but it’s a bit of a mess,” Kassidy said. “We just finished moving in today and there’s still unpacking to do.”

“That’s okay. Although I don’t mind a mess, believe me.”

“Um…maybe tomorrow…” Kassidy flashed a look at Chris.

“Yeah. Come for dinner tomorrow.” The place wasn’t that bad.

“Actually…I have tickets for the Cubs game. I was going to see if you wanted to come.”

Chris leaned forward. “Cubs game! Yeah, that’d be great.” And he’d get to see more of Dag while he was here.

“I just have two tickets,” Dag said apologetically to Kassidy. “I don’t know if you like baseball…”

“I don’t mind it,” she said with a smile. “But that’s okay. You two should go. Catch up. I’ll get things straightened up at home and you can come back for dinner after.”

“Great.”

There. Perfect. Things were looking up. Kassidy didn’t mind him going out with Dag and they’d all have dinner together after. It was all gonna be good.

“You guys have two of everything.” Hailey held up the toaster. “What are you going to do with this?”

“I don’t know.” Kassidy sighed. “There are so many things we don’t need. Keep that toaster, it’s better than mine.”

Her sister had come over to help with some of the unpacking while Chris and Dag were at the baseball game, although she hadn’t actually been that much help.

Hailey set the toaster on the counter in the kitchen and began unpacking dishes. “So what’s Chris’s friend like?”

Kassidy’s stomach clenched. “He’s um…interesting.”

Hailey paused and looked at her. “Interesting? What the hell does that mean? Was he a jerk?”

“Not exactly. He’s…” How could she describe Dag to Hailey without her sister getting all the wrong ideas? Dag was…unexpected. She, too, had expected Chris’s best friend to be someone more like him. But Dag was clearly different. A rebel, where Chris always followed the rules. A bad boy compared to Chris’s golden goodness. Intense dark eyes that looked right inside you. Shaggy dark hair falling over his eyes in a sexy swoop, dark sideburns that dipped into stubble shadowing a square jaw, and the wickedest smile she’d ever seen. A smile that made her think bad thoughts. About her boyfriend’s best friend.

She gave herself a mental slap on the back of the hand.

“Kass? Hello? Anybody home?”

Kassidy’s gaze flew to Hailey’s face. “Oh…um…he’s okay. He’s kind of annoying, actually.”

“Really. How so?”

Kassidy set some kitchen towels into a drawer. “Apparently he’s filthy rich.”

“Oh. One of those. Talking about money all the time, huh?”

“Well…no.”

Hailey heaved a sigh. “Jeez, Kass, did you like him or not?”

“I guess I did. You know.” She shrugged. “I hardly know him. He’s coming for dinner later.” She looked around the kitchen. “What was I thinking when I invited him? This place is a disaster.”

“Order pizza.”

“Yeah, that’ll impress him.”

Hailey lifted a brow. “You want to impress him?”

“No!” Kassidy sighed. She felt as confused as she knew she sounded. The evening had been a strange combination of comfortable friendship and sexual sparks that had made her pussy clench. Dag just oozed sex. Everything about him said lickable, kissable, fuckable. She’d been squirming in her seat all evening.

Maybe she’d just been all worked up from the quickie in the shower with Chris just before they’d left. And they’d certainly burned up the sheets when they’d gotten home last night.

When Dag looked at her, she’d sensed a sort of predatory attraction, which was ridiculous, layered over animosity. As if he liked her, but he didn’t want to like her. Maybe he thought she wasn’t good enough for his friend. But then, she got the feeling he did think she was good enough for him.

That was just so wrong.

“Okay,” she said, closing up the cardboard box she’d just emptied. “Pretty much done in here, which is good. I can cook dinner, anyway. Now I just have to finish putting some clothes away.”

Hailey glanced at her watch. “I should get going.”

“Oh. I was going to see if you wanted to stay for dinner too. You could meet Dag.”

“Much as I’d love to meet a boring friend of Chris’s, I have other plans.” Hailey’s contempt for Chris and Kassidy’s corporate careers and conventional life annoyed Kassidy, but she let it slide off her like she always did. “Got a hot date.”

“Oh. Really.”

Two years younger than Kassidy, Hailey’d always been the wild child of the family, causing their parents no end of anxiety. When Hailey had started smoking at age fourteen, Kassidy had been horrified. When Hailey’d started doing drugs, she’d been shocked. The drinking and partying had in truth made her a little envious…and the boys…well, Kassidy couldn’t even imagine that. She’d had three steady boyfriends in her entire life, including Chris. She much preferred that to a string of meaningless sexual encounters with guys she didn’t even know.

And Hailey showed no signs of settling down. She’d dropped out of college to work as a bartender, and still did. Kassidy had no idea how Hailey lived the lifestyle she did off the kind of money she made bartending—maybe she didn’t want to know. Hailey’s licentious lifestyle had always made her a little uncomfortable.

“Well, have fun,” she told her sister. “Thanks for helping.”

“No prob.”

“Hey, Mom and Dad’s thirtieth anniversary is coming up. I was thinking we should plan something for them.”

Hailey frowned. “We just did something for their twenty-fifth.”

“That was five years ago!”

“But twenty-five is the big one. We don’t need to do something for their thirtieth.”

Kassidy blew out a breath. “Sure. Never mind. Chris and I will do something.”

Jesus, Hailey could be annoying, especially when it came to their parents.

Hailey took off with a wave and Kassidy wandered into the bedroom, her irritation with her sister scraping away some of the pleasure she felt from living with Chris. She opened a drawer and saw Chris’s socks and underwear shoved inside in a jumble. Shaking her head, she removed everything and carefully replaced it, neat and organized. He’d be so happy when he saw that.

She sat on the bed and looked around the room, now nice and neat, the mix of their belongings a happy symbol of their two lives now linked together in cohabitation. She let the happiness swell inside her again. She loved Chris so much, and seeing her moisturizer sitting beside his aftershave sent a wave of contentment through her.

She glanced at her watch. Better get dinner started. In her new kitchen, she laid the cookbook open on the shiny granite counter and looked back and forth from it as she prepared the Greek chicken casserole, adding chicken to tomatoes and black olives. She crumbled feta cheese on top and popped it into the oven to bake. The guys would be back any minute.

She set out salad ingredients, and then, because they weren’t home yet, used the extra time to fix herself up, changing from rolled-up sweatpants and a T-shirt into a pair of knee-length shorts and a loose camisole top.

She was ready. The casserole was ready. Chris and Dag still weren’t back. They must have gone out somewhere after the game. With another glance at her watch, she sighed. The casserole sat on the stove. It would keep.

Then she heard the key in the lock and hurried toward the door. Chris and Dag walked in, bringing the smell of fresh air and sunshine with them. Their eyes sparkled, their faces were tanned from sitting in the sun all afternoon at Wrigley Field and they looked like they’d been laughing.

“Hey, sweetheart, sorry we’re late,” Chris said, hugging her and kissing her mouth. He smelled like beer. Not obnoxiously, like he was drunk, just as if he’d had a few.

“It’s my fault,” Dag said from behind him, and she met his sexy dark eyes. Once again that little current of electricity jolted her as their eyes met and held. “These are for you.”

He held out a cellophane cone full of pale pink and fuchsia gerbera daisies, all bright and cheery. She’d been ready to be annoyed, but the sweet gesture softened her up, even though she totally recognized it as sucking up.

“Thank you.” She moved to take them from him. He opened his arms for a hug. She hesitated. For some reason she did not want to touch him. But she moved toward him anyway and gave him one of those superficial, barely touching hugs you give a near-stranger or an uncle you haven’t seen for years.

But that wasn’t good enough for him, and he pulled her in and gave her a quick squeeze that pressed her breasts into his chest and sent fire licking over her. It was over in a second but she had to swallow and clasp her hands tightly around the flowers. She focused on them instead of Dag.

“They’re beautiful,” she said. “I love them.”

Dag smiled, his dark eyes crinkling and warm. Both he and Chris were bright-eyed and suntanned and happy, and her heart swelled at seeing Chris so relaxed and cheerful. A surge of gratitude toward Dag rose inside her, gratitude for coming back to see his old friend, for bringing such a smile to his face and a sparkle to his eyes. Not that Chris had been miserable. She just knew this meant a lot to him. So she sent a warm smile Dag’s way, and once again their gazes hooked together and hung there, suspended, as if she couldn’t look away.

“Come on in,” Chris said, leading the way into the living room. Dag looked around and Kassidy moved to the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers, hands unsteady, stomach quivering.

She could not remember where she’d put the vases. Likely Hailey had unpacked them. She searched through cupboards, flustered—Where are the vases, dammit?—and listened to the guys talking about the condo.

“Nice,” Dag said. “Really nice.”

“Three bedrooms,” Chris said. “One’s going to be my home office eventually. Still have some work to do.”

She found a vase and arranged the flowers then carried them to the living room and set them on a side table. “Dinner’ll be ready in a few minutes,” she said. “I just have to cook the pasta and toss the salad.”

“How about another beer?” Chris offered Dag. They followed her into the kitchen. It seemed very confined in that small space with those two big guys moving around.

“Who won the game?” she asked, filling a pot with water.

“Phillies won, three to two.”

“Cubs kinda sucked,” Dag added.