Tae waited until her mom left the kitchen with the bottle of wine to take another big gulp from her glass. Maybe it was more like a chug, but just as she did, Riggs stepped into the kitchen. “Interesting way to date,” he said. “Being in two different rooms.”
She promptly choked, then shoved him away when he tried to pat her on the back. “Why are you here?” she finally managed to gasp out.
“Well, when a mommy and daddy love each other . . .”
She narrowed her eyes, and he grinned.
Meow.
Storm had followed Riggs into the kitchen and was now rubbing her face against his denim-clad legs. He bent to her, and Tae panicked.
“No!” she said quickly. “It’s a trick, she hates men and bites—”
But the traitor jumped into his arms with surprising stealth for a geriatric, and was now rubbing her face against his chest.
Riggs looked smug. “She bites?”
Tae rolled her eyes just as her mom came in to grab another bottle of wine. She did a double-take at Storm sitting in Riggs’s arms like a princess. Recovering quickly, she said, “I need someone to take this out to the living room.”
Riggs gently set Storm back down and took the wine.
“Thanks,” her mom said. “We’ll be right behind you.”
He turned and walked out of the kitchen. Her mom looked at Tae. “You sure there’s nothing you want to tell me?”
“Not right now,” Tae said honestly.
Her mom sighed. “Honey, this will be fun, I promise.”
Fun. She could hardly wait. But she followed her mom into the living room, and sure enough, in less than sixty seconds, her mom had spread her easy magical chemistry and had everyone chitchatting and laughing. It was her superpower.
Tae didn’t have a superpower. She also wasn’t in the mood for chitchatting. Or being on a date. Even though Hunter seemed nice and attentive, she was pretty sure he just wasn’t her type. She accidentally met Riggs’s gaze. Unfortunately, he was her type. Tall, dark, and dangerous. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe she needed to try a different type on for size.
Her mom led everyone to the table, still casting her cheerful, wonderful, amazing spell over the entire group, as only she could do. And not for the first time, Tae wished she could be more like that, able to shed the past that had molded her and be carefree and easygoing.
Hunter sat on Tae’s right and handed her the container of garlic shrimp. “I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but I don’t want to eat anything with garlic unless you do too,” he said with a very nice smile.
That actually made her laugh. Nice, attentive, and also confident. Okay, maybe she could work with that. She scooped up some shrimp, aware of Riggs watching her from across the table, his eyes unreadable. Friends. And yeah, that still stung. He hadn’t said much, but then again, he never did. The man, pragmatic, impenetrable, and unflappable, could say more with silence than most men could with volumes of words.
What was it her mom had told her Jake had said about Riggs? He’d been withdrawn and unreachable . . . Her heart pinched, but she had other problems. Her birth certificate felt heavy in her back pocket. She needed to be alone with a computer to research what it meant not having a father listed on her birth certificate. But first, she took some garlic shrimp.
“You have beautiful teeth,” Hunter said. “I hope that’s not a weird thing to say.”
From across the table, a corner of Riggs’s mouth quirked sardonically, and that settled that. She beamed at Hunter. “Not at all. Thank you.”
Hunter looked dazzled by her smile.
On the other side of Hunter, her mom was telling the story of the time she and Tae had gotten into a fight, back when Tae had been in high school. They’d been staying in a one-room hovel and were practically living on top of each other. Tae had gotten the bright idea to divide the tiny room into two sides with masking tape. “Only problem,” she interjected into her mom’s tale, “the light switches were on my mom’s side and she wouldn’t let me use them.”
Everyone laughed, including Riggs. Even Tae felt a smile tug at her mouth as she looked at her mom. “I remember telling you I just wanted a little private personal space.”
April lifted her wineglass in Tae’s direction. “And I told you that you’d once come out of my private personal space.”
Tae grimaced as everyone burst out laughing again. “Yeah, still not funny.”
“It’s a mom’s job to embarrass her kid.”
“Well then, mission accomplished,” Tae said dryly. “Tenfold. Remember the job I had before I started my event company?” She looked at her mom, who was already smiling. “I got called into HR. I thought I was in trouble for something, but they wanted to let me know that my mom had been commenting on their Instagram every day, telling them I deserved a raise.”
“Because you did,” April said proudly.
Carolyn laughed. “That’s so sweet. My mom still lives to embarrass me. Someday I hope to repay the favor to my own kid.”
Jake smiled at Carolyn in a sweet and sexy manner that made Tae’s heart hurt in the very best of ways.
“Are you two married?” Hunter asked.
“Not yet,” Jake said, and it was Carolyn’s turn to smile at him.
“You two are so great together,” Tae’s mom said. “And still so romantic after two years.”
“Yep,” Carolyn said. “Just last week I left him a heart made up of a bunch of Post-it notes on the bathroom mirror.”
Jake laughed. “Yes, with chores written on each of them.”
“Okay, hotshot,” Carolyn said, grinning. “What’s the last romantic thing you did?”
“The other night,” he said, “we were watching TV and I heard a text, and realizing I’d left my phone in the kitchen, I went in there to check it. It was a text from you that said: please bring chips on your way back. Which I did.”
Everyone burst out laughing at that, and Carolyn conceded with a toast of her wineglass. “You’re right. That was the perfect romantic gesture on your part.”
Still smiling, Tae accidentally met Riggs’s gaze, and in spite of herself, she felt an almost unbearable electric pull. Effing annoying. She glanced at Hunter and waited for a spark. Then she waited some more. Nothing. Dammit. How annoying was that, because he was a smart, stable guy who worked with kids, and most importantly, he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d turn her down for a no-strings-attached social orgasm.
“Honey, could you pass the chow mein?” her mom asked.
The chow mein sat directly between her and Riggs. They both reached for it at the same time, their fingers brushing. Tae sucked in a breath, and Riggs, holding her gaze, handed the container straight to April. Just because she could, Tae gave him a you’re-a-jackass look.
It made him smile.
Hunter divided a look between them. Ignoring that, Tae snatched the whole container of crab rangoons.
“So, Riggs,” April said into the awkward silence. “What do you think of all the wonderful things your brother’s done with Adrenaline HQ?”
“He thinks I’m growing the business too fast,” Jake said, passing the egg rolls to Carolyn. “And that I can’t handle it without him.”
“And that they don’t need an event planner,” Tae added, and popped her second, maybe third, crab rangoon into her mouth.
Riggs looked pained. “I didn’t say any of that. I just thought it’s a lot for him to take on by himself.”
“He’s not by himself.” Carolyn held Jake’s eyes with a soft smile. “He’s one of the most savvy, hardworking men I’ve ever met.”
Normally, blatant mushy romantic stuff made Tae want to gag. But seeing Carolyn’s genuine love for Jake, and knowing it was real, moved her.
Riggs was looking . . . confused, and she got it. She and Carolyn had spent time together. She knew that before Carolyn had come along, Jake had definitely had a specific type. Tall, blond, busty—which, okay, described Carolyn to a T—but also gone-by-Monday. Not only was Carolyn still with him, but she’d also been at his side for two years now. They both were incredibly outdoorsy and active and were constantly pushing each other in the very best of ways, complementing their strengths and making up for their weaknesses. Carolyn was genuinely there for Jake no matter what. And in return, Jake boosted Carolyn’s once-missing confidence and just celebrated her exactly as she was. They were meant to be. That simple. What Tae had found so elusive and hard for her came naturally to them. It left her wondering if, in spite of her cold, black heart, a happily-ever-after could ever be for her.
“What you two have,” her mom said softly, also looking moved, “is nothing short of amazing.” She smiled at Jake. “Hold on to her.”
Jake had Carolyn’s hand in his. “Count on it.”
RIGGS HADN’T WANTED to come tonight, but both Jake and Carolyn had insisted, and so here he sat, not to mention being studied like a bug on a slide by the Good Dentist.
A fact he completely ignored.
He felt off his game. He also felt confined in tight quarters with people he didn’t know, uncomfortably alert for a threat he knew wasn’t coming but couldn’t seem to turn off. The edginess that had saved his life more times than he could count wasn’t serving him well tonight.
Nor when it came to reconnecting with Jake, his gruff, perpetually-in-control brother, who was currently smiling sweetly at Carolyn, none of his usual hard-ass self in sight.
But then Jake looked over and met his gaze head-on. There was a simmering tension between them, and Riggs felt guilty as hell for it. He felt guilty for a lot of things, like what had happened to his brother. Riggs had been on a mission at the time and unable to go home and help, leaving his brother to face all of his surgeries and PT on his own. By the time Riggs had gotten leave, Jake hadn’t seemed to want him around. Riggs had felt pushed out. Still did. As for what Jake had felt . . . hell, Riggs had no idea. Nor did he know what to do or how to resolve any of it. He could only hope he’d figure it out before summer’s end.
Somehow, he suffered through dessert, which were some pretty damn fine double fudge cookies that Carolyn had made. He watched Tae work her way through two of them, sucking some chocolate off her thumb.
The Good Dentist had an eye lock on that action as well. Riggs glared at him, but apparently the man could only concentrate on one thing at a time.
Amateur.
“Did Tae tell you about Jordy?” April asked Jake, and Riggs looked up at the name of the kid from the convenience store.
“Yes,” Jake said. “She invited him and his sister to Lake Days on full scholarship. It’s great. Exactly the kind of kids we hoped to reach and help.”
Riggs looked at Tae. “You found him?”
“She sure did,” April said proudly. “She turned into a private investigator to do it too. Put out some feelers and got a call from his mom. Tae explained about the program and got the woman’s permission for both Jordy and Sarah, his younger sister, to participate.”
Tae lifted her gaze to Riggs, a little defiant and defensive. Did she think he wouldn’t approve? Not that she needed his approval. “That’s amazing,” he said. “You’re amazing . . .”
She shrugged and shoved another crab rangoon into her mouth. “Anyone would have done the same thing.”
Not true. He hadn’t even thought of it.
After dinner, he offered to clear the plates to escape his third-wheel status, but Tae followed him into the kitchen. “I’m going to ask you again,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“Existentially?” Riggs shrugged. “I try not to overthink those things.”
“Oh my God.” Tae smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand. “You know what I’m asking! Why are you here, in my mom’s place, tonight, eating dinner with us?”
“Who doesn’t like dinner?”
“Riggs, I swear to God . . .”
He had to laugh. She was so easy to rile up. And a lot of fun too. “Carolyn made me come.”
She laughed. “Right. Like anyone could make you do something you don’t want to do.”
Actually, after seeing Carolyn and Jake, and her genuine love for the guy and what they gave each other, Riggs thought Carolyn could probably ask him for the moon.
Same with the woman in front of him. He just hoped she never figured it out. “She didn’t want me to be home alone.” The concern had been touching, so he’d caved like a cheap suitcase, not wanting to disappoint her. He lifted a shoulder, not wanting to admit any of that, or how it felt to have people care at all. “She thinks I’m having trouble adjusting to civilian life.”
“Are you?”
“No.” Yes. Not that he could admit it out loud.
“Riggs . . .” Her expression had softened. “I—”
“Didn’t know you’d be on a date though,” he said not wanting pity.
“Yeah, well, that makes two of us.” She pushed him aside and began rinsing dishes. “My mom set this up.”
He laughed low in his throat, oddly liking that she hadn’t agreed to a date. “You could just send him home.”
“He’s nice.” She paused. “And he probably doesn’t have weird . . . ‘just friends’ rules.”
At the mental image that invoked, he actually got a chest pain. “You know why.”
“Do I?”
He opened his mouth, but she flicked on the garbage disposal and drowned out anything he might have said. Probably for the best.
When she turned it off, she nodded with satisfaction. “Love getting rid of all the excess crap.”
That made him smile. Tactful, she was not. “You have something to say, Tae, just say it.”
“Nope,” she said, popping the p.
“Good.”
“Good.”
He shook his head at the both of them. “Still as mistrusting and suspicious as ever, I see.”
“Being suspicious isn’t a weakness.”
“Agreed,” he said.
She looked surprised. “You do?”
“Being suspicious has saved my ass more than once.”
“Huh,” she said, and he nodded. Something they had in common. He hadn’t seen that coming, and judging from the look on her face, neither had she. Then he realized the low hum of voices from the other room had died down to nothing. He craned his neck behind him.
From the kitchen table, all eyes were on them like they were Must See TV.
The Good Dentist stood up. “Well . . . thanks for dinner, but I think this is my exit.” And he headed for the door.
Smart move. Riggs didn’t know the guy, but anyone could see that he was far too much of a pushover for a woman like Tae. Plus, no matter what she wanted Riggs to think, there was zero chemistry between them. Unlike the electricity storm going on between Tae and himself. Hell, every time they so much as looked at each other, the air crackled. He hadn’t yet decided if that was a good or bad thing, but he was leaning toward bad.
“Hold on,” Tae called to Hunter, turning off the water and drying her hands. “I’ll walk you out.” And then, with a glare in Riggs’s direction, she left the kitchen.
Riggs moved to the sink to take over the dishes, and only partially because the window over the sink was cracked and he could see Tae and Hunter heading out the front door.
“Honey, guests don’t do dishes,” April said, coming into the kitchen.
Damn. She was as silent as any soldier he’d ever known. “You bought dinner, I’ve got this,” he said. “Go be with your date and my annoying brother.”
She smiled. “If it’s any consolation, I’m pretty sure he thinks you’re annoying too.”
“Family,” he said with a shrug.
April’s smile faded some. “Family’s everything,” she said with surprising vehemence.
He gave a slow nod. “I agree.”
“Hmm,” she said, and then she was gone.
Okay, so he hadn’t made a fan out of her. Normally, he wouldn’t give it a second thought, but oddly enough, it bothered him a lot more than it should that Tae’s mom didn’t like him. His gaze drifted back to the window.
“Sorry about that,” Tae was saying to Hunter. “Thanks for coming tonight. I really did have a good time.”
Hunter’s back was to Riggs, but he heard the guy’s disbelief in his voice. “You’re kidding, right?”
Funny, Riggs was thinking the same thing. At dinner, if Tae hadn’t been working hard to not fall asleep when the guy had droned on and on about all his volunteer work with kids, like he was trying out for the position of her boyfriend, Riggs would eat his own shorts.
“I did,” Tae insisted.
“Are you sure?” Hunter asked. “Because it seemed like you and Riggs were kind of into each other.”
Tae glanced over Hunter’s shoulder and, shit, caught Riggs at the window. He had to resist the urge to drop to his knees and out of view.
“It’s not like that,” she said, whether to Hunter or Riggs was anyone’s guess, but Riggs was pretty sure it was to him. “Adrenaline HQ is my biggest client, and Riggs is half owner.”
“So it’s business then.” Sounding relieved at that, Hunter nodded.
“Old business,” Tae said, and she gave Riggs a surreptitiously subtle go-away gesture with her hand.
He did not go away.
“So maybe you’d be open to seeing me again then,” Hunter said.
Riggs mimed hanging himself with a rope.
Tae’s expression changed, and damn, Rigs knew that look. Sheer obstinance. She was about to do something incredibly stubborn just to spite him, and it was his own fault.
“Maybe,” she said with a smile. It was her polite smile, Riggs knew, but clearly Hunter did not because . . .
Hunter leaned in.
The asshole was actually going to kiss her and Riggs found himself holding his breath. But then, right before contact, Tae turned her head and . . . The Good Dentist’s kiss bounced off her cheek.
She’d cheeked him.
Riggs grinned.
Tae pulled Hunter in for a quick hug. “’Night,” she said, and behind the guy’s back double-flipped-off Riggs.
Anytime, he mouthed. Anytime at all.