Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Yes. Definitely,” Sam agreed. “You’re a fuckin’ delight. And so am I. But I’m all full up with people I would help bury a body in the middle of the night.”
“Same,” Dane chimed in.
“And you two,” Sam said, pointing at me and Aja, “need to do this crap together from now on and not involve those of us without a shred of patience in these matters.”
“Heavens yes,” Dane grumbled as a young woman, smiling wide, came to the station and passed Dane and Aja both aprons.
“No,” Dane told her, turning to his wife.
She chuckled, smiling at the confused-looking girl. “This man has not cooked a meal in his life, and he’s not about to start now,” she told her. “I’ll be doing the preparation.”
Like an apron, of any kind, was ever going over Dane’s cashmere Prada sweater. His cotton-and-linen one-pleat chino pants weren’t getting covered up either. The perpetual scowl told me so.
“You need to be nicer,” Aja warned him.
“Fine,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.
She sighed as she stared at him.
“You’re a sap where he’s concerned,” I said, like that was news.
“Go to your station,” she ordered me.
“What?” Dane sounded frantic. “They’re not staying here?”
“No,” I told him. “You’re going to have two couples you don’t know plus Christina and whoever she invited. Hence the whole ‘couples’ mixer’ part.”
“May we go for burgers after this?” Dane asked his wife. “Something horrible with fries and shakes.”
She was staring at him like he’d grown another head. “Yes,” she said quickly, turning to me and then back to her husband. “Absolutely.”
Sam patted his back. “You and me, buddy, sharing a brain today.”
Dane nodded as I took my husband’s hand and drew him with me across the room.
I saw Carwood as we got close to our station. He was there with his roommate and with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed. Already, I was thinking we might be in for a long evening.
“Hey,” I greeted him happily, rushing up to give him a hug.
“Oh thank God,” he gushed, hugging me back and then offering Sam his hand, who did a nice thing and hugged him instead.
The man who was moving things under the island stood up then, and I had to tip my head back to see his face. He was tall, not quite the six-four my husband was, but close, built much the same way with lots of hard muscle, and his dark brown hair was buzzed short. The T-shirt and jeans he was wearing with the button-down cardigan over the top were in sharp contrast to the long-sleeve polo and slacks that Carwood had on. They looked like they were dressed for two separate events.
“Oh, hey,” he said, greeting Sam and me, offering Sam his hand first. “I’m Harlan Slater, but most folks just call me Slate.”
“Sam Kage,” he said, smiling at the man who was smiling at him. “It’s a pleasure.”
He reached for me then, and I took the warm, callused hand. “I’m Jory, really nice to meet you. Carwood is always telling me about something you’ve done around the house.”
“Well, I know it drives him nuts, but as long as I’m there, I’m going to help him,” he said kindly, before turning to Carwood. “And you’re gonna be annoyed, but whoever put this kitchen together was seriously twisted.”
I slipped around the side to inspect what was underneath and had to agree. “Why would the cooking utensils and pans be the furthest away and things like the colander are closest? That makes no sense.”
“See?” Slate said to Carwood. “I’m not crazy.”
“I never said you—just, it’s not your place to redo their setup.”
“It’s important to be proactive,” Slate assured him, gently bumping his shoulder.
“Hello,” a man announced behind us.
The other two couples had arrived, and it was Lucien, who wanted to be called Luc, who greeted us. His wife was Marley, and there was Amber and her husband, Remy. They had all been married less time than Sam and I. Of course I asked everyone how they met, and Luc and Marley had met online and it was love at first sight.
“Awww,” I said with a sigh.
On the other hand, Amber and Remy had been married to other people who had cheated on them.
“I’m sorry,” I rushed out.
“No, no,” Amber said, grinning at me. “I mean, his wife cheated with my husband.”
“Holy shit,” Sam replied.
“Yeah.” Remy snickered, beaming at him. “It was messed up.”
“When I met Remy,” Amber began, looking at him, “I was so impressed with how he was handling things, how he was going through the same thing I was with so much more grace and forgiveness.”
“That’s awesome,” Slate said. “I don’t think I could be so nice.”
“Right?” Amber agreed. “I was homicidal and vengeful.”
Remy chuckled. “She was. And I was living vicariously through her.”
“But one day I looked up and really saw him, and that was it. I just couldn’t stay away. He was amazing.”