“I don’t have panties on either, and you can lay your hands on me whenever and wherever you like.” At his fierce groan, she skipped upstairs, her heels clicking loudly across the polished wooden floors.
Liam, the eldest, sat at the head of the long oak dining table with Nico on a pillowed seat tucked in beside him. Dylan, Luke and Brigs, all dressed in slacks and dark dinner shirts, were seated along one side while Tyler and Lydia sat opposite.
Ben pulled out the chair next to Lydia for her.
“Sorry we’re late, everyone.” He took the end seat then stretched out his legs and touched this tips of his black leather shoes to hers.
“Better late than never.” Tyler raised a brow at Ben. “I also understand the difficulty of getting ready in time when there’s a distracting woman in sight.”
“Difficulty?” Lydia shoved her elbow into his arm and sent the yellow ruffles of her short dress’s scalloped neckline fluttering. “Please, you’d keep me locked in our bedroom if you could, and I’d never get to eat.”
“And therein lies the problem.”
“Excuse me, sir,” Henry dipped his head toward Tyler. “Is everyone ready to eat?”
“Yes thanks, Henry. Bring in the dishes.”
“Certainly, sir.” He clapped.
The swinging galley door opened and the wait staff swished through. They wandered around the table and set dinner plates down. The succulent aroma of pan-fried fish stacked on top of roasted sweet potato and kumara, had Saria licking her lips. Nico squealed and Liam picked up his son’s knife and fork and cut his meat for him, while across from her, Dylan and Luke thanked the servers.
Brigs frowned as he glanced at Ben. “What am I missing? What distracting woman do you have in your sight?”
“None at all.” Ben clapped Brigs on the shoulder. “As usual, you sleep too much.”
“Brigs.” Lydia plunked her elbows on the table and cleared her throat. “I have a favor to ask. Saria and I need to shop for dresses, ones I don’t want any men to see.”
“Why don’t I like the sound of this?” He bit into his fish.
“Tomorrow, I need you to keep Tyler busy while Saria and I take the chopper to the mainland. Perhaps you can take Tyler and Ben fishing. Guy stuff, you know.”
“Hold on.” Tapping his knife on the tabletop, Ben glared at Lydia. “You two aren’t going to the mainland alone.”
“Yes, we are.” Lydia reached past Saria and patted Ben’s hand. “You’re used to guarding us, but that time has come to an end. There’s no reason why Saria and I can’t shop on our own.”
Tyler growled under his breath. “I’m not sure I’m prepared for you to go it alone. Too many people were trying to kill you just last week. I can still hear the blast of gunshots in my ears.”
“Both Kern and Ladd Hyena are in jail,” Lydia countered, “and so is Mia Taita who contracted them to come after us.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Neither do I,” Ben gritted out.
“I’m not asking either of you if you like it, but Saria and I need to move on. We have a life to live, and shopping is usually a harmless activity.” Lydia turned her sweetest smile on Brigs. “You’ll do this for me, won’t you?”
“You’re a cruel woman, but yes, I’m up for the challenge.”
“Fishing and guy stuff probably won’t cut it, Brigs,” Tyler grunted. “I’ll need a major distraction.”
Saria stabbed a cube of roasted potato with her fork and chewed. “I think Lydia’s right. It’ll be good for us to go to the mainland alone. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Great. I’ll order the chopper since it’s all settled.” Lydia passed Tyler her glass of water. “Take a drink.”
“I’ll need something stronger than that if I’m going to make it through tomorrow.” He grabbed his glass of white wine and took a hearty gulp.
“I still don’t like this.” Ben squeezed her leg under the table.
“We’ll be fine.” Saria leaned in and whispered in his ear, “It’s that codependency rearing its head again.”
“I don’t care. It doesn’t feel right having you two go off on your own.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”
She settled back as around her, the others chatted and the conversation moved on. The wait staff continued to fill their glasses, and after the first course, they returned with dessert and set plates before them. Each held a generous slice of chocolate mud cake with fresh raspberries and cream. Delicious. After she’d finished, she wanted to lick her plate clean.
Ben polished off his dessert and she wiped a smear of cream from the corner of his lips then licked her finger. His gaze zeroed in on her mouth, his hungry thoughts blatantly clear to see.
“Would you like to take a walk after dinner?” she asked him.
“Would that walk be downstairs?”
“That’d be my preference.”
“Mine too.” He caught the back of her head, brought her closer and kissed her. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”
“Shoot.” Brigs’s breath whistled out. “That’s something I didn’t think I’d ever see. Are you two together?”