His smile held. “Don’t worry about it, toots.”
He rested a palm on her hip, leaned past her, and lifted her wineglass. Gloria most certainly did not watch as he took a drink, then licked his lips when a single red droplet clung to his mouth. No, she did not. And she did not feel every internal organ lean a little closer to him while she forced her feet to stay firmly planted on the exact spot of the kitchen’s tiled floor. Nope. That didn’t happen, either.
“I’m here for the main course,” he told Charlie, relinquishing the wineglass to Gloria and holding out his hands. Charlie handed over the tray holding the burgers and dogs.
“Sarge, follow me out.”
“What? Why?”
“Because Evan is opening the whiskey and we’re all doing shots.” He sent Charlie a sharp smile. “Ace, you’re invited, too.”
“I’ll stick with wine, thanks.”
“Me too,” Gloria said.
Lyon ran through the kitchen, Tank following. “We’ll go out!”
“No whiskey for him either,” Charlie put in. “Give me this.” She swiped the tray and walked out to the patio, leaving Gloria and Asher in the kitchen.
Alone. Intentionally, no doubt.
“Not like you to turn down whiskey,” he told her.
“I’m trying to be a good guest. We fight when we drink whiskey.”
“That’s not all we do when we drink whiskey.” His smile was penetrating.
No. He was right about that. They also kissed. And hugged. Full-body, no-clothing-necessary kind of hugs. The best kind. Gah.
“In that case, maybe I’ll never have whiskey again,” she said, elevating her chin.
“Someday, Sarge, you’ll have whiskey.”
“I mean it,” she said, picking up on the whole double-meaning thing and trying to sound resolute. “No more whiskey for me.”
He opened the back door for her and she walked through it, but not before he put his lips over her ear and muttered, “We’ll see.”
Chapter 4
After dinner, Asher and Evan sat, feet kicked up on the deck’s railing. Lyon had gone to a friend’s house to spend the night, leaving the adults to lounge.
Evan’s house faced the lake, but the dock was farther down the hill, giving him an awesome view of both the water and the hillside of pine trees behind it.
“Nicely done on dinner,” Asher said, tipping his beer.
“Grill master,” Evan said.
He and Ash had done a few whiskey shots, and true to her word, Gloria hadn’t imbibed. Stubborn, gorgeous woman.
“Gloria was on a date earlier today,” Asher grumbled, looking straight out at the water beyond.
“Ah.” Tank was curled up on Evan’s lap, proving he was an equal opportunity suck-up. Then again, Evan had fed Tank half a hot dog, so the dog was loyal to only him at the moment.
“What do you mean ‘ah’?”
“Explains why you were pouring it on thick all evening with her. You’re lime-green Jell-O.”
“I’m not jealous of a guy named Brice.”
Evan snorted.
Asher felt his lips tug down. “And I was not pouring it on thick.”
“Were too.”
Okay, he was. But it wasn’t like he’d been trying. It was Gloria. She was touchable. She had skin like silk and he loved the way she squirmed and how the pulse point in her neck fluttered to life when he was near. He knew he was pushing her boundaries big-time—the ones she’d outlined the day after they slept together at the toy drive. “We’re not doing that again. And we’re not going to talk about it again. And we’re not going to get close to doing that again.”
He’d never agreed. He let her say her piece and then hang up on him. Things were less tense by necessity—they had to work together, but now that he was back in town, fuck if he knew how she planned on avoiding him.
“Who’s Brice?” Evan scrubbed Tank’s ears.
“McGuire. Music agent and asshole.”
“Asshole,” Ev agreed. “I take it you being jealous of Brice McGuire means you’ve given up on your mission to bang every chick in the continental U.S.”
“Piss off,” Ash said, and Evan chuckled. Being on the road, touring, and having chicks approach him hadn’t been something Asher turned down often. Okay, rarely did he ever turn them down. Ev knew that. Just like he knew Glo was the game-changer for Asher. And there was apparently no hiding it from his best childhood buddy.
“It’s the kid,” Evan stated.
“What’s the kid?” Asher tilted his bottle again, eyes on the lake.
“Hawk. Having a boy of your own makes you want to be better, doesn’t it? Makes you want to have things that are good and right. Things you want to keep close. For the long haul.”