“I HAVE NO IDEA why I said yes. I should call him and cancel.” Natalie paced in front of her closet, still only half-dressed.
Tuesday just rolled her eyes. “You don’t even have his number.”
“I have his mother’s. She’s got a library card. I looked her up in the system. I can call her, and I’m sure she can pass the message on.”
“Sure, that’s not creepy at all.”
“Gah!”
Tuesday snorted. “Hush up. Wear that blue dress with the white piping at the neckline. You can wear it all day at work, and it’ll still be nice when you’re off. It says I care enough to not look like I slept in a Dumpster, but I’m still casual enough to walk away from your ass if you start anything and look fabulous doing it.”
Natalie halted and then laughed. “You should do red carpet shows on the entertainment networks. I like that better than ‘I’m wearing blah from her spring collection because cerise is the it color’ or whatever.”
“It’s why even after you marry Patrick Hurley and spit out his spawn, we’ll always watch the awards show red carpet together.”
“Marriage? No, thanks. I’m not even convinced I should go to dinner with him. Anyway, he’s not after marriage. He just wants to fuck me.”
“Well, look at you!” Tuesday waved a hand in Natalie’s direction. “You’re all blonde and adorable, and you have great tits. Boys like those. Of course he wants to fuck you. Also, he has.”
Natalie struggled sometimes with the balance between owning what she liked and feeling guilty about it, anyway. Breasts had a lot of power. She did have some nice ones, and Paddy seemed to be impressed. Knowing that filled her with a sort of taboo power. What that said other than she liked that he liked it, she wasn’t sure.
She pulled the dress from her closet and looked at it.
“See what I mean?” Tuesday indicated the dress with a tip of her chin. “Listen and obey always. I know things. Now, I have to get ready to open the shop. Wear those flats, but take some heels in your bag. Don’t argue with me about this. Heels are perfect with that dress and, like tits, everyone likes cute heels.”
Tuesday kissed her cheek and left the room.
She did wear the blue dress, of course. With flats and the blue high-heeled sandals tucked in her bag to change into. On her way out the door, Tuesday tossed her a little drawstring bag. “I made those a few days ago. They’ll be supercute with the outfit.”
Her housemate, in addition to running a custom framing shop, made jewelry she sold in her store. The earrings Natalie spilled into her palm were dangly bits of blue. All together they made a dragonfly, one of Tuesday’s favorite subjects.
Natalie took off the earrings she had on and replaced them with the dragonflies. “Thanks.”
“Text me if you need me to save you. Otherwise, you can debrief me tomorrow morning. If you sleep over at his place, text so I won’t worry.”
“I’m not sleeping over at his place.” No matter how sexy he was. No matter how much knowledge she had about how good he was in bed. Sleeping with Paddy on the first date—despite their history—would be stupid.
“That’s the saddest thing I’ve heard today, Nat.”
* * *
“WHERE ARE YOU off to tonight?”
Paddy tossed the ball one last time, and Ezra’s dumb but sweet-as-hell dog ran off after it, getting distracted by a butterfly.
He looked up at his mother, who stood on Ezra’s porch with Damien’s wife, Mary, and tried to pitch his voice low to avoid notice. “I’ve got a date.”
“Is that a euphemism?” his mother called out. So much for trying to keep it quiet.
Mary laughed, and Paddy shook his head. “You’re jaded, Mom.”
“I raised you four! I’m an eternal optimist. You don’t date, you go off and have your little flings and return home in a week or so.”
“Well, I’ll have you know I’m taking a librarian to dinner.”
“Is that a euphemism?” Mary asked with a smirk.
“She works here in town, as it happens. I’m making her dinner on the boat.”
“Do you need help?”
One of the best things about having Mary as a sister-in-law was that she was an amazing cook. The author of three cookbooks, she was their own personal tour chef, too.
“I’m grilling some salmon from the fishing trip I took with Vaughan a few weeks back. I was going to have corn on the cob to go with.”
Mary cocked her head. “You’re going to serve your date corn on the cob? Is this a first date?”
By the scandalized look on his sister-in-law’s face, he figured it was probably not a good thing to do.
“In a manner of speaking. I knew her before. Years ago. Before we hit it big.”
His mother crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, and she suddenly wants to go out with you?” Sharon Hurley was not one for any foolery that had to do with anyone taking advantage of her children.
He laughed. “Well, Ezra thinks this is pretty hilarious and all, but no. I ran into her in town last month, and she pretended not to remember me at first. I’ve been hounding her pretty much three or four days a week since then to get her to go out with me. She’s utterly disinterested in me as a celebrity. In fact, it freaks her out, I think. That’s why I’m doing dinner on the boat instead of taking her to a restaurant.”
Mary perked up. “Oh, well, then. Wait. Natalie? Supercute little blonde? She’s one of those who wears cigarette pants and flats and looks like an ad for a vintage clothing catalog?”
He kept looking back and forth between his mother and sister-in-law, confused by Mary’s questions and hoping to get some sort of clue from the context.
His mother’s brows rose, and then she nodded, patting Mary’s arm.
That shared look could very well equal trouble for Paddy, so he wanted to nip it right in the bud before it could turn into a reality. “What is going on between you two? It looks like there’s a caper brewing. No capers. For God’s sake. It took me a month of following this woman around like a lost puppy just to get her to let me walk her to work. If you two rush in like Lucy and Ethel, you’re going to ruin all my progress. Also, what are cigarette pants?”
Mary waved that away. “Never mind, it’s her. There aren’t any other blondes working at the library. Don’t make her eat corn on the cob. Not on the first date. Even if you knew her from before.” Mary came down the steps. “Come with me to the house. I’m sure I have some sides for you.” She tucked her arm through his.
“Are you taking pity on me?” He liked to tease her. She’d come from an equally insane family and fit in theirs just fine. She was the sister he’d never had, and she kept his brother Damien in line and from burning things down. Plus, there was that really good cook thing, and she wasn’t a chore to look at, either.
“That’s what family does.” She winked.
“Let’s drive over. I want to get to the boat and get things set up. I’m picking her up at six.”
He opened the door of his car for her, and she got in.
He wasn’t stupid with his money, but he loved cars and had a special garage built at his place for his collection. He’d decided to take the Shelby fastback.