Continuation 2

I'm a vet, which means I give advice all day long to people with obese pets about the dangers of table food, but Sadie's geriatric by any standards, so I figure she should be happy in her old age, but nothing could cheer her up the past few days. I know how she feels.

I tell myself it's no big deal to be at my parents' house for a barbecue. They love Brody and Ainsley like their family. My parents knew Brody and Ainsley's parents just from he and I being roommates and friends. My mom and dad told me that if anything ever happened to them, they'd want someone to make me a home cooked meal and invite me over for Christmas. They saw it as doing for Brody and Ainsley what they would want someone to do for me. The Bennett family Christmas went from hanging three stockings to five.

So it's natural for us all to get together. I just wish it had happened before I kissed Ainsley. Things are bound to be awkward. I just hope I can look at her and not think about the way her lips felt on mine.

My parents' house is something out of a magazine, resembling an old, antebellum mansion. It's built in the Charleston single style, popular for the area. Basically, the house looks sideways from the street—one room wide, but several rooms deep, designed that way to save valuable land space and maximize breezes through open windows. Blue with green shutters, it's located about twenty minutes outside Charleston in Mount Pleasant. Pictures and keepsakes from my childhood line the shelves and walls. My old basketball hoop still hangs over the garage. My dad and I used to spend hours out there. Most of our big father/son talks happened while shooting hoops. There's a huge backyard, which Sadie loves, so I always bring her with me when I visit. My parents love her just as much as I do.

I'm late, and I have no good excuse why. Work ended on time. Traffic wasn't horrible. The only thing keeping me from getting here on time is that I didn't want to risk getting here when Ainsley might be the only other guest. I wanted to make sure that Brody and Skye would be here before I arrived.

I walk through the door to my parents' house a good half hour after my mom said to be there. I'm not usually late. My mom's a worrier, so my dad and I always try to be on time. I doubt she worried today, though. Too much excitement over Ainsley's return to Charleston.

This house never changes. Sure, my mom updates the decor, but the feel of the house never changes. It always feels like home. I'm not sure how my parents pull that off, but they do. It makes me smile even on the worst days. Come to think of it, being around Ainsley usually makes me feel the same way.

I bend down to give Sadie a hearty scratch behind her ear, just the spot she likes. When I look up, my eyes land on a pair of long, lean legs, the ones I've fantasized about having wrapped around me more times than I care to admit.

Standing up straight, I look through the house, seeing Brody and Skye are outside by the barbecue. I can hear my parents in the kitchen and smell the cookies my mom's been baking.

"You're late!" Ainsley whisper-shouts.

"So?"

"It's not normal for you to be late."

Honestly, I'm not a dumb guy, but sometimes female logic couldn't be figured out by the president of Mensa. It's a whole lot easier to understand what a dog is thinking than a woman. A dog is happy, its tail wags. When a woman's ass shakes, does that mean she's happy? When your pet is mad at you, you might find poop in the house. When your woman is mad at you, you might hear about it for decades to come. Of course, you can always tell your dog to sit and stay. If you want to see tomorrow, I advise you never order your woman to sit and stay.

She throws her hands up a little. "Brody can never find out what happened between us."

"Agreed."

"So, if you don't want Brody to get suspicious, you need to act normal.