Reid was just as handsome, polite, and charming as she remembered. Naomi Starr, his girlfriend…wow. A gorgeous, leggy redhead, she had bright blue eyes and a killer smile. Her house looked as if it had been designed by someone on a home and garden show, and the power couple looked too pretty for words.
Plus, Naomi was genuinely nice.
On behalf of cute, short people everywhere, Erin wanted to hate her on principle.
“Oh, you brought lemon bars. I love lemon,” Naomi gushed. “You didn’t have to do that.” She shot Reid a side glare.
Reid held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t blame me. I told them not to bring anything.”
“See? Told you,” Smith murmured to her.
Erin rolled her eyes. “It’s a girl thing. Or maybe it’s a Midwest thing. You always bring something for the dinner or the hosts. We should have brought wine.”
“No, no.” Naomi nodded for Erin to join her in the kitchen. “This is perfect. I have a sweet tooth.”
Erin smiled. “Me too.” She felt gauche next to Naomi’s tailored gray slacks and peach tank. Erin Briggs—frump deluxe. Erin had dithered for an hour about what to wear. She’d bet Naomi had picked something at random from her closet and still looked like a million bucks. “So, Smith mentioned you do public relations work?”
Naomi nodded and returned to the salad she’d been tossing. “I run my own PR firm. That’s how I met Reid. I stopped by to help his floundering business, and we connected.”
“Hey. I heard that,” Reid called.
Naomi grinned. “It was terrible. He, Cash, and Evan, their cousin, started Vets on the Go! to give veterans jobs. Something we all needed—local moves in the city done by reputable people. They were doing okay, barely, when Cash ended up saving a boy and his grandmother from a mugging. The news got wind of it, and Vets on the Go! got a huge rush of popularity they’re still riding,” she paused and, in a whisper, confided, “thanks to my team. The gang is great, but they needed help to capitalize on it.”
“Nice.” Impressive. Not only was Naomi beautiful, she was super smart and successful too. Great. Now Erin felt even more outclassed.
“So, what do you do?”
Fail at life.“Oh, um, I work from home, mostly. I edit for some agricultural magazines and do some cooking and cleaning on the side.”
“Tell her about the cooking show thing,” Smith barked from the other room.
“Quit listening in on my conversation,” she yelled back. Then she blushed when she saw Naomi watching her with interest. “Sorry.”
“No, no. I love it.” She laughed. “I’ve been dying to meet the woman who can handle Smith. You seem to be doing a good job of it.” She leaned closer and whispered, “Don’t you find him a little intimidating? Smith is so big and, well, he’d kind of snarly.”
“Kind of?” Erin snorted. “He’s a gruff giant who likes to loom over you. He’s a loom-y kind of guy.” She smiled. “But I like that about him. And I have to say, he makes me laugh.”
Naomi blinked. “He does?”
“Yeah. Because any man who would call this a sweatshirt has to have a sense a humor.” She plucked at her fashionable pullover.
Naomi shook her head. “That is too funny. You look great. Sweatshirt? God, that’s something Reid would say. Men can be so stupid.”
The men in question popped their heads in the doorway. “I heard you call for stupid,” Reid said with a smile. “So, I told Smith you needed him.”
Erin shook her head. “Oh yeah. They’re brothers.”
Chapter Ten
Smith didn’t know what he’d expected from a couple’s dinner with Reid, but it wasn’t…this.
“Okay, now I get to ask a question.” Erin laughed at the goofy face Naomi made. “Answer this correctly and you might move ahead two spaces. Answer incorrectly and we can steal. Play or pass?”
The trivia game they were playing had turned out to be much more interesting than Smith might have expected. Especially since he knew a lot of the answers.
Naomi studied Smith and Erin, then glanced at Reid and nodded. “We’ll play.”
Reid grimaced. “But the category is animals.”
