Maya laughed with her. “I wouldn’t mindshaftingDex.” Boy was that the truth.
“Oh stop.” Ann sighed. “What am I going to do with you two?” Then she started laughing with them.
Maya made a memory of the moment—watching her friends, feeling warmth and acceptance from head to toe. Her friends had always been there for her. A family when she only had her father for comfort. Sisters of her heart and a never-ending source of camaraderie, love and laughter.
Three things she’d never been able to get from any man not her father, unfortunately. She didn’t need a man, not when she had a real family.
So why did a sudden image of Dex’s smiling eyes continue to plague her with promises of an impossibility?
Chapter Three
Saturday night, Dex had managed to pry Jack away from Ann and hung out with Anson at their favorite bar downtown. A nice hole-in-the-wall that served cheap beer on draft, decent scotch for the price and catered more to the late twenties/early thirties crowd than to the college kids at the bar next door.
“So.” Anson took a large drag on his beer.
“Nice to see you out from under a hard hat.” Dex grinned at his cousin.
They looked enough alike that people often thought them brothers. Both had dark hair, large builds and similar features—square jaws, a stubborn nose, long-lashed eyes. But Dex had pretty gray eyes, not the ugly green ones Anson always bragged about. Dex also wore his hair military short, while Anson preferred his to drop down his neck.
He stared at Anson’s hair. “Too long, you friggin’ hippy.”
Anson smirked at him and flipped his hair, causing Jack to grin.
“I’m so glad you guys moved back. What perfect timing.” Jack clinked his beer against their glasses. “It’s hard being the only guy around the Terrible Trio. I worry about getting overloaded with estrogen.” He laughed.
Dex laughed with him. Everyone knew how over-the-moon happy he was with his old high school sweetheart Ann. Though Jack, like Dex and Anson, had been out of town since graduating, they’d all managed to move back in time to rekindle old friendships—and old flames.
Speaking of which…“I blackmailed Maya into dating me.”
Anson rolled his eyes. “And you wonder why I don’t tell people we’re related.”
Jack snorted. “You think that’s smart? Woman will slit your throat while you sleep, and we’ll be lucky to find your body. You know she has a kiln.”
“Right. The artist.” Maya crafted amazing pottery and had been showcased in galleries across the Northwest. Sexy, gorgeous and skilled. Was it any wonder he still had the hots for her?
“So how was the date?” Jack asked.
“Really? We’re going to gossip about a girl like, well,girls?” Anson sneered.
“I already filled him in,” Dex explained to Jack. Dex and Anson lived together in a nice rental on the West side. For all that Anson acted like an arrogant ass most of the time, he hid a heart of gold. The only son of doting parents and taught to believe in himself, he’d taken their lectures to heart. Maybe too much.
To hear him tell it, Anson could do no wrong. The fact that he followed words with actions only made dealing with him that much worse. Dex tolerated his cousin’s attitude because he loved the guy, and he had to admit Anson was a lot of fun.
Jack suggested Anson do something anatomically impossible to himself, to which Anson responded with an obscene gesture.
“You guys are a riot.” Dex drained his beer and ordered another. With his height and weight, it took nearly a six pack to get him close to buzzed. But he didn’t want to get drunk, just mellow out and relax with the guys…while getting some much-needed intel. “Jack, tell me about Maya.”
“Here we go.” Anson motioned for another round of drinks. “Barely back in town and he’s at it again.”
“Please. Like I’m the only one. Don’t even pretend it’s nothing but chance you’re building a restaurant next to sexy Riley Hewitt.”
Dex had always liked Ann and Riley. Ann, a petite redhead with eyes for his best bud, and Riley, the dark-skinned beauty he alternated naughty dreams with Maya about. As he’d matured, he still considered Riley beautiful. The woman could cook anyone under the table and from what he’d heard worked harder than anyone he’d known to finance her own bakery. Even in high school she’d known what she wanted to do.
Dex on the other hand had knownwhohe wanted to do. He grinned at the bad pun. Photography had been his first love, next to Maya. Now that he had the one, he intended to snag and keep the other.
Jack looked from him to Anson, his brow raised. “So you want info on Maya or Riley? Or both?” he asked with a smirk aimed at Anson.
Anson glared back. “I need to take a piss.” He hopped from his seat and disappeared.
