Mila turned and gave him a look.
Claudie giggled as Cole climbed behind the wheel. “For sure it’s smokin’ hot up front.” Then she ducked her head and lowered her voice. “But maybe we shouldn’t tease the guy who volunteered to haul our asses home.”
Cole snorted. “Excellent point.” He backed out of the parking space.
“Hey, Claudie-waddie, whatcha doin’ in the middle?” Rio had definitely imbibed freely tonight. He hadn’t used that nickname in years.
“I like it here.”
“Aha!” Rio tapped Cole on the shoulder. “See? She likes sittin’ in the middle.”
“Glad to hear it.” Cole winked at Mila.
That wink had more power every time he used it. The trip home would be a long one, especially with Claudie and Rio in the back laughing and whispering about them. Monty, as usual, was asleep.
“Hey, Claudie-waddie.” Rio ducked his head, as if he thought that would muffle his voice. “See how they’re lookin’ at each other?”
She hunkered down, too. “They’re in luuuv.”
“Yeah, but I don’t wanna end up in a ditch.”
“Don’t worry. I’m watchin’ for funny business.”
Mila glanced at Cole. “Please excuse them. They’re plastered.”
“No, really?”
“Am not,” Claudie sang out.
“Me, either!” Rio used his hat to cover the space between the driver and passenger seat and went back to whispering. “Whatcha gonna do if there’s funny business?”
“Poke ’em.”
Grinning at Cole, Mila reached over and put a hand on his thigh. He returned the favor. The warmth of his hand was sweet torture since home was still almost thirty minutes away, but she couldn’t resist trolling her siblings.
Rio moved his hat. “Uh-oh! Funny business!”
Mila lost it. She had to abandon the game to dig out a tissue from her tiny purse and mop the tears of laughter from her face.
“Hey, Claudie-waddie, you didn’t poke ’em.”
“Didn’t have to. They stopped.”
After blowing her nose, Mila turned to gaze at her sister and brother. “No poking.”
Claudie gave her a Cheshire Cat grin. “Tell us the surprise and we won’t bug you.”
“Good one!” Rio bumped his shoulder against Claudie’s. “Tell us and you can put your hands wherever you wanna.”
“What if I wanna put them around your neck, muchacho?”
“You know what?” Cole put on his turn signal and pulled onto the two-lane highway. “Why not let them try to guess the surprise?”
“Seriously?”
“Sure. I’ll throw out the first clue. The surprise is very sweet.”
“That’s a great clue.” She was impressed. He might be better at playing these games than she’d expected.
