Lacey just nodded as Everly and Cooper continued to make the rounds. That sounded a lot like something she’d expect her naive twenty-year-old sister to say. Coming from a woman Everly’s age was a little crazy.
“You ready for another burger?” Gage asked, stopping by their table with an enormous tray of food from the grill. Tall with dark hair and brown eyes, the SWAT commander was older than Alex and almost as handsome. “Maybe some ribs?”
Lacey smiled. “No, thanks. I’m stuffed.”
Gage pointed at one of the smaller burgers on the tray—at least compared to the others. “You sure? How about this one?” His mouth quirked. “It’s tiny, like Alex’s brain.”
She laughed, unable to help herself. She was tempted—the guys made amazing burgers—but she really was full. It was cool that the senior people on the SWAT team—Gage, Xander, and Mike—were running the grills and serving the food. Alex hadn’t been kidding when he said the SWAT team was like one big family, right down to the ribbing and insults. It was also pretty awesome that their definition of the word family included significant others and friends. The group of people filling the party tent tonight was broad and diverse, and they all made her feel welcome.
“I’m so glad you asked me to come to the party,” Lacey said softly to Alex after his boss had moved to the next table. “I’m having fun.”
While she’d agreed to go out again with Alex, there’d been a part of her a little worried about showing up at an engagement party for a couple she’d never even met. What if they didn’t feel like including a complete stranger in their special evening? But Alex had promised Everly and Cooper weren’t like that, and she’d be more than welcome at the party. Then he’d gone one step further to make sure she’d be relaxed at the party, telling her she should bring Leo so her dog could hang out with Tuffie and run around the big, wide-open compound.
That had turned out to be a wonderful idea, except now Tuffie was leading Leo around from table to table, apparently teaching him how to beg for scraps. She could totally see him giving her that sad puppy face every time she and Kelsey ordered pizza from now on.
“I’m glad you agreed to come,” Alex whispered in her ear.
As his warm breath brushed across the sensitive skin of her neck, her heart began to beat faster, and she bit her lip. It took everything she had to keep from leaning into his body. The desire to feel his lips on her neck was so intense, it was scary. What the heck was wrong with her? Since when did she go all X-rated over a man’s warm breath on her neck?
Fortunately, Alex pulled back before she embarrassed herself. His face betrayed nothing as he turned to listen to something another SWAT cop named Remy was saying on the other side of the table, like he didn’t notice the effect he had on her. But then a little smile flitted briefly across his lips, indicating he had a perfectly good idea what he was doing to her. Once again, she reminded herself that she needed to be careful around this guy. He was dangerous—to her self-control if nothing else.
“Are you coming to the wedding?”
Lacey glanced up to see Jayna Winston regarding her with interest. Like Everly, the blond woman was close to her age, and Lacey had immediately felt comfortable around her. Also like Everly, Jayna was a bit crazy. She was currently living with Becker—another of Alex’s hunky coworkers—and five of their friends in a single loft apartment. It sounded more like a frat house to Lacey. Jayna was definitely a lot bolder than she could ever be, that was for sure.
Beside Lacey, Alex was looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Jayna’s innocent-sounding question suddenly took on a lot more weight. How was Lacey supposed to answer a question like that? She and Alex had only known each other barely more than a week, and this was only their second date. She didn’t even know if they’d still be dating by the time Everly and Cooper got married.
She had to say something, though.
“I’m not sure,” she said to Jayna. “I mean, I just met Everly and Cooper tonight. I’m sure the wedding invitations have already been sent out, and I wouldn’t want to cause a problem with seating charts, catering, and stuff.”
She was silently congratulating herself on such a diplomatic answer until Remy laughed.
“Alex, I think Lacey is trying to hedge her bets in case you turn out to be a dud and she dumps you before Cooper and Everly get married.”
Lacey’s jaw dropped, but Alex just laughed.
“I told you she was smart,” he said.
Jayna made a face. “Don’t pay attention to those two. They’re constantly nipping at each other. You don’t have to decide about the wedding right away. It’s going to be a really low-key affair, so there will be plenty of space for last-minute friends. If you haven’t grown tired of Alex by then, you’re more than welcome to come. In fact, you’re still invited even if you’ve smartened up and figured out that he’s a soup sandwich.”
“Soup sandwich? Now who’s nipping?” Remy drawled.
Lacey couldn’t help but laugh. Alex’s friends were amazing. She felt more at home with them than she did with people she’d known for years. Of course, she’d never go to Cooper and Everly’s wedding if things didn’t work out with Alex, but it was nice to feel welcome.
They spent the remainder of the night moving from table to table, meeting the rest of Alex’s coworkers as well as the other people at the party. She tried hard to remember each of his teammate’s names, but after a while, she gave up. There were way too many of them. She sure as heck noticed they were all dangerously good looking, not to mention muscular. While Alex was definitely the most handsome, his teammates were certainly nothing to sneeze at. It made her wonder what it was about SWAT that attracted so many hot guys. They were all so charming too. She couldn’t remember ever having such a good time simply talking.
As the evening wore on—and Alex’s glances became hungrier—Lacey found herself thinking more about the kisses at her place after their date on Sunday night. If she were lucky, Kelsey would be out with her friends when Alex took her home, and they could pick up where they’d left off after their first date.
When the party wound down a little after ten, she and Alex helped clean up in spite of Gage and his wife’s complaints. The hardest part of the night turned out to be collecting Leo so they could head home. Her dog flat-out didn’t want to leave Tuffie.
“I promise you and Tuffie can have lots of play dates,” Alex said as he crouched down in front of Leo and affectionately ran his hand over the dog’s head. “All you have to do is convince your mom to keep seeing me, and I’ll hook you up.”
Lacey folded her arms with a laugh. “Now you’re trying to blackmail my dog into supporting your dastardly schemes?”
Alex flashed her a grin. “A desperate man does what he has to,” he said, repeating the same line he’d dropped on her at the end of their date the other night.
She didn’t believe it any more now than she had then.
