“How do I look?” I asked.
“Dark jeans, white shirt, sleeves rolled up.” He nodded slowly. “You look like you do every other day of the week.”
“You’re an asshole.” I left my bedroom and headed downstairs with Cody behind me. I was taking the Mercedes. The Porsche was great for zipping around in but tonight was about treating her right.
“Don’t wait up,” I told him.
He snorted. “Don’t forget a condom.”
I left him in the kitchen and went into the garage. There was an SUV big enough to haul around nine people, which we rarely used. The Porsche, Mercedes, and the Jeep for those beach excursions. Was it excessive? Probably, but we were who we were and I wasn’t going to feel bad about it.
I only felt a little ridiculous about driving next door, but it was a date and I was going to do it right. It took me less than a minute to drive from my house to hers. I climbed out of the car and walked up to the front door two minutes before seven.
I raised my hand to knock and heard a shriek followed by laughter. No one was being murdered. It was just her niece and nephew playing—I hoped. I knocked and waited, telling myself to relax. It was dinner. We’d had dinner many times before.
The door swung open and I looked down to find a small girl in colorful pajamas staring up at me. Her hair was the most spectacular disaster I had ever seen on a human being. The child’s hair and gravity were not acquainted.
“Hello,” I said.
She looked me over like she was deciding whether or not she was going to slam the door in my face. “You’re Colt.”
“I am,” I said. “And you must be River.”
She beamed, clearly thrilled I knew her name. “Aunt Summer is getting pretty.”
I laughed and stepped inside. “Aunt Summer is already pretty.”
Her face lit up. “She’s a princess.”
“I like to think of her as a mermaid.”
That really had the kid grinning. The house smelled like popcorn. There were shoes by the door and library books on the table. A stuffed unicorn lay abandoned on the floor. The home had the lived-in look of a family that was comfortable right where they were.
“River, get back here,” a young boy said. “I wasn’t done.”
A boy about nine years old was standing in the middle of the living room holding a pillow with both hands. His hair was just as wild as his sister’s. I had interrupted a pillow fight. He looked up at me and the pillow lowered slightly.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“It’s Colt, Aunt Summer’s date, remember?”
Becca appeared from down the hall carrying a laundry basket. She offered me a friendly smile. “I see they listened when I said not to open the door to strangers.”
“Sorry,” I said.
She sighed and shook her head. “Not your fault my kids don’t listen.”
“It’s good to see you,” Becca.
“You too.”
Summer came around the corner. I had picked the dress. I thought I’d had a reasonable idea of what it might look like on her. I was wrong. Not even the model in the ad I saw looked as amazing as she did.
The fabric floated around her legs when she walked. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, the way it dried naturally when she let it in those sexy beachy waves. The backless cut showed the long line of her spine and the tan that went all the way down. She looked like a goddess that walked straight out of Atlantis.
“Hi,” she said.
I nodded, trying to find words, but she left me gobsmacked. “Hi,” I managed.
