A collective groan rose through the group, making Beckett smile.
Tate took another sip of his beer just as Olivia untangled herself from the firefighters Eden had invited from her station, men who’d honed in on Olivia and Quinn as soon as they’d arrived and hadn’t stopped flirting since.
Which was probably just another day in the life of Olivia and Quinn Essex. Which made Tate wonder if he wanted to tackle the bi-continental, barely-seeing-each-other-eight-months-of-the-year relationship idea.
Olivia turned away from the four firefighters still talking to her as she walked away, laughing and shaking her head. With one tray left, she scanned the porch until her gaze found Tate’s. She smiled and started directly toward him. His heart flipped, and he couldn’t stop from returning her smile.
“Yo, Donovan.” Isaac’s voice yanked Tate’s attention back to the group.
“What?”
“When are you going to Ontario?”
“I leave right after the banquet and I’ll be gone three or four weeks.” He returned to watching Olivia. “Go ahead and schedule. I’ll come if I can.”
Isaac followed his gaze. “Bro, she’s not a good bet for you.”
Grant glanced that direction, then returned his gaze to his phone with a distracted, “Unless you want to fight those brawny firefighters for her.”
“Who’s hungry?” Her gaze never left Tate’s.
“Me, me, me,” Grant said before he even looked to see what she was offering. Prying his gaze from his phone, he twisted and reached for mushrooms lining the tray. “Whatcha got here?”
“Caprese-Stuffed Garlic Butter Portobellos,” she answered.
“Oh my God,” he took one along with a napkin. “Can you come teach my wife-to-be how to cook” — his gaze jumped to Olivia’s face and he grinned — “and not tell her I said that?”
Olivia laughed and asked, “What’s this about fighting the brawny firefighters?”
Grant’s expression turned guilty, and he quickly stuffed his mouth with the mushroom so he couldn’t answer. Which made Olivia laugh.
“Tate’s thinking about—” Isaac started.
Tate kicked his shin.
“Ow,” he laughed and scooted away as he reached for a big mushroom cap from the tray, met her eyes and said quickly, “Fighting them for you.”
Tate lunged for Isaac, but he’d anticipated the move and escaped his reach. He gave Isaac an I’ll kill you later look, then darted a look at Olivia. “Sometimes they forget how old they are.”
She laughed and stepped closer to Tate. “Well, I’m glad you don’t. Because that would be a complete waste of time.” With the tray in one hand she ran her hand from his shoulder to his elbow. “You’d take them without even breaking a sweat. Besides,” she slid her free arm around Tate’s waist and leaned into his side, meeting the gazes of the men around the circle. “Tate’s already got me, hook, line and sinker.” Then she smiled up at him. “Those cocky kids aren’t worth a second thought.”
Right then and there, he knew—he was officially in love with this woman.
And what the fuck was he going to do now?
“Thanks, baby,” he murmured.
She offered the tray of appetizers to Beckett. “Can I leave these in your capable hands? I want to put some finishing touches on Lily’s cake.”
“Got it.”
She glanced around the circle, “Dinner in about twenty minutes, gentlemen.”
Then she sent one more smile Tate’s way before she swayed into the house. And Tate could hear his fuckin’ heartbeat in his ears. Christ, she’d just flipped his world upside down.
“Wait.” Grant was frowning at different members of the group. “Doesn’t she live in Paris? Dude, are you seeing her? Or is she just coming on to you?”
This was where it got dicey.