“I’ll get the fire. You get the booze,” she suggested.
“Done.”
She tossed me the keys to the car and knelt down to examine the mess her husband and my whatever-he-was had made, while I rooted around in the trunk for the ice chest full of drinks. By the time I emerged, the little pit was already engulfed in crackling flames.
“Nice,” I complimented, pulling out a fresh bottle of vodka and setting it on the table. “I don’t know what you’re going to tell Nick and James about it though. They’ll be crushed.”
She rolled her eyes to the heavens and unscrewed the cap. “I’ll tell them what I always tell them.”
“What’s that?”
“That lightning struck.”
“They won’t believe that.”
“You sure? They are out getting rocks for protection, aren’t they?”
“Right!” I said with a laugh.
Chapter 22
TWO HOURS LATER, THE four of us were sitting around the roaring campfire under a canopy of stars. One bottle of vodka had been emptied and was replaced with another, and sixteen proudly acquired stones were lined up at the base of the camp, plus a few smaller ones just in case of bears.
Nick looked at James. “How come we both fall for women who were hired by our dad’s? My dad hired Abby and I thought she was hot as hell, but I stayed away.”
“But not forever,” Abby chimed in.
“How could I stay away from you? I couldn’t. Fate simply wouldn’t have it.”
She kissed his lips.
“And James,” Nick said, “Della was hired by your father. When did you meet at the office?”
James and I looked at each other and laughed. Should we expose the truth? That we fucked the first night we met and had a twin swap. I laughed inwardly. The truth was stranger than fiction.
James stepped in with a grin. “I think we both went for women at the office because we want more than just a pretty face. Both of these women are awesome, smart, intelligent, passionate, brilliant, and inspiring. We want the whole package, and both these women deliver it.”
I held up my beer. “I second that.”
We all clanged beers and laughed.
“So, Della...” Nick’s blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight as he leaned toward me across the flames. “Tell us a little something about yourself. Don’t be shy.”
Abby smacked him. “Leave the girl alone, would you?”
I merely laughed, leaning farther back into James’s arms. The instinctual caution had worn off, and he was far more relaxed, enjoying he beloved lifelong friendship he’d told me about. Already, I liked Nick just as much as I liked his lovely wife, and I wasn’t intimidated by either of them anymore. “Well, my name Delilah Jones—” I began.
“Louder, love.” Nick gestured invitingly with his hand. “And why don’t you stand up, so we can all get a better look at you?”
“Fuck off, Nick.” James grinned, tightening his arms around me. “Leave her alone.”
Nick ignored him completely, keeping his hypnotic eyes fixed on me. “Unless, of course, you have something to hide.”
I laughed again, nestling my head in the hollow of James’s neck. There was a bite to the words, even though Nick said them with a smile, an overwhelming air of protectiveness that wasn’t entirely masked by his disarming charm.
“What do you want to know, Nick?” I answered with a grin. “And what would I possibly be trying to hide?”
“There’s really only one thing.” He lifted the bottle of liquor to his lips with a sudden sense of pragmatism. “As long as you’ve never slept with my father—”