He set her down, grinning. “You look fucking radiant.” The amazing guy he was, he instantly focused on Cleo, now half hiding behind Zahara, acting more like a seventeen-year-old in the moment. “And who’s this?”
Zahara stepped aside. “This is Chase Layton’s little sister.”
“Layton?” He glanced around the restaurant and found Chase smiling. “Bastard,” he said with a grin. “You stole my role. I’m comin’ for you, bro.”
“Anywhere, anytime,” Chase responded.
“You know my brother?” Cleo asked, amazed.
“Told you I’m not chopped liver,” Chase said.
“Your brother’s a good man,” Shaun told her. “It’s nice to meet you, Cleo.”
“I’m such a big fan,” she said, breathless.
“Thank you, sweetheart. Can I autograph something for you?”
Cleo cut a nervous look at Zahara.
“Pull a twenty from your wallet,” Zahara told him, “sign it for Cleo, and the fifty you still owe me will vanish.”
“Sold!” he said with a flourish. “I know a good deal when I hear one.”
He begged a pen from a cashier, signed the bill, and then held it up in front of them as Zahara took a picture of Shaun and Cleo together.
Chase’s sister returned to the table with the bill held against her chest, grinning like she was on cloud nine. “Oh my God,” Cleo said, looking at Chase and Zahara in turn. “Best day of my life.”
While they ate, they talked about everything from Cleo’s college plans to Tiffany’s Girl Scout troop to their father’s multiple businesses and how Peggy seemed to keep all her family’s plates in the air.
Zahara was picking at her brisket, wondering how and when and where she was going to learn the first thing about being a mother. While she’d turned out okay after being raised by a hot mess of a mother, Zahara knew plenty of kids who hadn’t.
“Not hungry, sweetheart?” Peggy asked Zahara. “You should be starving after muscling that bike around today.”
“That motorcycle chase was so cool,” Cleo said, relieving Zahara of having to work up a lie to cover for her unsettled stomach. “That part where you drove up the tree and Chase drove underneath you…” She laughed. “That was the best. I mean, how do you even drive straight up a tree?”
Zahara grinned. “Momentum.”
They all laughed.
When they’d finished dinner, a server collected their dishes and Chase pulled out the Cards Against Humanity and shuffled.
“Sweetheart,” Peggy fussed at Zahara, “you’ve hardly eaten anything. That can’t be healthy.”
“I know how to get her to eat.” Chase grinned at her, then ordered dessert from the server. “Apple pie a la mode for her,” he said pointing to Tabatha, “brownie a la mode for her,” he pointed to Cleo, “cheesecake for her,” he pointed to his mother and finally smiled at Zahara, “and anything gooey and chocolate you can find for her.”
The way the man smiled at her was all the gooeyness she needed. Zahara’s heart fluttered. Damn, she was in deep with him.
“That can’t be healthy either,” Peggy said, sitting forward, frowning with concern. She covered Zahara’s hand and squeezed it. “We can get you something else to eat if you don’t like—”
“No, no,” Zahara said. “I’m fine. Really. I had a late lunch.”
Chase broke out the cards while they waited for their dessert order and dealt. “Most famous goes first.”
He pulled a card from the deck to the groans and eye rolls of his sisters and read. “TSA guidelines now prohibit—blank—on planes.” He waited for everyone to drop a card facedown on the table, shuffled them, then read. “Crystal meth, Oompa Loompas, Grandma, and Batman.” He tapped a card with his index finger. “Oompa Loompas, for sure.”
“Yes,” Tabitha hissed, pushing a fist into the air.
A lively round of Cards Against Humanity ensued, until everyone had eaten their dessert and Zahara was fading. “Last hand for me,” she said. “I’ve got an early call tomorrow.”