“Or visits to UFO landing sites,” Cam added. “You’re a very patient man, by the way, Braden.”

“You went right along with Gabrielle on every one of her little I Love Lucy adventures, Cameron,” Braden said smiling at his cousin.

“That’s because Jessica went along on every one of those adventures,” Cameron shot back. “Fred and Ethel are officially retired now.”

“No crazy shit,” I agreed.

“Well, then as long as you two don’t get caught messing around while you’re representing The Justice Project, I’m happy. So no playing around at work or at the fundraisers.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Wait, is this going to affect your work relationship?” he went on, knitting his brows.

“Braden, the only people in the office not involved with someone else in the office, are Liz who’s married to an accountant, Bruce who’s married to a guy, and the cleaning lady, Conchita, who doesn’t speak much English,” Adam pointed out.

“What about April, the receptionist?” Cam asked.

“She’s dating the security guy that works the desk downstairs. He checks our offices at night. That counts,” Adam replied.

“Okay, but all of us keep our couple-like behavior out of the office,” he responded. “Just promise me you won’t get too intimate there.” I saw Adam take a sudden interest in a bookcase. I strongly suspected that he and Lily had christened his desk.

“It’s not an issue, Braden,” I assured him. “Your sister and I will not be having intimate relations at our place of work, or at the fundraisers that we may attend together.” Remember that I said that.

Chapter Seven

Beth

Sunday 7:00 PM

My friends and I had a Sunday night tradition. The guys got together to watch sports, and the women got together for wine, cheese, and conversation.

“So, you’re okay?” Gabrielle asked, taking a sip of chardonnay.

“Yeah, other than my pride. By the way, never laugh with a mint I your mouth.”

“You’re lucky you two didn’t get killed on the Parkway, honey,” Jess said sympathetically while spreading some cheese on a cracker.

“That Louis guy is pretty amazing,” Lily noted. “He did the Heimlich, saved Mark from becoming road kill, and then drove you to a party. Now that’s an employee.”

“Braden and I were very impressed by how well you and Mark pulled it together,” Gab said, supportively. “You both managed to maintain your dignity. Even when you were on the ground with your dress hiked up like that.” She smiled and I winced.

“Don’t worry honey, you’re undies were only showing in one of the pictures,” Jess added. “And nobody reads that paper anyway.”

“Braden noticed what a good job Mark did?” I asked. “His eye was all red and he got scraped up when Louis jumped on him, but you would have thought that nothing had happened.” I realized that I was sounding rather protective, and not just a little smitten, and my friends shared some surreptitious smiles.

“Yes, he did notice,” Gab assured me. “He said that he owed him a beer for this one, and then he said he owed him a whole case of beer.”

“Now, who was this trollop you ran into?” Jess asked, cutting in.

“Caitlin Reynolds. She’s a party girl but she’s not really a bad person. She’s just such an airhead and so self-absorbed, that it never occurs to her how offensive and annoying she may be to others.”

“She said it was at Thanksgiving that she hooked up with Mark?” Lily asked. “I remember him saying something to Adam about it.”

“You do? She was that memorable?” I put down my cracker. Suddenly, I felt ill.

“Not in a good way,” Lily replied. “He told Adam that she was so annoying he left right afterward.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Caitlin.” I picked my cracker back up.

“Oh, right, I remember now,” Gab chimed in. “The one who kept talking about Facebook and yelled out Mike when they had sex.”

“That’s definitely Caitlin.” I put the cracker down again. The image of Caitlin calling out his name depressed me, even if she got it wrong.

“That was the night we told him you two would make a good couple,” Lily said with a smile. “And he’s been infatuated with you ever since.”

“I think he’s always crushed on her,” Gab said. “Remember that weekend last summer when we were all talking about Lily’s books? Mark found it very interesting that Beth was a fan of erotic romance novels.”

“I do remember that,” Lily said. “Everyone was paying attention to you and Braden getting engaged though.”

“And you and Adam denying your obvious desire for each other,” Jess teased.

“And Cameron struggling with how he should ask you out,” Gab informed Jess.

“Wow, we’re one big lusty group of people aren’t we?” Lily laughed. “Speaking of lust, what happened after the fundraiser?”

“Uh uh,” Gab broke in, wagging her finger. “I think we should ask no detailed questions about that for now. They both need to build up their confidence.”

“Did he kiss you, honey?” Jess asked, ignoring Gabrielle. She and Mark were good friends from their public defender days.

“Oh my God, did he kiss me,” I said with a huge grin and they all broke out with cheers and catcalls. Even Gabrielle. There may have been some applause.