“Cassie, you remember Kade, and this is his wife, Lexie.”
A pretty woman with brown hair and light blue eyes, in a silver dress, met her gaze with a welcoming smile. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”
“Same here,” Cassie murmured.
Derek placed a supportive hand on her back. “You already know Lucas, and this is his fiancée, Maxie.”
A petite blonde with a slight baby bump leaned into Lucas’s side, smiled. “Hi.”
“Hello,” Cassie said with a smile.
“And not to state the obvious,” Derek said, “but this is Kendall, Lexie’s—”
“Twin,” the woman finished for Derek. “Hi.”
“Hello.” Cassie glanced between Lexie and Kendall, noting they were, indeed, identical. Both beautiful women, though Lexie’s eyes sparkled with happiness, while it seemed Kendall was more subdued.
“And last but not least, this is Carter McCord, Kendall’s date.” He gestured to a nice-looking man with dark hair and a beard, who stood beside Kendall.
“Blind date,” Kendall said with a brittle grin.
Cassie nodded, glad she wasn’t in that position tonight.
“Derek, I’m really looking forward to walking Oscar. Can I come by to meet him tomorrow or another day this week?” Kendall asked. Her eyes lit up at the mention of Derek’s dog.
“Sure. Let’s do tomorrow. I only have another week left with my current girl. I’d love for him to meet you sooner rather than later. Just call or text me with a heads-up before you come.”
“Great!”
“How many dogs do you walk at one time?” Cassie asked. Oscar seemed like enough of a handful.
Then again, she didn’t own a dog, much as she’d love to someday. She didn’t know how she’d handle more than one.
Kendall shrugged. “I don’t do multiple families at once. So if one of my clients has two or three dogs, I walk them together. Otherwise just one at a time.”
Before Cassie could reply, Kendall gasped, the color draining from her face.
“What’s wrong?” Lexie asked, immediately coming to her sister’s side.
“Julian’s here,” Kendall said on a horrified whisper, her gaze locked on someone across the room.
From her years covering the tech world, Cassie knew that Julian could only be Julian Dane, Lucas, Kade and Derek’s former partner. The men had a sordid history that included a lawsuit and Julian staking a claim on Blink. He’d also tried to ruin Kade’s reputation. Cassie didn’t know what Kendall’s issue with Julian Dane was, but the other woman was shaking.
“That son of a bitch,” Kade muttered. “He knows this is something our whole team attends. I can’t believe he’d show his face.” His entire body turned rigid, and he took a step in Julian’s direction.
Derek was faster, grabbing Kade and holding him back from confronting Julian and causing a scene.
“He’s not getting near Kendall,” Kade said, his anger tangible, clearly protective of his sister-in-law.
“Everyone breathe. I’ll have him escorted out,” Lucas said, heading across the room to avert trouble.
Kendall shook her head. “No. I’m an adult. I can handle being in the same room as him,” she called after Lucas.
The other man ignored her.
Kendall started to go after him, but Lexie grabbed her hand. “Let Lucas handle it.”
Kendall spun to face her twin. “I’m not sick. I’m stronger now and I know his game. I promise, you don’t have to worry about me. None of you do.”