table, but it might be more fun if we put a blanket on the living room floor and have a picnic. We can pretend we’re on the beach.”
“That sounds great,” Madigan said, and the others agreed.
Chloe was heading into the other room to get a blanket when the doorbell rang. “Who else said they were coming?” she asked, circling back to answer it. She pulled open the door and found Justin, looking hot and delicious in faded jeans and a white T-shirt. His eyes blazed down her body, leaving goose bumps in their wake.
“Holy hell, gorgeous.” He hauled her into his arms and kissed her so thoroughly, she came away dizzy.
“What was that?” Steph exclaimed, hurrying over to the doorway with the others on her heels.
“The hottest kiss I’ve ever seen,” Daphne said.
“They’re together now,” Madigan said, jerking Chloe from her lust-filled reverie. “We caught them making out in the parking lot last night.”
“Justin, what are you doing here?” Chloe asked as two more trucks pulled into the driveway and three guys piled out. “I told you not to crash the meeting.” She had needed that kiss so badly after thinking about him all day—she should probably thank him instead of asking why he was there. She had a fleeting thought wondering whether that kiss made her like her mother, but she quickly nixed it. Justin was nothing like the awful men her mother dated, and she was nothing like her mother. She was allowed to be happy with a good man.
“Wait a second! Is Chloe Uptown Girl?” Starr asked.
“Yes,” Madigan said with a nod.
Everyone looked surprised and happy, and Chloe was sure she did, too. “I am Uptown Girl, but I’d rather be known as Justin’s girl.”
There was an outpouring of agreement from the girls as Justin pulled her into his arms and said, “My girl, Maverick’s old lady, Uptown Girl. I don’t care as long as you’re mine.”
Her heart stumbled at the emotions swimming in his eyes.
“I’m not crashing your meeting, babe,” he said softly. “I figured my girl would want to put her toes in the sand at her luau, so I brought the beach to you.”
Chloe had no idea what he meant, but the idea of him even wanting to do something special for her made her all mushy inside. She saw Tank and Blaine coming up the walk in the pouring rain, pushing wheelbarrows piled high with something she couldn’t make out. Behind them, Zeke and Zander had their arms full of more indistinguishable items. The girls looked as confused as she was. “I don’t understand.”
Justin took her hand and said, “We have a lot of years of you not having the parties you deserved to make up for, and from now on I’m going to make sure every single event is better than the last. Starting right now. We’re going to set up a beach for your luau.”
She was speechless.
Daphne nudged Chloe and said, “If you don’t marry this man, I’m going to.”
“Daphne, you just climbed to the top of my favorite person list, right beside Chloe,” Justin said. He looked at the girls and said, “Okay, ladies, we’re moving this party to the screened-in porch out back. If you clear off the tables, we’ll take care of the rest.”
Chloe helped the girls clear the tables, watching in shock as Zeke and Zander set out tarps on her back porch, and then the four men poured bag after bag of sand on the tarps. Chloe and her friends talked over one another, sharing their disbelief and excitement, as the guys carried the tables, the luau hut, and all the other decorations outside. They restrung the tiki lights around the ceiling of the porch, adding more that Justin had brought with him. He’d even brought a small grated firepit and two sound machines, which played ocean sounds. Her rough and rugged biker had thought of everything. She had no idea he was such a romantic, and she felt herself opening up even more for him.
As the girls gushed over the guys’ efforts, Gracie tried to climb Blaine like a ladder. He picked her up, talking to her and tickling her belly. When he tried to put Gracie down, she lifted her knees, clinging to him with all her might.
“Oh God, here we go,” Starr said quietly. “She’s pulled up her landing gear.” The girls huddled around her.
“Too bad big girls can’t get away with that.” Marly eyed Blaine and said, “He might be the eye