Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest) - By Carly Phillips Page 0,37
smiled at his entry and gestured toward his siblings seated in the back.
On the way, he passed tables of people he’d known forever and nodded in greeting, stopping at the Barron brothers’ table, where Ethan, the oldest; Nash, their middle brother; and Dare, his officer and the youngest sibling, were eating burgers.
“Hey,” Mike said, encompassing them all with a sweep of his gaze.
Ethan rose. “Good to see you, Mike.”
“Same.” He slapped his old acquaintance on the back.
Mike and Ethan were the same age, having gone to school together, and Dare and Sam, though a couple of years apart in age, were also now close. Back in the day, Ethan ran with a troublemaking crowd, smoking, drinking, and generally raising hell until he’d gotten himself arrested, his parents died, and he’d subsequently bailed on his brothers and Serendipity for ten years. Mike’s high school friends had been tamer but no more interested in education than Ethan’s. They’d both gotten out of town and had that in common. Ethan returned to town a year or so ago, now a millionaire who developed weapons software the government paid big money to acquire.
“Heard you were a dad,” Mike said, as shocked now as he was when he’d heard the news. He shook his head. “Ethan Barron, a father.”
Both his brothers grinned. “Can you believe it?” Nash, the lawyer, asked.
“Don’t know why you’re talking. You’ve got twins,” Dare said to Nash with a chuckle.
“Jesus.” Mike broke out in a sweat but had to admit Nash looked as happy as his older brother. And Ethan, well, he appeared calmer and more grounded than he ever had. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.”
“Congratulate Faith for me, okay?”
“Why don’t you come for dinner one night and do it in person?” Ethan said.
“Uh—”
“Bring a date. I’ll have Faith give you a call and set it up.”
Mike managed a nod. “Sounds good,” he said, even if dinner with the newly minted family man had Mike itching inside the damned suit he had to wear for work.
“I’ll let you get back to your lunch,” Mike muttered, and headed toward his siblings, his mind on Ethan’s last suggestion. Bring a date.
It was a week after he’d gotten home from New York City with Cara, and Mike knew that request would be make-or-break. They’d seen each other this week at work, and, as if by mutual agreement, they hadn’t changed how they treated each other at work. No verbal or physical acknowledgment of the fact that they now had a relationship. But that didn’t stop the covert looks he gave her when nobody was looking or the heated ones she returned when she thought the same. He couldn’t help but admire the curvy body beneath the uniform or stop focusing on those bright blue eyes beneath the fringe of bangs.
Neither had had time to get together during the past week, but he’d called her at night, texted her on occasion, and found himself thinking about her at odd moments. Things he’d never bothered to do with a female before her.
Yeah, she’d gotten to him.
But going out on a real date with another couple, even at their house, meant going public, and he had no idea how Cara would feel about that. She’d made it clear she didn’t want trouble at work now or after he was gone. He understood. Yet he, the guy who didn’t do relationships, wanted people to know she belonged with him, and Ethan had given him an excuse to ask.
Sam mentioned they were going to Joe’s tonight—Sam, Cara, Dare and Liza, and the rest of their group of friends. Mike knew firsthand what happened when Cara went to Joe’s. Some guy ended up noticing and propositioning her, and that was something he wanted to avoid. Which meant it was time to talk.
“Hey, you’re late,” Erin said, tapping on her watch.
Her voice brought him out of his own head and back to his surroundings.
“We ordered for you,” she continued.
“No problem.” Mike didn’t care what he ate as long as he did. He was starving. “A phone call ran long and I stopped to catch up with Ethan Barron.” Mike settled in a chair next to Sam.
He glanced at his siblings. Since it was the middle of the week and a workday, Mike wore a suit. He’d spent the morning in meetings with the mayor—wasn’t she a pain in the ass—and then with other town officials who’d requested a face-to-face. Sam, who’d come back to work on