wink.
“Hey, buddy. We haven’t done that in years, and that was just to trick the nanny.”
Cade reclaims me, jostling with Cam until I’m by his side again. He pulls out a chair for me and once we’re both seated, takes his place beside me, draping his arm along the back of my chair.
Claiming, maybe. Possessive, probably. Hot, definitely.
We give our drink orders to the waitress and order our food, all of us deciding on an array of dishes to share rather than individual servings. Really, Callie wanted everything on the menu, and being ten million months’ pregnant—okay not quite—we decided that yes, we’d love to try everything on the menu, too.
“So the ‘rents,” Cam states, leaning back in his chair. “What’s the plan?”
“What do you mean?” their sister asks, looking between Cade and Cam.
“I hadn’t told Cal about it,” Cade mutters, and all heads jerk towards him.
“Told me what?” Callie snaps.
“Mom and Dad hired an investigator to look into Abi,” Cade explains.
She gasps, her eyes darting to me. “They did that?” she whispers.
“Of course they did,” Cam retorts.
“That’s . . . that’s just freaking insane, though,” she replies, her voice almost at a shrill, crazy-pregnant-lady level.
“That’s Annabel and Cade Senior,” Jonathan remarks, taking a sip of his wine and looking around the table as if to say “you know this.”
“But Abi’s harmless,” Callie says, turning her attention to me. “Sorry, Abi. But you really are no threat to them, whatsoever.”
I grin and put my spare hand—since Cade has trapped my other one between his thighs under the table—in the air in a placating gesture. “I really don’t care much for your parents at this point, sorry to say. So feel free to let loose.”
Trying to pull my hand free—to no avail—I decide that if Cade wants it there, it’s gonna do things while it’s there. I stretch my pinky finger back and up, ever so gently stroking his balls with the tip of it. He jerks at the first touch, and I feel the heat of his glare on me as I continue listening to Callie talk. Not surprisingly, he widens his legs, letting me regain full use of my previously trapped extremity.
I tilt my head and grin wickedly at him. His narrowed eyes meet mine but soon drop to my lips. “Behave,” I mouth.
“Are you two at it again?” Cam jibes.
“You’re just jealous,” Cade retorts, and Cam just grins at him. Fuck, it’s uncanny how alike they are. Not just in looks, but personality, confidence—even the way they sit.
“So did you two ever do that? You know . . .” I lean forward and look between the two brothers, “swap?”
Cade laughs, and Cam licks his lips and smiles wickedly. “That, my dear, I’ll never tell.”
“So how did you find out about the PI?” Callie asks.
“My ex-boyfriend decided to come out of the woodwork for the first time in years and warn me.”
The hand Cade is resting on my leg tenses but relaxes when I rub my fingers over his. “It just served to push me to make a decision I was going to make anyway,” I explain.
“And you’re okay with that?” Cam asks.
“Not with what spurred it, but with the choice I made in response to it?” I turn my head to meet Cade’s eyes. “Absolutely.”
“Those assholes. They did that to Jonathan when I first started seeing him. Well . . .” Callie glances at her husband, “when we finally let them know I was involved with him, anyway.”
“It seems to be their modus operandi. Full background checks on anyone with even a remote chance of being tied to the precious Carsen name.”
“This calls for a toast then,” Jonathan announces, leaning forward to grab the bottle of champagne on the table and pouring four glasses, one each for those of us not pregnant. Showing she chose her man well, he also hands Callie her glass of sparkling water before holding up his glass. “To all of those investigated by the in-laws,” he says, shooting me a wink. “And to living our lives the way we want, without exceptions.”
“Here, here,” Cam says, and together the five of us clink glasses, a show of solidarity which I bet would have Annabel and Cade Senior losing their minds.
When Cade and Jonathan walk off arguing about who’s paying the bill, and Callie makes her tenth bathroom break—okay, maybe third—Cam shifts into the chair beside me.
“Are you okay?” he asks and my eyes widen.
“Yeah, of course.”
“No, I mean after my parents’ antics. I see