‘em I’d try to make it.” He grinned. “It’s always hit and miss with Dad and the grill. I’d rather see him keep his eyebrows tonight.”
She laughed. Such a good guy. She still couldn’t believe his girlfriend had cheated on him. In another life, Ash might have considered letting Jen set her up with Lucas, the way she’d been trying to since about the second week the two of them had lived together. Ridiculously tall, seriously built, and sweet down to the core – what woman in her right mind would cheat on someone like that?
Ash straightened the tables in both corners of the porch roof as Lucas planted a kiss goodbye on the top of her head. Guess you never really knew the thoughts in people’s heads. Secrets hid, lies grew, and sometimes the very people you thought you knew best were the ones burying their knives in your back. Or their hearts in someone else’s.
She shook away the thought. Not tonight. No sadness, and no regret. She glanced into the street below. A few cars already lined the curb in front of the house, and the sun hadn’t even begun to set. Apparently, thanks to Eddie, half of Paradise had been invited to their housewarming party.
A few minutes later, he poked his head through the window, looking out from the kitchen. “Ash? Everything good out here?”
“I think so.” She and Jen had spent most of the afternoon decorating. Now red, white, and blue lights twisted themselves around the porch railing. Flags perched in buckets of ice, while picnic benches and tables bowed under piles of food and soft drinks.
“Jen’s brother’s not staying?”
She shook her head.
Eddie rested both arms on the sill. “Seems like a nice guy.”
“He is.”
“You and he ever…” He didn’t finish the question, but she read the look on his face.
“Me and Lucas? God, no. He’s like – I mean, he’s Jen’s little brother.”
“So?”
“So nothing.” She propped one hand on a hip. “Are you jealous?”
“Nope. Just curious.”
She grabbed a handful of ice from the nearest cooler and tossed it in his direction. “Whatever.”
“I’m gonna run out and get the beer,” he said. He picked up a few slivers of ice, already melting, and palmed them. “Like it wet, huh?”
Ash turned away before the blush spread across her face. “You wish.” She wrestled with the cooler, trying to drag it to the other end of the porch, and ended up dumping half the ice onto her feet.
Behind her, Eddie laughed as he retreated from the window. “As I was saying.”
“Shut up,” she said, but she started to laugh herself.
Jen looked over from the far corner of the porch, where she was arranging napkins and silverware. “So when are the two of you going to stop playing this game?”
Ash gave up on the cooler and left it where it was. “What game?”
“Please. That guy has been up here five times today. He’s called you twice. Why don’t you just sleep with him and get it over with?” Jen dropped the last stack of napkins into place.
“God, Jen, everything does not always have to be about sex.”
Jen smirked. “Okay, fine. Don’t sleep with him. But why don’t you at least go out with him? See a movie or something. Spend a little time playing doctor after work. He’s seriously gorgeous. And single, right? What the hell are you waiting for?”
Ash tried not to smile, tried not to reveal that she’d let some of the same thoughts drift across her mind the last few weeks. “It’s not like that with me and Eddie. We’re just friends. Housemates. He’s not really my type, anyway,” she lied.
“Right.” Jen’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Good looking, good job, monster biceps, funny—not your type at all.”
“Anyway, I think he’s involved with someone,” Ash added.
“Who?”
“I don’t know. But he’s always got a girl down there.” Except when he’s up here with me, watching a ball game or having a beer or…Ash shook her head. Eddie West was Paradise’s playboy. Didn’t matter that he happened to be her housemate as well. He loved women, in any variety and any package, and the more the better, from what she’d observed. Just about everyone in town seemed to know it, and she’d be better off remembering that.
“Come on,” she said, ignoring Jen’s gaze. “Let’s start making the appetizers.”
* * *
By nine o’clock, nearly everyone had arrived, and most of the guests had moved out onto the roof. The party was in full swing, with classic rock pouring out of