On the Run (Whispering Key #2) - May Archer Page 0,11

significantly, and my eyes slid in that direction. I bit my lip. The guy was really good-looking. Small and slender, with high cheekbones and a tip-tilted nose, and I was a sucker for a man with intelligent eyes… but I didn’t feel any kind of connection to him.

Not a single whisper from the Universe.

Dead radio silence.

“No,” I whisper-hissed. “I told you, I’m not into Silvio. For real, for real. And you’re making it sound like some weird Bachelor thing, where I meet a bunch of gay dudes and pick one lucky guy to fall for.” I made a fake-vomit noise.

“I mean—”

“Plus,” I continued in that same voice, “recall please that even if I somehow lost my mind and agreed, I don’t own a house where I can throw a party! Dad’s house is under construction, so is Fenn and Mason’s, and yours is gonna be full since Dad and Gloria are staying there. The more I think about it, the worse this sounds.” I tried to adopt his authoritative tone, but it didn’t seem to work.

“What if you have the party at Mason and Fenn’s! They gave you the key.”

I tilted my head to one side. “Because I’m staying there to keep an eye on the contractors while they’re out of town and so I don’t have to pile into your house while Dad’s house is getting fixed, not so I can have a party.”

“Or maybe it’s because it’s destiny!” Rafe said excitedly. “You can have the party in the yard by the pool.”

“No, I could not.”

“Wait, I know! You can make it a surprise for them, for the day they get home! A ‘Congrats on Shacking Up’ party, to celebrate them cohabitating—”

“Think they call that a housewarmin’. I’m down!” Dale shouted so loudly that people on both sides of him flinched.

“The man has superhuman hearing,” Rafe muttered.

Dale yelled out to the bar in general, “I got a friend who makes toilet covers outta seashells and resin! Doc Mason’ll love ’em. Really liven their place up. Who wants to go in on a set with me for the housewarmin’ party?”

“Me ’n’ Tammy,” Mac Horne pronounced from the corner where he and a bunch of other bikers had congregated. “The Stallions MC’ll bring a keg to the party. Doc Mason was real helpful when Bobo burned his leg the other week.”

A blond guy wearing a patch on his leather vest that read “Bobo” lifted a beer in salute, and a couple of brothers made noises of agreement.

“I can bring a pasta salad!” Lorenna McKetcham called from a table just behind us. I turned to find the rest of the Mahjong Society nodding excitedly. “And Bernie’ll do her thing with her ambrosia! And Sosie makes a punch so strong you’ll be giving us ladies a second look, Beale!” She lowered her voice and added as an aside, “Not really, Sosie. Sexuality doesn’t work like that, so don’t get all excited.” In her loud voice, she said, “D’you know if they’re registered anywhere, boys? Or maybe I’ll just make them a condom wreath! Those are always a hit. But get back to me, okay?”

I gave her a taut smile and raised an eyebrow at Rafe, who grimaced.

There was no such thing as a small, intimate gathering on Whispering Key. If there was a party, the whole circus showed up.

“Silvio!” Dale called. “You down for Beale’s party?”

I widened my eyes and shook my head vehemently at Rafe, demanding that he do something about it, but he shrugged.

“Party?” Silvio asked. He looked up from the drinks he was prepping and gave me a quick smile before disappearing to the other end of the bar. “I’d love to.”

“I’ll make sure you’re added to the Facebook group,” Dale told him with a nod. “Hey, Mac, you boys got a Facebook?” He hopped off his stool to go plan a nonexistent party with a bunch of bikers, and I ran a hand over my face with a groan.

“You need to make this stop, Rafe.”

“Or maybe you need to go with the flow,” he countered.

I peered at him. “Who are you, and what have you done with my control-freak brother?”

“Come on. Isn’t your whole Universe-thing about being open to possibilities? To finding your soul mate?”

I shook my head. “Don’t joke about that.”

My soul mate, when he found me, was going to be sweet and, I imagined, a little shy. Possibly, but not necessarily, a virgin like me. Almost definitely a Capricorn, to be compatible with my Virgo traits. The