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CHAPTER ELEVEN

My sister flung open the front door to her apartment before I even got a chance to knock.

“How’d you do that?” I asked. “I’m fifteen minutes early.”

Cami tapped the side of her head. “Twinsense.”

“Bullshit.”

She grinned and held up her phone. “And I was tracking you, courtesy of the Finders app.”

“I feel stalked.”

“You should. Because I was stalking you.” She stepped back from the threshold so I could enter. “I’m not ready yet. Hang out in here for a minute.”

“Hey there, Cassie,” Dalton said from the kitchen table where he was playing a game of chess with his brother, Hale.

“Hi, guys,” I said, watching as Cami gave her boyfriend a quick kiss before running off to the bathroom.

Then I noticed Hale was looking at me. He winked. I laughed.

Dalton’s older brother was definitely a head turner. He had the confident presence of a man in his early thirties while managing to stick to a rather rough and tough persona. He appeared to be freshly shaven today, which was rare because usually when I saw him he favored a shaggier look. Cami only had nice things to say about him, although she admitted she wasn’t positive how he earned his way in the world. Supposedly he owned a handful of bars but the details were vague. For a little while Cami was on a mission to toss me and Hale together, always making plans for the four of us whenever he was around. But in spite of Hale’s good looks and charm there was no spark between us. He and I had a good laugh over the failed cupid quest one night and he joked, “Frankly, Cassie, I like you far too much to consider dating you.” I didn’t know what that said about the women Hale chose to spend his time with but it was none of my business. He treated my sister with a brotherly level of respect and that was all I cared about.

“Where are you ladies off to tonight?” Hale asked in his deep baritone.

“Oh it’ll be a wild night,” I said, running my hand along the back of the sofa. “First we have big plans to pig out at Pancake Buffet. Then it’s off to the big bookstore café at the mall because they have the butterscotch sodas Cami’s obsessed with.”

Hale shook his head. “You animals.”

Cami bounded back into the room. She looked excellent in a black maxi dress and big turquoise earrings. I saw Dalton’s gaze roll over her appreciatively before she swept in for one more kiss.

“I’ll be home by ten,” she told him.

Dalton nuzzled her neck. “No hurry,” he said, “but I’ll be waiting.”

Cami giggled and kissed him one more time.

“Love you,” she said.

“Love you too,” he said in return.

I waited until we were outside to say, “The two of you are so cute I have to fight my gag reflex.”

“I know,” she said, opening up the passenger door of my car. “I never thought I’d end up as part of one of those goofy couples who torments onlookers with obnoxious public displays of affection but I’m not apologizing.”

“Nor should you,” I said. “I’m glad you found your lobster.”

I wasn’t joking when I described our plans to the guys. Pancake Buffet was crowded and noisy, but then again it was Saturday night. I was happy to be out, especially with Cami. This place had always been a favorite of ours. Tonight Cami piled her plate high with a mix of blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes while I stacked up peach and old fashioned buttermilk.

We lucked into finding a table in the corner where it was possible to talk without shouting. Cami was full of exciting news about her new job.

“And the editor swears that I’ll be getting bylines all to myself in a few months. I’m in the local news department for now but I’ll put in my time and work my way up to national news where I want to be.”

“That’s great, Cams,” I said before I forked another sinful mouthful of pancakes. Cami had always been ambitious and she’d had her heart set on becoming a reporter since the days when we still played with dolls and obsessed over boy bands.

“So what’s it like working for Dad?” Cami asked.

I shrugged. “No complaints.”

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