Page 164 of Foreplay on Words

“You ready for it?” Dorrie asked with a hint of mischief in her voice.

“Yes!” Chase agreed and sat up a little straighter in her chair.

The three of them turned around simultaneously, and I barked out a laugh. The backs of their shirts read, ‘Stone’s Snow Leopards’ in a bright pink script, surrounded by black leopard spots.

“You’re not quite old enough to be a snow leopard, Chase, but we’ll still make you an honorary member,” Hazel told her.

“Snow leopard?” I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Snow leopard, silver fox––we know we’ve still got it,” Dorrie laughed as she turned and fluttered her fingers at her Tinder boyfriend on the other side of the room. He blew a kiss back, and Hazel giggled. Oh my God. Kelly was right. Dirty old cougars!

“We would’ve liked to have a longer visit with you both, but we don’t want to hold up the line. Don’t be a stranger, Evan. We’d love to have you and Chase as guest speakers at our book club sometime,” Dorrie told us, picking up her stack of books.

“Consider it done,” Chase readily agreed. “We’ll have to catch up with you in a few months after my next book is out.”

They all waved and blew kisses, and then the mortification was done.

Miguel and Drew came to find us after the crowd thinned out, and I was already exhausted.

“We’re going to swing by the hotel to pick up the others, and then we’ll meet you at the Stineman’s,” Drew told us as they stepped in next to Chase.

“Sounds like a plan. We’ll see you there,” she nodded.

They left the shop hand in hand, climbed into a red minivan parked at the curb, and took off.

“Thanks so much, you two. Would you mind signing this pile of books before you go?” Dottie asked as she tapped a small stack of hardback copies of our book.

“No problem, Dottie. We’d be happy to. Let us know if you need anything else from us,” I nodded.

She smiled and walked back over to the register to take care of customers, and I sighed as I sat down and cracked open the first book.

“You know we can’t stall all day. There’s a house full of people you invited who are waiting for us,” Chase teased.

“But I can try,” I smirked back.

She leaned over and kissed me softly. I was terrified to meet the rest of her family, but I knew that I needed to take care of some arrangements with a few important members of our families before we left town.

Chase

Chicago

“Come to Auntie Chase,” I cooed as I held my hands out to my sister-in-law, Elle.

“She just woke up, so she might be a little surly,” she laughed.

“Oh, she’ll be fine. She loves Auntie Chase. Yes, you do, Princess.” I did not even care that I probably sounded like an idiot. My little, almost-bald niece was adorable.

Evan was still inside, with both our moms, getting food prepared. We’d been at his parent’s house for about an hour after we left the bookstore when my brothers showed up. I was out in the backyard with my older brother Ethan, his wife Elle, Kelly, and Miguel.

“I see how it is. We don’t see you for months, and the baby is all you care about,” Ethan teased with an exaggerated eye roll.

“I’m glad you’re not jealous,” I smiled over at him.

“I’ve gotten used to being ignored by now. Although most people assume I’m the nanny, not the mom, since she got the red hair,” Elle laughed.

“I love her ginger hair, but I wish she had more.” I ran my hand over the downy layer of red hair on my little niece’s head.

“So does mom. She keeps buying her these hair clips. How are we supposed to put hair clips on a kid with no hair?” Ethan laughed.

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