Page 27 of Stone Promises

“I think Eli has my nose,” he says, admiring the tiny baby in his arms.

“Eli hasmynose,” Ethan shouts from the kitchen.

The front door slams shut. “You’re both crazy, he hasmynose. And he’s damn lucky because you two have beaks that belong on pelicans.”

“Kyle!” I race over to hug the youngest Stone brother. “Oh my gosh, I’ve missed you.”

“Hi, Mallory.” He holds me at arm’s length, looking me over from head to toe. “Jesus, you look incredible. I never had a teacher as hot as you in fourth grade, that’s for damn sure.”

I’m surprised he knows I teach fourth grade. But before I can ask, Chad comes up beside me, draping a possessive arm over my shoulder. “Go get your own hot teacher,” he says. “This one’s mine.” He leans down to place a kiss on the top of my head, causing goosebumps to line my arms.

Mine?He wants me to be his? His what—friend, one-night-stand, New York booty-call?

“Dinner’s ready,” Charlie calls from the kitchen.

I extract myself from Chad, happy to have an excuse to get away from him for a minute so I can breathe again. Piper, Kendra and I help Charlie carry plates of food from the kitchen to the dining room.

Dinner is surreal. I hear all about what professional football players do in the off-season. Ethan and Charlie entertain us with tales of some of the strangest cases they’ve had at their P.I. agency. Kendra regales us with stories of her most diva-like clients—minus the names, of course. She is their publicist after all. And Kyle grosses us out by telling us about the latest cadaver he got to dissect. My tales of teaching don’t even begin to hold a candle to the rest of the dinnertime chatter.

“What about you?” I ask Chad. “Do you have any funny stories to tell?”

He shakes his head. “Nope. My life is hardly interesting.”

Chad gets pelted with rolls thrown by his brothers. He takes one and rips at it with his teeth, throwing it back to Ethan and then does the same to Kyle.

“Donothave a food fight in my house, boys,” Charlie says with the conviction of a tried-and-true mother. “Play nice or I’ll cut you off.” She stands up and retrieves a bottle of wine, making her way around the table to refill all the glasses. Chad puts his hand over his glass and waves her by.

Is he doing that just for me, because he told me the other night he doesn’t drink much? Or has he really changed his ways? He’s only had one glass tonight when everyone else has had at least three. But then, who’s counting?

I should quit analyzing everything about him. Every look he gives me with those ocean-blue eyes. Every chair he pulls out for me. Every flutter of my heart when he touches me innocently.

He’s so much like the boy I remember. At my house. At the school. Tonight. He’s nothing like the movie star the press makes him out to be. Nothing like the womanizing drug-head I thought he was. In fact, he’s the kind of man I could see myself with. Then again, he is an actor. By profession, he lies to people, getting them to believe he’s something that he’s not.

Kendra slurs her words ever so slightly when she asks, “I want to hear about the missing ball.”

All eyes at the table turn to her. “Thewhat?”Ethan asks.

“It’s been driving me crazy for a few days,” she says. “I dug into it and there are some records of hospital employees violating HIPPA laws by talking about your case, so what I want to know is” —she looks at Chad— “and please don’t fire me for this, but how in the hell did you lose a testicle at the Santa Monica Pier?”

Kyle chokes on his wine, sputtering some across the table. “Oh, hell yes,” he says. “Tell them the story, bro.”

“I’m not telling shit,” Chad says, looking embarrassed as he rolls the stem of his empty wine glass between his fingers.

“I was there, I’ll tell it then,” Kyle says.

“Whatever,” Chad says, stiffening in his chair. He chews on his inner cheek. Nobody else seems to notice that he’s bothered by this. But I can read his body language. I’ve always been able to.

I look around to see that everyone is done with dinner. “Chad, I’d really like to see the view,” I say. “Will you show me the balcony?”

He looks at me and sighs. He thanks me with his eyes. He’s happy I saved him. But it’s no big deal, really, it’s what we’ve always done. Saved each other. Except for the one time when I couldn’t.

He stands up and takes my hand, leading me away from the table as Kyle begins to tell his story.

Chapter Nine

Chad

Mallory is beautiful as she leans over the railing to see the street below. I tried my best not to stare at her throughout dinner, but I couldn’t help it. I swear her eyes have gotten greener. Her hair, that was always long when we were kids, has gotten even wavier. Her breasts . . . Jesus, my dick still thinks I’m a hormonal sixteen-year-old kid.

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