Page 68 of On The Beach

"Ooh, do tell. This is juicier than what's going on in the halls of the Senate." Darcy's beat was the United States Senate, which was a shitshow these days.

The couple with Belle was now watching us unabashedly, and Belle looked even more pissed than usual.

"I wish she'd stop being so angry with me." I drank some of the Chardonnay that we'd ordered as we were both planning on eating the Bouillabaisse.

"She's not angry; she's jealous," Darcy said, amused. She leaned into me and kissed my cheek.

"What the fuck, D?"

"Oh, yes, absolutely jealous."

"We'renotin high school." I arched an eyebrow. "Jealous? Really?"

"Like a green-eyed monster humping a green dragon."

"I don't even know what that means, except…maybe I finally found a chip in that lab coat of hers."

"I think you should strike the iron when it's hot."

"Darcy.” I smirked. “Hold on to that thought." I got up and weaved through the tables toward my quarry. Belle's expression stayed flat, but her companions were smiling, blatant curiosity in their eyes.

"Belle," I said, stopping just beside their table and offering my most charming grin. "Imagine running into you here, Babycakes."

"Babycakes?" the woman next to her, who I now suspected was her sister, repeated with a chuckle.

Her eyebrows lifted, irritation swarming across her face. "Cambridge is smaller than you'd think, and I want you tostop calling me Babycakes," she declared flatly, her voice all business.

Her companions, though, were eyeing me with open interest. The woman extended a hand. "Anna Volnay," she introduced, giving me a warm smile. "Belle's sister."

"Dr. Augustus," the man chimed in, extending his hand, too. "I've read some of your work. Dan Langston, I'm married to Anna."

I shook his hand, nodding as I registered his name. "Pleasure." I scanned my memory files. "Dr. Dan Langston? Are you the head of neurosurgery at Mass Gen?"

"I am. And my wife is a pediatric surgeon." He slid an arm around Anna. "But the star of our family is Belle."

"He's lying. They all think I'm thelesserdoctor." Belle gave her brother-in-law a dirty look. "My parents are also surgeons."

"Oh please, we all think you're saving the world while we're struggling to make a difference one patient at a time," Anna quipped. "May I call you Captain Mick?"

She was flirting with me, and I flirted right back. "Dr. Volnay, you can call me anything you want."

"Oh my." She put a hand on her heart and looked at Dan. "I told you, he's perfect."

"For?" I inquired.

"No," Belle groaned.

"For when we decide to have a threesome," Anna explained eagerly.

If I'd been drinking anything, I'd have choked on it.

"I mean, we'renotpropositioning you," Dan said seriously, "Are we, Anna?"

Belle dropped her face in her hands. "God! Kill me now."

"You said he gave you three orgasms in one night," Anna protested. "And he looks likethis." She waved a hand from my neck down, focusing on my crotch. This whole family, I decided was nuts. I could see where Belle got her quirkinessfrom. The serious scientist was for lab purposes only—outside of the lab, though she didn't get out much, she was surrounded by a sister and brother-in-law who openly talked about threesomes.

"Since it appears that you haven't had a menage before, I feel it's my responsibility to tell you that they're not as fun as you think they'd be." I was going to enjoy the hell out of this. I waved at Darcy, asking her to join us. I pulled a chair and sat down. "I think this discussion requires wine."

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