Page 15 of Friends With Benefits

“Hi.” She popped into the SUV beside him. Her unique scent, exotic and flowery, filled his vehicle.

“What’s that?” Mitch eyed the huge covered bowl she held on her lap as he put the vehicle into gear.

“Pasta salad. My contribution to the dinner.”

“Okay,” he said doubtfully. “Let me have a look at that bowl so I remember not to eat from it.”

“Hey! I make a great pasta salad!”

He grinned. “Didn’t you poison someone with your pasta salad once? On that picnic we had in the mountains?”

“That was not my fault,” she said. “I bought that salad at the deli. I did not make it.”

He still smiled, eyes on the road as he drove to Kerri’s parents’ home. He’d met them often over the years, and he liked visiting them. They made up for his own dysfunctional family, who, thankfully, lived far enough away that he didn’t have to visit very often. His father, the poor sap, in the process of divorcing his fourth wife, lived in San Diego, and his mother had moved to Florida. She had never remarried, instead dated an endless series of boyfriends. Much better.

“Mitchell!” Kerri’s mother, Angela Harris, put her hands on his shoulders and kissed his cheek.

He smiled as he said hello. “You look as gorgeous as ever.”

She grinned. “You charmer, you.”

“Hey, hands off my wife.” Scott Harris walked into the kitchen. He too smiled at Mitch.

Mitch jumped back and lifted his hands in the air, feigning nervousness at being caught with Scott’s wife.

“I’m so glad you could come,” Angela said, taking the big bowl from Kerri. “We haven’t seen you for so long. You must be busy at work.”

“Yeah. It’s crazy.”

“Tell me what you’re working on now,” Scott said. “You were starting to do some mediation work last time you were here. How’s that going?”

“Pretty good, actually.”

Scott handed him a beer without even asking and Mitch accepted it with a smile. The two men moved out the French doors onto the expansive deck that overlooked the swimming pool in the back yard.

“I like him,” Angela said with a sigh. “You should marry him, Kerri.”

Kerri laughed out loud. “Mom, you know we’re just friends.”

“I know.” She sighed again. “But he’s such a nice boy.”

“He’s not exactly a boy. He’s thirty-one. And anyway, he doesn’t believe in marriage.”

“Well, I guess that’s not surprising, with those parents. But he’ll get married one day. Then what will you do? His wife won’t want you inviting her husband over for dinner with us.”

“He can bring his wife.” Kerri shrugged, helping herself to a spiced olive from the bowl on the counter. She frowned a little though, trying to imagine Mitch bringing a girl to her parents’ home. That would be kind of weird. Oh yeah, he’d brought whatshername…with the funny name…Dakotah. They’d gone out for quite a while near the end of college and they’d come to a graduation party Kerri’s parents had hosted. Whatever.

“Need any help in here?” she asked her mother, knowing she’d say no, then wandered out onto the deck to sit with her dad and Mitch.

“Sounds like you’re not getting a lot of satisfaction from your work lately,” Scott commented. Mitch nodded slowly and Kerri frowned again.

She’d been so wrapped up in her own selfish needs she hadn’t really talked to Mitch about his work for weeks. And usually she loved to hear about it. His intelligence and knowledge always impressed her.

“You’re a smart guy,” Scott continued. “Smart enough to figure out what you need to do to change things around.”

Mitch tipped his head to one side, as if considering that.

Both men looked up and smiled at Kerri as she came out onto the deck.

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