Page 55 of Personal Escort

I GO to follow Cara and her grandmother into the kitchen, but before I get far, Ben throws his arm over my shoulders and redirects me to the side porch.

“Let’s have a beer,” he says, like I have any choice in the matter.

I give him a bland look and accept the bottle he offers. “I was going to have tea with your Nana.”

“This won’t take long.”

“Elana’s already threatened to take a hit out on me should I hurt Cara, which I won’t.”

He shrugs. “Sure, that’s one way to do it. I’d rather murder you with my own two hands.”

“She’d knee-cap you for saying that, you know.” I give my best friend a patient grin.

He takes a long pull of his beer and glowers at me. “Of course I do. And I’m also happy for her, if you make her happy.”

“I think I do. She makes me ridiculously happy, by the way.”

“Of course she does.” He shakes his head. “I never should have left you alone with her in that restaurant.”

I laugh. “I swear to God, that night was the first night I looked at her like that. But honestly, I think I’ve always loved her a little. She’s so damn smart, and fearless, and adventurous.”

He gives me a reluctant half-smile. “She is all of those things. Don’t, uh…” He scrubs a hand over his jaw. “Don’t try to hang on to her too tight, you know?”

“I know. Wherever she wants to fly, I’ll follow. I’ve always had a bit of the wanderlust in me, too.”

“I guess you have.” He laughs. “Couldn’t convince you to set up shop in New York, could we?”

“Tech is in California.”

“Geography doesn’t matter anymore, though.”

I look at him carefully. “Cara’s not moving back to New York, either.”

He nods, his dark eyes both sad and proud at the same time. “I know.” He hesitates. “You’ll really follow her wherever she wants to go?”

“To the ends of the earth.”

He holds out his beer and I clink my bottle against it. “Then welcome to the family, my brother.”

Jake and his brand-new fiancée, Jana, arrive just before dinner.

Elana sweeps all the women into the living room, flicking a wrist at her brother. “Ben, you’re in charge of getting dinner on the table. Please?”

Ben laughs. “I love how you add that question at the end, like there’s even a chance you’d let me say no.”

“We have weddings to discuss,” she says regally.

“Fair enough.” He leads us into the kitchen, where Elana has a binder detailing every meal.

I run my finger over the careful notes for tonight. “Your sister is a force of nature.”

“I know. She’s thinking about running for office, too.”

“Jesus.” I laugh.

Jake leans back against the counter and crosses his arms. “I’ll donate.”

“Well, yeah, of course, count me in. And Marcus will help with her environmental platform, of course. But doesn’t she have enough on her plate?”

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