A Little Harmless Fantasy(33)

Rory rolled his eyes, but Zeke understood. Conner and Maura were closer than most siblings because of what they had been through, and with the age difference, Conner looked at her more like a daughter.

“Don’t worry, Conner,” Zeke said, after catching his eye.

Jillian laughed. “That’s like trying to tell the world to stop spinning.”

They headed out the door to the Jeep. He slipped into the driver’s seat and stared at his friend. He had been happy that Conner finally found a woman tough enough for him, who wouldn’t take any of his shit. But, now, seeing Conner with his arm around Jillian, he felt a tug of jealousy. He wanted nothing but happiness for his friend, but he wanted some of that himself. Zeke had never thought he would be the home and hearth kind of guy, but now, he wanted it. More than anything he would like to find some middle ground with Maura and Rory. Maybe, this week would allow them to find it.

He sighed and pushed those thoughts aside. He had to live one day at a time right now and worry later.

Once they were out on Kam Highway, Rory asked, “Do you think we need to stop for food?”

“No,” Maura said. “Jillian told me she got the essentials. We can go out later and pick up particular things we want.”

“I thought you would want to get out on the beach,” Rory said.

She laughed. “If I wanted to spend more time on the beach, I could do that in Miami, although I do prefer the beaches here. No, I like the nighttime here. There is something about the way the air feels on your skin here at night. Plus, why would I want to hang out on a beach? I have two very sexy men who have decided to make me their play toy for a week. I would be an idiot to want to spend more time on the beach.”

Zeke smiled as he glanced up in the mirror. He could tell that Maura had stunned Rory a bit, but that was a given with Maura. She was very open. She had secrets, but Zeke understood that she would never play coy with them. She had accepted their terms and she saw no need to pretend.

“Why indeed?” he asked and gunned the Jeep. The sooner they got to the house the better in his opinion.

It only took them twenty minutes to get to the estate where they were staying.

“Why doesn’t your brother have something like this? He can definitely afford it.” Rory asked.

Maura smiled. “Jillian is a creature of habit. She doesn’t really like change and has that temperamental writer personality. It doesn’t show up that often, but man, does it rear its ugly head when you change her home base. I think he might be planning to add on. She owns all that land down to the beach.”

Zeke laughed. “Did he clear that with her?”

“No. He knows how to handle her. He’ll reveal it in stages.” She shrugged. “He understands her and she understands him. He’s so happy with her.”

Zeke unlocked the door and they stepped into the foyer. It was a fantastic house, one with a view and he knew to buy it, several million dollars would have to be plunked down on it just for the down payment. He didn’t even want to know what Conner had paid for the week.

“I forgot just how freaking big this place was,” Rory said. He glanced at Zeke. He knew they were both remembering the little flat where Zeke’s mother had raised them. It would have fit in the living room of this house. Hell, there were times in their careers they had both slept in the street thanks to the work they were doing at the time. Never would he have thought they would make it to some place like this.

“God, it feels good to just be here. I can’t wait to get my clothes changed,” Rory said.

She collapsed on the couch and smiled up at them. “I’m assuming we’ll be able to use the master bedroom. It has a California King in it.”

“Let me guess, you called dibs on it,” Zeke said with a chuckle.

“But of course. He was spending every night over at Jillian’s anyway. Her cousin and his husband stayed here with us though. They were so damned sweet. Newlyweds. So, what was I saying?”

“That there is a California king in it, so we can fit in it,” Rory said.

“Sounds good.”

“We probably should have stopped off for some food. I think there might be milk, but now that I think about it, Jillian’s idea of staples is coffee, creamer and cold pizza. A Whole Foods just opened up over here.”

She smiled when she said it and Rory gave him a look. Zeke smiled. “Give it up, babe. Either we go for coffee now or we go later.”

She bounced off the couch. “Great. I’m going to go freshen up.”

She gave them both a kiss and then dashed up the stairs.

“Does she do this a lot?” Rory asked as he followed him out to the Jeep.