“They’re called Precious Moments,” Finn replied. “And yes, they are as creepy as they sound.”
“Well, the shark stuff is no different. Mandy is just more … adventurous.”
“I think you mean odd and bossy,” Grady supplied.
“Are you saying Sophie doesn’t have a few quirks?” James asked.
“She’s got quirks,” Grady conceded. “They just don’t include things. She doesn’t collect anything. In fact, she hates clutter.”
“So, what is her quirk?”
Grady glanced around, like he was making sure they were really alone before he admitted his girlfriend’s darkest secret. “It’s more like she has quirks of behavior,” Grady said. “For example, she likes to watch CNN – we’re talking hours of news coverage here – and while she does it, she likes to clip articles out of the newspaper and glue them in a scrapbook.”
“Well, she’s good at her job,” Finn said. “That makes sense that she would be so … diligent.”
“Yeah, but she leaves little slivers of paper all over the house – and then she doesn’t clean them up,” Grady said. “She’s kind of a pig. I do all the housework. And the cooking. And the laundry, now that I think of it.”
“What did she do before she met you?” James asked.
“According to her, she just bought new underwear whenever she ran out,” Grady said.
Finn barked out a laugh. “Emma is exactly the opposite,” he said. “She’s a neat freak. She loves to clean. She ties her hair away from her face with a bandana and really gets into it. I think it’s kind of cute. She gets little grease smudges and stuff on her nose. She’s dirtier than the apartment when she’s done.”
Emma and Finn had only been dating for three months, so he was still in the honeymoon portion of the relationship. There was nothing about the buxom model he didn’t like, which bordered on irksome for his brothers whenever he extolled her virtues for hours on end.
“It won’t always be that cute,” James cautioned, speaking from experience. “I thought Mandy’s fascination with sharks was cute, too. I’ve now seen Jaws so many times I know all of the dialogue. It’s not cute anymore.”
“You feed into it, though,” Grady said. “You bribe her with shark stuff so you can get your way.”
“I don’t bribe her,” James countered. “I … reward her.”
“Is that what you’re calling it?”
“Don’t judge me,” James said, pulling a beer from the case on the counter. “I like to see her smile. The shark movies make her smile.”
“I think you’re just a softy at heart,” Finn teased.
“Says the man who thinks Emma being filthy is cute,” James shot back.
“Hey, don’t rain on my parade,” Finn said. “She’s been unhappy for so long, if she gets joy from cleaning the stove once a week, I’m not going to argue with her.”
James slipped into silence. Emma had been through the wringer. As the daughter of an infamous child molester, Emma’s existence prior to Finn’s introduction into her life had been sad and depressed.
“I was actually joking,” James said. “I didn’t mean to … .”
Finn waved off James’ apology. “I know. I shouldn’t have jumped all over you.”
“It’s okay,” James said. “Women will drive you crazy. It’s what they’re good at.”
“That’s definitely the truth,” Grady said, stowing the last of the beers in the refrigerator. “How about we play some pool until the fight starts?”
“You already ordered it, right?” Finn asked.
“Yeah,” James said. “It won’t start until nine or so – probably later. You know how that stuff goes.”
“Pool it is,” Finn said. “What does the winner get?”
James considered the question. They’d always turned simple pool nights into competitive ventures. “The winner gets a three-day weekend next week,” James said. “They get Friday off – with pay. Which means, if I win – which I will – one of you two has to balance the books next week.”
Grady and Finn exchanged excited looks. “Deal,” they said in unison.
They’d managed to get three games under their belts – everyone claiming a victory – when the door to the apartment opened. The woman who rushed inside was blonde and thin. At only five feet, five inches in height, she was also slight in stature. Her blue eyes widened in surprise when she saw what was going on inside of the apartment.