Trey shook Blake's hand and smiled at Jill who was sitting further from him. "It looks like you guys ordered the best dishes they have here," he said conversationally. "Good choices."
"I know," Sam said with a sigh. "But I ate too much again."
"Me, too," Jill lamented.
"Well, I needed that after my heavy workout this morning," Kris said casually.
"You call that heavy?" Blake chimed in, grinning at Kris. "Wait till you see what else is in store for you."
Kris arched her eyebrows at Blake. "If you make the right decision," she said to the man.
Blake laughed in response.
Trey swallowed involuntarily as he felt heat spread to his face. Hell, he didn't like that exchange at all. What did that mean?
"Well, I'll leave you guys to it," he blurted out uncomfortably, not knowing what else to say that would be appropriate for the setting. "See you," he said, touching Kris' arm for a second before walking away.
"See you, Trey," everyone responded.
*
He joined his mother and sister who were waiting patiently for him near the door.
"Who were they?" Rebecca asked.
"Two of the girls are friends with Dylan's girlfriend and Kane's wife."
"So what happened?" Rebecca queried as they walked out.
"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown.
"Well, you look…I don't know…mad." Rebecca leaned closer to him. "As mad as you were that we had to have lunch with Mum," she whispered in his ear. Fortunately, their mother was on the phone and wasn't listening to them.
He snickered. "It was nothing. You're giving Mum a lift home, right?" He was keen to change the subject.
"Yes," Rebecca answered without enthusiasm.
He patted his sister's shoulder in compassion, knowing their mother would put Rebecca's love life—or lack of it—under the spotlight once they were alone in the car.
"Do you want to spend the rest of the afternoon with me?" Rebecca asked imploringly. "We haven't hung around together in weeks."
"Nice try, Bec," he said at his sister's attempt to avoid being alone with their mother. "But even if I wanted to, I can't. Work's really busy. I even asked Dylan and Adam not to contact me this afternoon unless it's urgent."
That was the truth, although he knew he would struggle to concentrate. All he could think about was the night he would soon be spending with Kris.
*******
"Hi." Trey greeted Kris with a soft peck on the lips as she opened the door for him.
"Hey! I told Sam you're accompanying me to places where I can pick up a man. Kissing me on the lips would make her think I found my fling partner."
"Well, you have, haven't you?" he asked, giving her his best sexy smile.
Kris' lips tugged into her version of sexy. "Are you up for the job? I can be very demanding."
"Since we're fling partners, if you can demand, so can I," he informed her.
"Oh? What would you be demanding of me? That I be at your beck and call?" she teased.
"That's got a nice ring to it."
Kris laughed. "Well, I'm giving you fair warning that since you look like you're going to make me work hard, I expect double the effort from you when it comes to your dance lessons. Speaking of which...We should head off so we can start as soon as possible."
He groaned, although curiously, the idea of dancing didn't hold the same level of distaste as it used to. Maybe it was all psychological, after all. "Okay, let's go."
"Let me say goodbye to Sam first," Kris said.
"What's she doing tonight?"
"She's helping Ari pack for the move to Dylan's on Saturday," Kris responded as she walked to the bottom of the stairs. "Sam? Trey and I are going!"
Sam came walking down the stairs. "Hi, Trey. Where are you taking my cousin tonight?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Sam. It has to be a secret in case you get panicky and turn up there to look for her. You'd cramp her style," he teased.
"I'm going to trust you, Trey Andrews," Sam said, wagging a finger at him. "Make sure whomever she ends up with tonight is—"
"Healthy. We know, we know," Kris said, her eyes twinkling. "You make me feel like a teenager, Sammy. Why are you so worried? You're not usually this bad."
"Because when you had your two one-night stands in the past, they were with guys you'd carefully picked from a bunch of decent acquaintances. You've never done it before with a total stranger!"
"Don't worry, please. Trey will look after me. Have fun with Ari tonight. Tell her I'll make it up to her by helping her tomorrow."
"Yeah, don't worry about her, Sam. I'll make sure she ends up with the right man for the job," Trey said teasingly, curiously feeling privileged—or was it elated?—at the thought that Kris picked him when she seemed quite selective with sexual partners.