Page 43 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

"Thanks, Trip.Although I should warn you that when I told Ari I was at your place on Friday night, she said that I could expect a full interrogation."

He laughed."That doesn't surprise me in the least, and honestly, I'm not worried."He cupped her cheek in his hand."I'm happy that we're together.I don't mind them knowing about it."

She glanced over his shoulder and smiled.He turned to follow her gaze and saw Ace and Ari had gotten out of Ace's truck and were standing there waiting for them.Ari had her hands on her hips and an expectant look on her face.

"Do you want me to jump out so that you can escape?"Shelley asked.

"No.I'll come with you.I'm not a coward."By the time they were out of the truck and had joined Ace and Ari, both Travis and Deacon had arrived, bringing Retta and Candy.Ace shot Trip an apologetic look when Ari came forward and linked her arm through Shelley's and said, "You can go now, Doctor Harvey."

Before he had the chance to reply, Travis and Retta joined them, and Travis slung his arm around Trip's shoulders as he said, "If I were you, I'd do as she says.We can probably get you out of here before they all start questioning you."

Trip caught Shelley's gaze, and she nodded.It was a strange feeling to Trip.Strange, but he liked knowing that she could hold her own and she was doing her best to save him from having to face a barrage of questions.He needed to stop comparing her to Katrina.But in this instance, he couldn't help remembering the way his ex used to look to him to be there for her all the time.That wouldn't have been so bad in itself.The trouble was the ways he tried to be there for her left him drained and they never suited her anyway.So he ended up exhaustedandgetting blamed for either not doing enough or doing it wrong.

They all turned when Libby appeared in the doorway to the restaurant and called, "Come on, ladies.I've got us a table."

Trip's heart beat a little faster when Shelley pressed a quick kiss to his lips before turning to follow the other women.

Travis spoke beside him as they watched the women go into the restaurant."You might have gotten off easy with the women, but you're going to have to face an inquisition when we get to Deacon's place."

Trip looked around at his friends."Do we really need to talk about it?Isn't it obvious?"

Deacon shrugged."I've seen all I need to."

Ace nodded his agreement."We all know that Ari will be asking enough questions for the both of us.I'll hear it all from her."

Travis met Trip's gaze and held it."I may need to do some digging, but I can wait.And what do you think?Should we all ride in one truck?"

"Yeah, I'll drive," said Deacon.

When they got back to Deacon's place, Travis claimed a spot on the end of the sofa and smiled when Deacon's cat, Clawson, greeted him with his trademark scratchy sounding meow.He stalked across the living room toward him, looking kind of grumpy, but then he jumped up onto Trip's lap and started to purr as he settled down.

"Yellow jackets for everyone?"asked Deacon.

They all nodded.It had become a tradition for them to hang out and have a beer here at Deacon's place while the women enjoyed their night out.They only had one beer a piece, though.They were each the designated driver for their respective women—and the woman didn’t show the same restraint.They were usually tipsy—or worse—by the time they were ready to go home.

When they were all settled with their beers, Trip asked, "So what's going on with everyone?"

Travis chuckled."Are you asking first so that we don't get to ask what's going on with you?"

He shrugged."Like I said earlier, I think it's obvious, isn't it?"

Travis tapped his bottle against Trip's."Yeah, I think it is.You know me.I'm just excited.I'm hoping this is going to work out for you."

Looking around at his friends, Trip could tell that Ace and Deacon were both thinking the same thing and were happy to let Travis speak for them all.He smiled."To be honest, I'm hoping it will too, but I don't know yet.You know, she's supposed to be leaving at the end of the month when the lease on her house is up.We've said that we'll play it by ear until then."

"Makes sense to me," said Deacon.

"So, what's new with you guys?"Trip asked."I'll answer any questions if you have them, but to be honest, I've done so much thinking about what might happen with Shelley, and we've done so much talking about it between the two of us, that it’d be nice to give it a rest for tonight and hear what's going on with the rest of you."

They all looked at each other, as if waiting to see who wanted to go first."I don't have too much to report," said Travis."Me and Retta are doing great.I think I've talked her into starting to make wedding plans.Apart from that, everything's moving along well on the property.Zeke’s settled in well.I asked him if he wanted to come tonight, but he's having dinner with Everly and Tanner and little Ashton."

"And Eli?"asked Ace."When's he supposed to arrive?"

"Early next week," said Travis."So, yeah, I don't have much to report, but everything's ticking along just fine."He looked at Deacon."How about you, chief?"

"We're starting to make wedding plans, too."Trip loved seeing the big smile on his friend's face.They used to tease Deacon about being grumpy, but he was a whole lot happier since he'd met Candy.

"That's great," said Ace.