Page 19 of When Ben Loved Jace

We venture outside. Jace and Greg get out of the yellow SUV wearing puzzled expressions, although they both smile when spotting me.

“This is a nice surprise,” Jace says, walking over to give me a smooch.

Right in front of the others. Case closed. I was barking at shadows all along.

“And who might you be?” Greg asks, taking Allison’s hand and bending over as if intending to kiss it.

“Taken,” she says, swiftly pulling it free from his grasp. “My name is Allison. I’mhiswingman.”

Greg laughs. “Then we’ve got the same goal. Let me know when you’re ready to negotiate the dowry.”

Jace drapes an arm along my shoulders. “Are you staying for dinner?”

“You’ve gotta!” Greg says. “They had a sale on steaks. I bought too many. Hey, Michelle, come load me up.”

I watch him take off his jacket, revealing a sleeveless shirt. That seems a little random until Michelle does as requested and his biceps begin to bulge.

“Give meallof those twelve packs. For real. I can take it!”

Allison shoots me a knowing look after Michelle giggles. It’s obvious now. The only people they’re interested in is each other. Greg is so determined to show off that we’re not really needed, leaving me free to focus on other matters.

“Jace,” I say, “this is Allison, my lifelong best friend who just happens to be the wisest, most beautiful woman in the entire world.”

“He forgot to mention that I also have the better singing voice,” she teases when accepting Jace’s hand.

“It’s true,” I assure him, feeling emotional. “I owe her so much.”

“Oh stop,” she says. “You’ve rescued me a few times too.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Jace says warmly. “Thank you for keeping Ben happy and safe for so long. He’s a treasure.”

Swoon! Is he for real? I guess that mystery has already been solved. Now that we’re together again, it’s difficult to justify my doubts.

Greg saunters past while loaded up like a pack mule. “I’ll get all this put away and fire up the grill. Follow me!”

We do so. Jace insists that we make ourselves comfortable in the living room after asking what we’d like to drink.

“He’s gorgeous!” Allison says quietly when we’re alone. “And so nice!”

“Yeah.” I exhale and relax. “He really is.”

I glance toward the kitchen and notice him standing close to Michelle while she explains something to him. He looks over at me, his expression difficult to read. Please tell me my paranoia didn’t screw this up!

Jace returns with the others, carrying drinks, and settles down next to me. Allison plops into one of the plush chairs, Michelle doing the same soon after. After placing a bowl of chips on the coffee table, Greg splays himself out on the adjacent couch.

“What’s everyone up to today?” he asks.

“Wondering how you got so rich,” Allison replies while glancing around, “so I can copy your every move.”

“I’m an agent,” Greg replies easily. “But not the secret kind. I work in real estate. The house isn’t paid off or anything. I’m just starting out, but if I blow it and can’t pay the mortgage, I figure I can always get one of my clients to buy this place.”

“You’ll do fine,” Michelle tells him before turning to us. “He’s always been a good salesman. Like the summer when we wanted to run our own lemonade stand, but all we had were two-liter bottles of Sprite. He opened them up the night before so they’d go flat and added yellow food coloring.”

“We didn’t know how to make lemonade,” Greg says with a shrug. “I thought it tasted close enough.”

“It wasn’t very good,” Jace murmurs.

“Dimples over there sure sold the hell of it though,” Michellesays. “Then he biked to the grocery store with the money to buy actual lemonade to sell.”