The man Emma didn’t know caught sight of him first and rose immediately. “Shep, it’s good to see you. How are things?”
They exchanged a manly handshake-and-hug combo just as Harper said, “Lord, girl, you’ve got him caught up. Look at him making sure you’re all happy and stuff.”
Emma stared after Shep. Sometimes the kindness in him was a bit disarming. His attention to the fine details was maybe the sweetest thing about him. “Oh, hush,” she said, waving Harper off, not wanting to have that conversation in front of Shep’s brothers. Still, she couldn’t help asking, “When did Shep invite you?”
“He sent me a text about a half an hour ago.”
“That was really sweet of him.” He must have texted her when Emma was in the bathroom.
Harper nodded. “Believe me, I would not be here otherwise.” She gestured toward the guy sitting next to Chase, whose legs were stretched out, one foot resting on a rock by the fire, while he drank his beer. “That’s Brody, my brother, and spending time with me is not on his to-do list.”
Emma studied Brody a little. He didn’t seem so scary or standoffish. His smile while he laughed with Chase seemed honest. From this distance, Emma couldn’t see his eye color, but his hair was a darker shade than Harper’s, or at least that was how the light from the fire made it look. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” Harper grinned, sliding her arm into Emma’s, holding her close. “I didn’t want you to be the only girl here.”
Emma gestured to Nash and to the girl on his lap, who was laughing at something he said. “I wouldn’t have been the only girl.”
Harper snorted. “She doesn’t really count. She hasn’t said two words to me.”
“Who is she?” Emma asked.
“Oh, some college girl, I’m sure.” She gave Emma a look. “Nash likes his ladies.”
“It appears the ladies like him too.”
Harper nodded. “Except for Megan, of course. I’m pretty sure she’d rather eat a nail than even talk about Nash, let alone acknowledge that he’s a member of the opposite sex and totally hot as hell.”
Good point. “I actually noticed that when I saw them together yesterday,” Emma replied. “What’s with those two?”
“Don’t ask.” Harper shrugged. “I’ve never been able to understand them.” Maybe because Harper had her own complicated situation going on herself. Harper considered Nash, then added, “They’ve got this playful hatred thing going on.”
“Maybe they actually secretly really want each other,” Emma offered.
“Or they actually really want to kill each other,” Harper said, then grinned. “But I think they’re better off not together, because honestly, if they ever ended up together, it’d either end in lots of angry sex or one of them dead.”
Emma laughed, but soon stopped when she heard something whining. She glanced toward the noise, squinting her eyes in the darkness, when a sudden yellow blur came barreling toward her, hitting her in the knees. She nearly toppled over, but a firm hand on her arm grabbed her just in time, and she noticed the blur was a yellow labrador retriever. At her feet, he cried like he’d been hurt. “Oh, God, is he okay?” she asked.
“This is Gus,” Shep said, patting the dog on the head. “And yes, he’s fine. This is how he says hello.”
“Oh, my.” The whining continued, his hard tail wagging, and Emma laughed, wrapping her arms around the thick dog. “He’s so cute.” He pushed against her, even harder this time. She gasped, nearly landing on her butt except for Shep grabbing her arm . . . again.
“He also doesn’t know his size. Wait until you sit in a chair. He’ll sit right on top of you and think that’s perfectly acceptable.”
“It would be perfectly acceptable.” Emma grabbed Gus’s face and kissed his nose. “You are so stinkin’ cute.”
Obviously done with her, Gus gave Harper some love then took off running to Nash, who had begun kissing the girl on his lap in a completely inappropriate way for an audience.
Emma turned to Shep and grinned.
Shep sighed. “He’s young.”
“Isn’t he two years older than me?” Emma asked.
Shep nodded. “He is, but he’s Nash, and Nash is well . . . Nash.”
Harper interjected, “What Nash is, is horny.”
Shep nodded, giving a soft laugh. “That about sums it up.”