Her Collateral Bride: A Lesbian Age Gap Romance

was a miracle the whole place didn’t go up in clouds of smoke.

And then Snake entered the kitchen. He crossed his arms

and leaned against the counter, making it clear that Haley

would be playing for her friends plus him since he had no

plans of leaving them alone, but he was all casual about it, like

he didn’t mind his job one bit. The thick currents in the room

intensified as Amy practically started drooling over the best

and most delicious addition, at least in her book, to the

kitchen.

“Yes, that’s fine,” Claire said.

“You’re sure you can’t stay and enjoy the beach?” Haley

kept pressing and stalling. Claire was dressed in a black power

suit and her normal towering black heels. She’d already done

her hair in a tight knot and applied makeup. She looked ready

to tackle the world in some high-stakes business meeting, not

hit the beach.

Haley couldn’t imagine Claire in a bikini, sipping on some

slushy drink, sitting in a lawn chair in the sand. Okay, so she

could, and that only made her feel more and more like her

blood was sizzling.

“Sorry. I have this meeting and I can’t put it off any longer.”

“But it’s the weekend.”

“I know. Business moves forward, even on the weekend. A

lot of people are too busy during the week. Plus, this one

involves my mother.” Claire wrinkled her nose like that was a

bad thing, but she relaxed her face immediately. It probably

wasn’t a bad thing. Just one of those things that would take

extra time and be extra difficult.

Haley knew how that went. Her grandparents were about as

drama free as they came, but her dad was a bit of a