Darryl had recently accepted a prestigious position as a clerk, which basically meant that he would be a Federal judge's right-hand briefing attorney for a year. Where he'd go after that, Cam knew he hadn't decided. But apparently, his friend Zach had his career path all sketched out.
"Yeah? Well, you're still a jerk. Just because he has industry access does not mean I'm going to put on a white veil and the shackles of matrimony."
Darryl held up his hands in a defensive gesture. "Not matchmaking, I swear. But the best relationships have a business bond at the core. That's what Dad always says."
"Like I'm going to take relationship advice from a guy whose marriage failed. And Mom didn't--"
"Guys," Cam interrupted, "can we agree that your dad has serious fucking clout and move on? Because I'm pretty sure Brooke and Spencer are going to fire your ass if you don't catch up with them." Probably not true, but it sounded persuasive. "And Tyree will fire me if I let my customers scare away the other customers."
"You're not on the clock," Darryl pointed out.
Cam stared him down. "I'll grab a shift if that's what it takes to stop you two bickering."
"Fair enough," Mina said, then lifted her hand, her thumb, forefinger, and pinkie on display in the sign for I love you.
Darryl shook his head, but flashed the sign back as she hurried across the rest of the room to help Spencer and Brooke.
Cam watched her go, thinking how easy it was to talk to her--hell, to take charge--when they were just bullshitting or talking about work. But the second he shifted his perspective and thought of her as a woman and not simply as Mina ... well, those were the times when it wasn't easy at all.
Chapter Two
"You're not going to get in trouble by blowing off work tonight?" Darryl asked as he and Mina walked the three blocks to the lot where she'd left her car.
"Nope, I'm free and clear. We work crazy late on Wednesdays with the contests, but the only work we do on Fridays and Saturdays is during the day. Brooke and Spencer figured that way we get footage, but we're out of everyone's hair on the busiest nights."
"Makes sense."
"Besides," she added, "I would have taken off just to hang out with you."
"Well, yeah. I mean that's pretty much a given." He grinned, his wide smile brightening an already handsome face. "I'm just that awesome, after all."
She bit back a smile so as not to encourage him. "Okay, awesome boy. I'm doing a 5K fun run tomorrow morning. You want to come with?"
"A 5K?"
She shrugged. "I've been thinking about training for a marathon, but a 5K's as much as I've worked up to."
"Hmm."
She glanced sideways at him as they crossed the street and headed into the pay-to-park lot. "That's an enigmatic hmm. You disapprove of exercise?" She looked him up and down to make her point. Her brother had been on both the swim and tennis teams all through high school, and in college, he even played water polo. He'd pushed himself through some killer workouts, and she'd been at every one of his major games, jumping up to her feet to cheer him on.
"Come on, Mina. Don't be obtuse. You know I worry about you." They'd reached the car, and he walked around to the driver's side, then held up his hand so she could toss him the keys to the small Mercedes convertible that her father had given her for her eighteenth birthday.
"There's nothing to worry about. It's just a 5K."
He didn't answer. Just snapped his fingers for the keys.
Frowning, she clicked the button to unlock the car, then got in on the passenger side. After a second, he slid into the driver's seat. "Can I have the keys, please?"
She hesitated, then dropped them in his outstretched palm. "You do realize that I've been driving for as long as you have?"
He just shrugged and slid the key into the ignition. Mina sighed, settled in, and decided not to make a thing of it. Because, honestly, she was used to it. Her father and brother had been babying her since ... well, since she was a baby.
The whole thing was wackadoo as far as she was concerned. Darryl was all determined to watch out for his fragile little sister because she was weak, and he was strong and blah and blah and blah.
Except, she wasn't weak. Not any more. True, she'd been born fifteen long minutes after her brother, and they'd both been born at thirty-two weeks. Also true that he'd been exceptionally healthy for a preemie, and she'd been exceptionally weak. He'd thrived; she'd suffered from a series of medical issues and spent weeks in the NICU after her twin had gone home.
But she'd outgrown all her ailments by the time she'd hit puberty, though her parents were convinced that her petite stature--especially when compared to Darryl's robust build--stemmed from her various ailments as a kid. But so what? She was almost twenty-five now, and pretty damn cute if she said so herself. Most important, she was fine. Perfectly fine.