"No, seriously. It's fine. You must have stuff to do on a Saturday." As she sat up, she held the sheet over her breasts and the dinging ratcheted up a notch. "I should probably go take a shower."
He reached for her hand. "Hold up a sec. What about tonight."
She blinked. "Tonight?"
"The party," he said. "This guy Zach's coming. Shouldn't we--"
"What?" The word came out sharp, cutting him off, and he couldn't help but fear that he heard a note of panic in her voice.
He drew a breath, telling himself to be calm. That any weirdness he was picking up on was probably coming from him. From the down-rush of adrenaline he was experience after having every fantasy in his life fulfilled over one glorious night. Of course he was going to be on edge. Of course, he was expecting her to yank the carpet out from under him.
"It's only that I think we should tell Darryl."
For a second, she looked confused. Then her eyes went wide. "Oh! You mean about this." She indicated the two of them. "About us?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, if he's trying to set you up with--"
She waved her hand, dismissing the words. "Believe me. I can already tell I'm not interested in Zach. And I doubt he'd be interested in me."
"Well, then--"
"But say something to Darryl?" Her voice rose with incredulity. "Really bad idea."
He sat up in bed, and since she had the sheet, he used the quilt to cover himself. Because suddenly, he felt the need to be covered. "Why?"
"Well, think about it. This is fun--hell, it's been amazing. And I don't know about you, but I'm totally hoping we do it again."
Thank God.
"Yeah," he said, forcing his voice to stay level and even. "Me, too."
"But what happens later? I mean, say around Christmas time when we've both moved on but we're all together for the holidays. If Darryl knows what his sister and best friend did during the summer, it's totally awkward. But if he doesn't know..."
She lifted her shoulder in a shrug as her voice trailed off.
He stared. He just freaking stared.
"Cam? That makes sense, right?"
And that's when he realized that Mina Silver was a magician. Because somehow, without him even realizing it, she'd pulled that damn carpet right out from under him.
Chapter Seven
"I can't believe you stood us up," Taylor D'Angelo said as she perched on one of the stools in front of the breakfast bar, her dark brown hair pulled back into a long ponytail. "What was it you'd said? Nothing's better for your ass than running and squats?"
"Well, it's true." Mina passed Taylor a water bottle, and then handed a second one to Megan, whose fair skin still bloomed pink with exertion.
"The hell it is," Taylor retorted, sliding off the bar stool, then positioning herself so that her rear end was aimed at the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder to Mina. "Still flat as a pancake. Whereas yours is all perky. And not because of running, I might add. No, your ass was treated to a booty call workout."
Beside her, Megan almost choked on her water.
"Well, it's true," Taylor said. "How much do you want to bet she stood us up because she was lost in post-coital bliss?"
"Not disagreeing. I was just thinking about the possibilities of a booty call exercise video."
As Taylor and Megan laughed, Mina rolled her eyes. "Are you two about done yet?"
Taylor's mouth curved into a thoughtful frown. "I think so. How about you?"