“She’s trying to remove the stick from my ass.” The three of them laughed.
Aleks turned over the burgers and rotated the sausages. “If the lack of tension on your forehead is any indication, I think it’s working.”
“How’s the grilling, boys?” Billy sauntered up to the grill, Sam and Marc not far behind.
“We were kicked out of the ladies group. I guess it’s girl talk time,” Sam said.
Milton, Aleks and Rob glanced at one another, all thinking the same thing. If they were talking about his relationship with Amie, then it was a sure thing that the ladies would be talking about Milton.
What he wouldn’t give to be a fly on that picnic table.
* * * *
Amie shuffled around the cooler and pulled out a purple box of juice. “Grape?”
The little girl smiled wide and grabbed the box out of her hand.
“What do we say, Alexandria?” Milton’s sister must have had eyes in the back of her head. Last Amie noticed she wasn’t even facing them.
“Thank you!” the little voice trailed behind the little body that ran toward the men and the grill.
Alexandria ran right into Milton’s arms. Was it customary to find a man even more attractive at the sight of him scooping up a little girl and wiggling his nose against hers? For someone who didn’t want a family, he sure was good with kids.
Amie stared at the man who she was not getting attached to. Milton was beautiful. Adonis body, Michelangelo face and…the devil’s occupation. He was the enemy, and she was days away from giving him her heart. Good thing he didn’t have many days left before he headed back to Vancouver.
When Milton looked over, Amie rubbed her cheek on her shoulder, pretending that she was scratching an itch, and turned back to her friends at the table, but she’d already missed half the conversation.
“Sam is a very handsome man,” Martina said.
“Again with the looking!” Amie spat.
“I told you, baby plus pressure equals horny Martina.”
Carrie and Marilyn laughed. Then so did Amie. She realized she was being ridiculous.
“I remember those days,” Marilyn said. “All you want to do is rub your crotch over anything just to get off.”
“I bet your husband was happy to comply. Rob is too freaked out. He thinks he’s going to poke the baby.”
“My brother, the prude.” Carrie chuckled.
Amie laughed along with her friends but noticed that Marilyn didn’t join in. “Marilyn, is something wrong?”
“Oh.” She wiped her hair away from her face. “Nothing. Just remembering.” She sank onto the bench of the picnic table and pulled her shoulders back. “My husband passed away.”
Amie, Carrie and Martina recoiled at the same time. It was easy to assume that divorce was the reason for the absence of a father.
“He died shortly after I became pregnant, so I can’t give you firsthand knowledge as to how he would have dealt with the horny situation.”
“Oh, Marilyn, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” Martina blubbered.
“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s been six years and sometimes I still wake up thinking he’ll be next to me.” Marilyn rested her chin on her hand. “Sam is a beautiful man, but I can’t bring myself to get interested.”
“That’s perfectly understandable.” Carrie reached out and caressed her arm.
“Instead of a man, I focus on our charities and funding for–”
“Charity?” Amie questioned. This was the first she was hearing of such a thing. Milton was the devil. He was the evil corporate tyrant who robbed people of their homes and closed people’s businesses.