“I’ll bet.” Tag’s voice lilted.
“I meant the workload,” Isa quickly corrected when Reese and Tag narrowed their eyes in interest. It was like they could see right through her. She reached for one of the bags of food in Reese’s hand. “Here, let me carry one.”
“Leave her alone,” Rachel said, taking the bag instead. She elbowed Isa. “You should keep your arms free to greet Eli.”
Those dimples appeared again. Isa would bet Rachel got away with murder with those things.
After dinner, and clearing the table of takeout containers, the girls moved to the living room with glasses of wine while the men lingered in the kitchen, beers in hand.
“You are missing out not getting to meet Alex Crane,” Merina said, elevating her wineglass. “It’s easier to understand where those three are coming from when you meet the cloth from which they were cut.”
Rachel threw her head back and laughed and Isa smothered a smile. Eli, standing in the kitchen with his brothers, looked over his shoulder and held Isa’s gaze a moment before a small smile curved his lips. Isa’s heart tommy-gunned her rib cage.
“Holy shit,” Merina said, keeping her voice down. “That was some serious eye-fucking.”
Rachel laughed again. “I love you.”
Merina and Rachel cheersed with their glasses. Isa felt a zing of satisfaction that someone other than herself had noticed the way Eli looked at her.
“I presume the actual fucking is better.” Merina drained her wine and set the glass on the coffee table in front of her. She studied Isa, eyebrows raised, waiting on an answer.
“Uh…”
“This is Merina off the clock,” Rachel said. Then she frowned. “Though, I’m pretty sure this is Merina on the clock, too.”
“I have no clock-in or clock-out time. It’s all the same to me.” Merina turned her attention to Isa and leaned one hand on the sofa, stretching closer, to say, “Crane men are difficult, but worth it if you’re willing to push.”
“And pull,” Rachel added.
Oh boy.
“It’s a little soon…” They were the only four words Isa said before Merina held up both hands in surrender.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. These things take time. I forget not everyone is married instantaneously, then work the hard stuff out after.”
“I bet there’s a story there,” Isa said. There had to be. Merina and Reese’s dating and married life had been reported in the local gossip rags numerous times. Photos from their (second) wedding over the summer, even though it was a private backyard affair at Alex Crane’s house, had shown up in the Trib. At least Isa and Eli weren’t subjected to that kind of social pressure.
Merina assessed her carefully before saying, “There is a story. Maybe if things work out with you and Eli, someday I’ll tell it to you.”
Isa’s heart fluttered with nervous excitement. On the outside, she remained calm, lifted her glass, and smiled at the bawdy but refined woman sitting across from her. “Well. Something to look forward to.”
Merina grinned. A happily married woman with a secret she loved having.
***
“The girls love her,” Tag said, leaning one huge shoulder on the dividing wall between the kitchen and dining room.
Eli looked again. He couldn’t get enough of Isa in a black dress hugging her curves, her midnight-dark hair rolling over her shoulders. Poised, she sat cross-legged on the chair, holding Merina’s and Rachel’s full attention as she talked with her hands.
“Apparently, so do you,” Reese said.
Eli faced his oldest brother. Reese’s eyebrows were raised, his mouth a flat line, but Eli could see approval lurking in his eyes.
“Easy, Cupid.” The L-word wasn’t a term Eli threw around often or lightly. And with a woman he’d dated—never. “We click.”
“Is that a euphemism?” Tag asked with a wry smile. He waggled his beer bottle before Eli could deliver a warning for him to STFU. “I need another.”
Reese stopped leaning on the fridge so Tag could pull out a bottle. Eli and Reese both drank theirs and accepted fresh beers.