“I’ll book you another massage with Sven.”

“Done.” I reached over and she shook my hand. “Why me, though? Grace can’t be so busy that she wouldn’t come over and bake with you.”

“No, she would. But I want to bake muffins for her. The other day she said she was craving them. And yes, I’m well aware that I could save myself the trouble and just go to Angel Cakes and order them.”

“But you want to do something special for your bestie because you have an unnatural level of affection for her.”

“You’re surprisingly insightful.”

“I get that a lot.”

The back door opened and Skylar and her friend Ginny came out onto the porch. Skylar wore a black trench coat that belted at the waist. Ginny’s coat was similar, only hers was blue and she wore it open.

Skylar’s eyes darted around nervously, like a baby bird contemplating whether to take her first leap off a branch and try to fly. It made me want to take her hand and jump with her—show her she could do it.

“What do we have here?” Cara asked. “Do I spy with my little eye Chief Stanley’s daughter?”

“Yeah, the one in black is Skylar. The other one is her friend Ginny.”

“Uh-oh.”

“What?”

“You like her.”

I laughed. “Shut up, Cara.”

“A crush on your boss’s daughter. You really don’t feel fear, do you?”

As if to punctuate Cara’s point, Chief Stanley came out onto the porch behind Skylar.

I took a drink of my beer. “Skylar is hot, I won’t deny that. But even I know where to draw the line. We’re just friends.”

“For now.”

“Whatever. I’m a grownup. I can be friends with a hot girl. I’m friends with you.”

“Yeah but you’re not attracted to me.”

“How do you know?”

“You know how to play cute very well, but you’ve never actually tried anything with me. If you wanted to get in my pants, you would have made an attempt by now.”

“You’re also surprisingly insightful.”

She smiled. “I get that a lot. Now go hang out with your friend.”

I handed her my empty beer bottle, just to be obnoxious, and crutched my way over to the porch. Skylar’s nervous eye-wandering transformed into a smile.

Fuck, that smile.

“Hey, you made it,” I said, making my way up the steps.

“Yeah, sorry we’re late,” she said.

“That’s my fault,” Ginny said. “I was working and got caught up in what I was doing.”

“It’s no problem. I’m just glad you came.” I winked at Sky and the way it made her look a little shy and nervous again was fucking adorable. “Hey, Chief.”

“Gavin,” he said with a slight narrowing of his eyes.

“The food’s all over there, and dessert is in the kitchen,” I said. “Gram made cookies and I haven’t stolen a single one.”

Chief cracked a smile. “Okay, Gav. I’m going to go say hi to Asher and Grace.”

I turned back to Skylar and Ginny. “You guys want a drink and then I can introduce you around? I’d get your drinks for you, but this crazy driver hit me and now I have to use these crutches to get around.”

Skylar playfully smacked my arm. “Stop.”

They grabbed drinks and I took them around, introducing them to people. Skylar had already met Grace, but I introduced the birthday boy. Fiona and Evan were at a table getting more food. Evan was his usual stoic self, giving them a hello and a chin tip. Fiona was friendlier, because of course she was, and happily chatted with both Skylar and Ginny for a while.

I introduced her to Cara, who gave me another knowing smile. Levi seemed to be trying to replace Evan as the grumpiest Bailey. He was polite, but didn’t seem interested in talking for long. Logan was his twin’s polar opposite, as usual, swooping in to shamelessly flirt with Ginny.

“I didn’t say hi to your gram yet,” Skylar said. “I should probably do that.”

With Ginny laughing at Logan’s jokes, I led Skylar up to the back porch. Gram still sat in her rocking chair, but her plate of food had been replaced with a cup of tea.

“Hi there, Otter,” she said when we approached. “Is this Skylar Stanley, all grown up?”

I sighed at her use of my nickname. So not manly. “Yeah, Gram, this is Skylar.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Skylar said. “Or see you again, I suppose. Sorry, I feel like I should remember everyone.”

“Don’t you worry about it, little Sparrow,” Gram said. “You were just a tot the last time you came over to play in my backyard. It’s good to have you back.”

“Thank you.”

“Did I hear your mama’s back in town too?”

“She is. She’s staying with my dad, which is… interesting. But I’m glad she’s close.”

“Tell her to come on by and see me when she has time. I’d love to chat with her.”

“I will.”

“And let me know when your next book is coming out. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Gram, you read Skylar’s books?” I asked.

“Of course I do. I’ve read them all. The last one kept me up well past my bedtime.”

Skylar leaned closer to me, her arm rubbing up against mine. “Wow. I never know what to say when someone I know tells me they read my books. So I guess… thank you.”

“You’re a real talent. You keep writing them, I’ll keep reading them.”

“I’m working on it,” Skylar said.

We wandered back down the steps and stopped near one of the heaters. Ginny was still standing near the fire, talking to Logan. He grinned at her, and I could tell—from his body language to his facial expression—that he was really turning on the charm.

“Ginny looks like she’s having fun with your brother,” Skylar said.

“Yeah.”

“What’s he like?”

I thought for a second about how to answer that. “He’s a good guy. But…”

“But what?”

“He’s probably the kind of guy a girl should warn her friend about.”

She laughed. “Aren’t you that kind of guy too?”

“Me?” I put my hand on my chest. “Never.”

“That’s not what I heard.”

“What did you hear about me?” I asked, genuinely curious.

She shrugged. “Something about being a playboy with a charming smile.”

“I do have a very charming smile, that’s completely true. I don’t know about playboy, though.”

“You sure about that?”

“Who called me a playboy? Was it your dad?”

“Maybe,” she said innocently.

He wasn’t entirely wrong. Chasing girls had been one of my favorite things since I was a kid. There had hardly been a female teacher or babysitter I hadn’t crushed on. And post-puberty I’d taken my game to a whole new level.

I loved the challenge.

If I was being honest, it did kind of make me a playboy. Because I rarely dated anyone for long.