“No.” Noah shook his head and pointed at the stairs. “Go change into something more you.”

Cynthia hesitated by the entrance of the kitchen. It was five in the evening, and they’d done nothing all day (and the previous night) but lie in bed and revel in each other. Each time they’d made love had been better than the last. But that wasn’t what Noah had liked best about their time between the sheets. It was all those hours they’d lain in a tangle of limbs, relaxed and exhausted, talking about nothing and everything. She had a spunky wit and a sharp sense of humor. She could move from serious to joking mid-sentence. It was a gift that he loved. That kept him focused on her. Except for the dwelling he’d done on his secret about BD. He still hadn’t officially told Dick, their surly bookkeeper, to settle everything up and take his page off the website. He’d do that tomorrow morning when he met up with the guys for their workout. Beyond that, he needed a plan for moving forward. And despite his past issues with law…he kept thinking about Cynthia’s dad’s idea for a private law firm. One where he was in control.

“What’s wrong with this?” Cynthia asked, looking down at the shiny pink dress hugging her body. A sparkling necklace looped around her neck, matching her bracelet.

“You’re dressing up,” he said, forcing himself to stay seated at the counter with his book. If he got up to touch her, he’d remove that dress and haul her back up to bed. He didn’t want to cancel tonight. “You are absolutely beautiful, don’t get me wrong, and if we were going to a nice dinner, the choice would be perfect. But this is just Colton’s house. You’ll be way overdressed and probably feel odd because of it.”

She braced her hands on her hips, a stubborn look crossing her face. “Me is a weird shirt and jeans.”

“Yup. Wear that.” He looked back at his book. It was all for show. Her presence in the room made reading impossible. His eyes might move over the words on the page, but none of them would register.

“There is no way I am going to show up at the house of a popular kid from my past looking like I was dragged away from the front of a liquor store. Not when you look like that.” She jabbed a finger at him.

He glanced down at his jeans and light blue button-up shirt. “What’s wrong with this?”

“You’re all suave and put together. You look like you’re waiting to be called to the catwalk.”

He chuckled and put his book down. “It’s just a shirt and jeans.”

“It’s just a shirt and jeans,” she muttered with a grumpy face. She waved her hand in front of her. “This goes with what you’re selling. My usual attire does not.”

“And what am I selling?”

“Sexy, mouth-wateringly hot man wearing designer crap.”

He leaned on the counter, desire pumping through him at the compliment. “I always dress like this. This is me.”

“Well, this will have to be the new me, because I’m not going to be the head-scratcher of this pair.”

He shook his head and slid off the chair. “Fine. You win. I’ll dress to match you, how’s that? You can pick out whatever you think fits.”

A half-hour later, after a wild but quick lovemaking session and a change of clothes, he stood by the front door in a T-shirt, runners, and the jeans he’d had on before.

“I feel like a schlub,” he said, grabbing his jacket from the hook. “I wear this shirt for yard work.”

“See? That’s how I feel when you get all spiffy.” She walked toward him wearing a shirt that said, G^ F^CK Y^^RS^LF. Underneath that, it said, Would you like to buy a vowel?

“I’d be open to a compromise.” He glanced at her bare arms. “Jacket?”

“It’s in the car. I still need to get a bunch of things. I only grabbed the bare necessities yesterday.”

“Gotcha.” He stopped her near the door and brushed her lips with his. “I’m glad you’re on board for this all happening so fast. I don’t think I would’ve been very good with patience where it concerns you.”

She ran her hands up the inside of his shirt. His cock hardened. It was rarely at ease in her presence. She pulled back with a serene smile. “Ditto.”

On the way over, she fidgeted, clearly nervous. “Let’s say I don’t fit in. Which is pretty standard where it concerns me. What happens then?”

“You’ll be forever doomed to be the odd one in the bunch—hanging around, making weird jokes. In a few years, you could elevate to crass jokes and farting at the dinner table.”

“Oh, super. I’ll end up like Art the Fart instead of Aunt Bessie.” She sighed, a smile playing on her lips. “I never thought it would come down to those two options, but there you go. We can’t all be normal and marry successful douches who only care about themselves. My sisters will have to be in a club of two.”

“Excuse me.” Noah palmed his chest. “Someday I might be a successful douche that only cares about himself. Don’t sell me short.”

She laughed. “My bad. I guess I can only hope and wait.”

He pulled up next to the curb at Colton’s house. Nervous jitters ran through his body, something he hadn’t felt until that moment. He knew Cynthia would fit in. Knew it. But he had to own that she wasn’t a run-of-the-mill girl. It might take a minute for the others to warm up to her—to get her sense of humor and heavily sarcastic way of delivering jokes. He just hoped they’d give her a chance. That they would come to value her like he did.

He held her hand a little too tightly as they made their way up to the front door. If she noticed, she didn’t comment. Once there, he knocked and looked out at the street.

“What is it?” Cynthia asked, following his gaze.

“Sometimes Colton’s mom randomly turns up for dinner. I would turn tail and run if I saw her car.”

“Is she like our parents?”

“A bit. She has that same mentality of women in the kitchen, and men somewhere else. The thing is, Colton is a great cook. All the guys hang out in the kitchen with him, and the girls sneak off to the TV room with Colton’s dad. So Martha—that’s Colton’s mom—is in a constant state of agitation whenever she’s at Colton’s for dinner.”

“Sounds funny.”

“It is, until she starts picking on you. I usually escape notice, but if she saw me dressed like this…”

“Dang it.” Cynthia let go of his hand so she could put her arm around his waist. “That would’ve been funny. I would’ve liked to see that.”

“You don’t think she would have started in on you next?”

She shrugged. “I’m used to that. As you know. My mom has been texting me, asking for updates on dress and behavior. I sent her a picture of the pink dress and she commended me. Then I sent her a note saying ‘just kidding,’ and posted a pic of this. She called right away. I silenced the phone.”

“Your mom is a trip.” Noah frowned at the door, then turned to check the street again. The gang was all there, and there was no sign of Colton’s mom. He pushed the doorbell a second time.

His phone chimed a moment later. Dave had texted. Janie went to open the door. A while ago. Good luck.

Noah grinned and took a step back, bringing Cynthia with him.

“Now what?” Cynthia asked in a hush.

“Janie. She’s in charge of opening the door. She hasn’t shown up. It means shenanigans are afoot.”

Cynthia stared at the door for a second before shifting away from him and glancing to the side.

“What type of girl is Janie?” Cynthia asked quietly. “One who’d try and eavesdrop, or one who’d dump water on our heads?”

“Both? Or she might have gone to the bathroom to make me wait. That’s the most likely explanation. She knows I won’t just barge in. It annoys me when people do that.”

Cynthia laughed, grabbed his hand, and pulled him away from the porch. “Let’s break into this bitch. Is Colton the trusting type? Would he leave a back door open?”

“I just mentioned I didn’t like barging in…”

“We’re not barging, we’re breaking and entering. That’s way different.” She hurried them to the side of the house and opened the latch on the gate.

“We could’ve just used the front door to break and enter.”

“That’s not as fun. Oh wow. He’s got a big pool. I hope he likes me, because I want to swim in this come summertime.” With a wicked grin, she started walking alongside the house, dragging him with her. Rosebushes kept her from stepping too close.

“I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this,” he muttered, seeing the sliding glass door up ahead, one of two.

“I didn’t talk you into it, I forced it on you. You have an out. And yes, I realize that this won’t help my likability points, but why spend life waiting around?”

She tried the sliding glass door, but it wouldn’t budge. “No problem,” she said, dragging him farther. “There has to be another way in.”

“You realize it’ll be weird if Janie opens the front door and my car’s there but we’re not?”

“Oh, I do know. We have a time limit. Worst-case scenario, we’ll get found making out.”

Noah’s body tightened up at the thought of it, and he hurried after her with stiff legs.

At the next sliding glass door, which led to the kitchen, she peeked in and quickly pulled back. “They’re in there.”

“They usually hang out in the kitchen. It’s where the food and drinks are.”

“That makes sense. Okay, assuming this door is unlocked, I’m going to walk in first. They won’t expect that. They might even think it’s a real burglar. So that’ll be a good time. I love scaring people. Unless they are fully loaded, gun-toting lunatics. You’d tell me if they were, right?”

“You’re cracked and this was a bad idea.”

“You’ve had one bad idea after the other since meeting me. Now you know.” Cynthia straightened up, all loose and natural, like she was at home. She grabbed the door from the side, so they couldn’t see her through the glass, and pushed. It slid open.

She pushed it open wider as she walked forward, all ease and confidence.

Noah’s friends were about to get a crash course on the woman he couldn’t say no to.