Finally, I got them off of the phone and we left. Mark and Adam were driving together and Jess and Lily were getting a ride with Cam so we just packed our bags and our Chihuahua, (and his bag), and headed for Bryn Mawr on the Philadelphia main line where the Pierces had a gorgeous Georgian home with a large in ground swimming pool and a Jacuzzi that I was looking forward to visiting with Braden alone later.

We got there at about eleven, greeted Drew and unpacked our stuff into Braden’s room while Drew took Bruno on a tour of the house, showed him where his food and water were, and introduced him to Theresa, the live-in housekeeper and cook, who he reportedly took to immediately. The Pierce’s property was enclosed with a large fence which meant that Bruno could run free outside. He was in doggy heaven.

Adam and Mark arrived half an hour later and Cam, Jess, and Lily pulled in at noon. Drew showed everyone to guest rooms and while they got settled in Braden went down to ask Theresa about lunch. She put a deli buffet spread out on the patio overlooking the pool and Jacuzzi and we all met outside to eat and relax. It was a gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky. After spending a week under florescent lights and in subarctic air conditioning, the warm sun felt wonderful on my skin. We all got our food and made ourselves comfortable around the tables we had pushed together. Now that our trip to Club 51 was history we were able to laugh about it.

“I almost lost it when that barmaid came back with our drinks and Braden dove under the table,” Cam said, sitting down across from Jess and biting into a ginormous sandwich.

“I was picking up a coaster!” Braden said defensively. “And avoiding any interaction that might have made Gabrielle unhappy.” He brought over a pitcher of fresh lemonade for us to share and settled down in a chair next to me.

“You were down there so long I thought you were involved in an interaction that would have made her very happy,” Adam joked. I felt myself blush thinking about how happy he made me down on his knees later that night.

“There’s an idea for one of your novels,” I said to Lily. “The hero disappears under the table at a club to hide from somebody and does naughty things to the heroine while he’s down there.”

“That doesn’t sound like a scene from a legal thriller,” Braden said suspiciously.

“Yeah, what was that Derek was saying last night? That he likes your books because women find them stimulating?” Drew asked Lily. “I can’t see the chicks he hangs out with being John Grisham fans.” He gave her an amused but intrigued smile.

“She also writes romance novels, erotic ones,” I explained, snapping out the lustful fantasies I had just been having about Braden doing naughty things to me secretly.

“You’re kidding!” Adam said, looking like he didn’t believe it.

“Her books are very popular!” Jess said. “She’s developing quite a following.”

“Romance novels? Yeah, probably with sad lonely women who want to dream about Fabio sweeping them off their feet,” Adam joked.

“Fabio? What decade are you living in?” I asked scornfully. “Lily’s books are seriously hot. Girlfriend here writes mommy  p**n .” I fanned myself as a visual aid.

“They’re not that steamy,” Lily said dismissively, laughing and rolling her eyes.

“Are you kidding? You need potholders to read them.” Jess laughed. I noticed that Cam was giving Jess some very interested looks. He seemed to like her literary side and I had a feeling that he might want to form a little book club of two.

“Derek likes them,” I added, giving Lily a significant look. “That should tell you something.”

“That scene in the last one with that you know …” Jess began, and she actually blushed. Cam was starting to look a little flushed himself. I was pretty sure that Lily had a future fan in him, as long as he could read her books with Jess.

“I know exactly which one you mean!” I laughed. “I never really thought that was sexy until I read that scene! Now, I might want to try that myself.”

“Wait! Try what?” Braden asked, suddenly looking extremely interested. “Maybe I need to check this out,” he said, taking out his phone. Actually, she might have a whole fan club!

“You won’t find them online under my real name. I write those books under a pen name. One that my friends won’t disclose!” Lily said, giving Jess and I a threatening look.

“Oh come on!” Cam said with a laugh. “You girls can’t say all that stuff and then tell us we can’t read it ourselves!”

“Yeah!” Braden agreed. “That’s not fair.”

“How hot could they really be?” Adam scoffed, rolling his eyes. “How do you research your naughty books, Scheherazade?” he asked with a sarcastic smile.

“Why?” she asked, glaring at him.

“Just curious. After all, you write books about lawyers even though you’ve never practiced law. I assume that you haven’t done all of these sexy things you supposedly write about either. How do you even know you’re getting it right then?” he asked, holding her gaze.

“Why are you so fascinated?” I asked.

“Maybe he wants to help her with her research,” Jess teased.

“At least then her knowledge would be authentic,” he said in a slightly seductive tone, never taking his eyes off of Lily. Jess and I shared a surprised look and I noticed that Mark and Braden did too. Was he teasing her or was he actually flirting? I had a feeling he might not know himself.

“What makes you think it’s not authentic now?” she asked, fixing him with a steady gaze. That stopped him. The two of them shared a look that was seriously charged and he looked away first! Wow. If they ever got together I had a feeling it would be explosive. Jess and Cam broke the tension when they started joking around about all of our attempts to thwart Derek.

“I loved it when Drew and Mark got all defensive and started trying to be as heterosexual as possible,” Jess said with a laugh.

“You know it’s funny, but I don’t recall ever discussing condoms with my male friends,” Cam joked and Drew sunk down in his chair and covered his eyes.

“Yeah, well I didn’t love it when I looked over at Derek when we were dancing and he thought I was checking him out! I wanted to run and hide,” I said, feeling mortified.

“What in the Hell was that dance you were doing with him, Gabrielle?!” Jess asked, shaking her head in disbelief.