Shaken Not Stirred (Mixology #1)(38)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“I know who I should be hanging out with then. You two know how to have a good time.”

“Did you doubt that?” Carly asked.

“He shouldn’t have.”

Colin shook his head. “Okay. No way. This is not happening.”

“What isn’t?” Carly and I said in unison. This got us laughing again.

“That. This. You guys can’t be friends.”

“Umm, why not?” I put a hand on my hip.

“Because then you’ll gang up on me or something. I don’t like it.”

I glared at him. “You had better be kidding.”

“I am…kind of. It makes me nervous.”

“That’s not a bad thing. It will keep him on his toes, Mad.”

“Good point, C.”

“Mad? C? You have nicknames for each other?”

“It comes from the name of our new company,” I explained with the straightest face I could muster.

Colin groaned. “I don’t want to know what kind of business this is, do I?”

“Just an event planning one. Nothing to worry about.”

“Event planning?”

“Yes, and if you want to contribute the initial capital, you can get in on it.” Carly held out her hand like she was waiting for him to give her money.

“All of this sounds great and all, but can I borrow your business partner, Carly? I want to introduce her to some more people.”

“Sure, sure. I see how it is.” Carly did a combination of rolling her eyes and shaking her head that had me laughing again.

I waved goodbye to Carly as Colin led me away. “Your sister’s really cool.”

“I know. I’m glad you two hit it off. She could use a friend right now.”

“I kind of had a feeling something was going on.”

“Yeah, it’s been a rough month or so.” He didn’t elaborate, and it only left me wanting to know more.

“I’ll have to get her number from you.”

“Sure, I bet she’ll ask for yours.” He led me over to a group of guys. I recognized Mark and Jamie from the night before.

“And we meet again.” Jamie smiled.

“You guys have met?” Colin looked between us.

“Yes, I kicked him out of your sister’s room last night.”

“Oh.” Colin stiffened. Damn it. Why had I said that?

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Mark quickly jumped in. “We were just hanging out.”

“You were there too?”

“Yeah. I walked Carly back, remember?”

“And that meant you had to stay?”

I could tell Colin was getting angry, and he probably had the right to, but I also noticed his parents watching us. I didn’t want them listening in. “Didn’t you say you wanted me to meet someone?” I asked him, hoping he hadn’t meant his friends.

“Oh yeah.” He took my hand. “See you, guys.”

“You’re going to have to explain what all of that was about,” he said quietly as we walked across the lawn.

“Maybe I will when you explain why you didn’t introduce me to Carly when she was in town.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Neither is this.” I wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of ratting out Carly.

“Fine. Let’s drop it for now.” He took my hand as we stopped in front of an older woman sitting at a table in the shade.

“Grandma, this is Maddy.” Colin pulled out two chairs across from her.

I took one of the seats. “Pleasure to meet you.” Was meeting his parents not enough? Now I had to meet his grandmother?

“Oh, she’s lovely.”

She spoke to Colin like I wasn’t there.

“She is, isn’t she?” Colin beamed, putting an arm around me.

“When are you due?” The woman turned her attention to me.

“Excuse me?”

“When’s your due date?”

Colin exhaled sharply. “Grandma, Maddy isn’t pregnant.”

“Sure she is, your mom told me all about it.”

“I don’t see why she would, because it isn’t true.”

“Wait, that’s right. Aarron is the one who knocked up the girl.”

Colin and I glanced at each other. His expression was equal part worried that I was going to flip out over his grandmother’s mistake, and shocked that he just found out his other cousin’s girlfriend was pregnant. He made a quick excuse for us, and we walked off.

“Sorry about that.”

“You’ve been apologizing a lot this weekend.”

“I know I have been. I’ve had a lot of reasons to do it.”

“Why not try to change that?”

“I will. It looks like the cocktail hour is almost over. It’s about time for me to give you that dance I promised you.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Colin could dance better than I expected. Once again, I’d underestimated him. I assumed he would be tentative on the dance floor, but it turned out he was confident and even daring. He had me laughing and grinning so much my face hurt. We only stopped dancing to eat and to happily head back to our room. This time Colin didn’t bother with the pull-out couch.

Chapter Fourteen

I rolled over, disappointed to find empty sheets next to me. It was Monday morning, and against my better judgment I’d spent Sunday night at Colin’s place. He’d looked so darn sexy when he asked me, and I was kind of afraid the magic of the weekend would wear off now that we were back home. Despite the downs of the weekend, I’d had a good time. Saturday night had been even better than Friday, and Sunday night, although less frenzied, had been equally as satisfying.

I felt around on the nightstand for my glasses, surprised that the clock only read seven thirty. Had Colin left for work already?

I sat up, holding the sheet to cover myself, even though there was no one there to see me. I felt around on the floor, glad to find my clothes exactly where I’d left them.

Dressed, I checked out his amazing bathroom again. At least three times the size of my current bedroom, it was huge. At some point I’d have to check out the giant shower—and the soaking tub. Hopefully, I’d have to the chance to do both with Colin, that is if I ever found him.

I walked downstairs, calling out Colin’s name as I went. I didn’t get a response, but I did find a note scrawled on the back of one of his business cards and a twenty-dollar bill.