Just a Kiss by Denise Hunter Page A

built. That doesn’t change anything.
    So why was she standing here dithering over this, needing an air conditioner to cool her cheeks? Gah! She raked her fingers into her hair and tugged.
    “Ready?”
    She whirled around. The sight of her purse hanging from Riley’s shoulder made all her previous thoughts tumble from her head.
    “Goes great with your outfit,” she said with a smirk. “You can borrow it sometime if you like.”
    “I prefer your white one,” he deadpanned. “It makes me look tanner.”
    And just like that they were back on familiar ground.

Chapter 12
    I t was Friday night, and the Roadhouse was packed. The dozen or so TVs hosted the Red Sox game, but Paige didn’t care much about baseball. She did, however, take great delight in squeezing into the big corner Callahan booth. Dinner with the family was among her favorite things.
    Riley settled in beside her, propping his crutches against the booth. They were the last ones to arrive, save Zac, who was in the kitchen, probably dealing with some crisis.
    A pool game was under way in the back room, and someone had started a country song on the jukebox, making all the sports fans scowl as they strained to hear the game. Laughter, chatter, and the clinking of silverware filled the room, and the tangy smell of buffalo wings prevailed.
    They ordered and settled into conversation, topics surfacing as quickly and randomly as air bubbles in a pot of boiling water.
    “How’s the center going?” Eden asked Lucy.
    Lucy, who’d inherited her great-aunt’s fortune, had put the money to use on a community center. She’d converted the old firehouse into a pretty nifty hangout that mostly served kids and teenagers.
    “Terrific,” Lucy said. “I scrounged up another volunteer. Ellen Mays is going to help out on weekends. And she’s going to snap some professional photos for the website.”
    “That’s great,” Eden said. “Let me know when you have them, and I’ll put them up.”
    Zac appeared, squeezing into the other side of the booth next to Lucy. “Sorry. Got caught up in the kitchen.”
    “Everything okay?” Miss Trudy asked.
    “Just the normal Friday night chaos. Did you order for me?”
    “A big ol’ basket of hot wings,” Lucy said.
    “Perfect.” He dropped a kiss on his wife’s lips, then murmured something too quiet to hear. His palm found the curve of her cheek and he went in for another kiss.
    “Here we go again,” Riley muttered.
    Eden cleared her throat. “So . . . Paige . . . how are things coming with the bachelor auction?”
    “Great. The community center is the perfect venue—and for the unbeatable price of free. Zac agreed to provide appetizers and drinks for free, and we have about—”
    “Hey . . .” Zac stopped making eyes at his wife long enough to frown at Paige. “Nobody said anything about free.”
    “That got his attention,” Beau said.
    “Give me a break,” Zac grumbled. “I haven’t seen my wife all day.”
    “A whole twelve hours?” Riley said.
    “So, anyway . . . ,” Lucy continued. “We have a venue, food and drinks, we’re working on advertising plans, and we’ll all pitch in with the decorations.”
    “I’m making the bidding paddles,” Miss Trudy said.
    “And I added a page about the auction to the shelter’s site,” Eden said. “Once we have pictures of all the bachelors, I’ll put those up, and we can post the link on our Facebook pages.”
    “So what’s the verdict?” Lucy asked, eyeing Riley. “Is your picture going to be up there, Riley?”
    He frowned. “What?”
    Lucy’s eyes darted between Riley and Paige. “Oh. Sorry. I thought surely you’d have asked him by now.”
    “I’ve been—busy.” Right. Like she hadn’t had a chance, what with working together and living in the same house and basically being together 24/7.
    Riley nailed Paige with a look. “What’s she talking about?”
    She shifted in her seat. “We thought, you know, you might be willing to help