Page 40 of Love Everlasting

Lacey plopped into her chair, smiling up at Jack with the same adoration she’d shown when she was a teenager. “Have to give it to you, O’Bryen—you haven’t stepped on my toes once since we’ve been married,” she said, reminding Ben how Jack had trampled Lacey’s feet at her junior prom. “And you’ve even picked up some pretty fancy moves.”

Ben leaned close to Tess. “Taught him everything he knows,” he said under his breath, grinning when she jolted after he tweaked her knee under the table.

“Yep, that’s Jack—light on his feet.” Jack’s cousin Matt flicked Jack’s head on the way to seating his wife, Nicki. “And in his head.”

Jack lounged back in his chair with a lazy grin, arm looped over Lacey. “Yeah, Ball, that’s why I have a medical degree and you spend your days teaching little boys how to sweat in a smelly gym.”

“What can I say?” Reaching for his drink, Matt smiled as he offered a slight shrug. “When God handed out grace and athletics, you obviously had your nose in a book.”

“Hey, Shan, where’s your date?” Cat licked her spoon after finishing off the rest of her dessert.

“He’s not my date,” Shannon emphasized with a tinge of pink in her cheeks, “he’s my friend.” She glanced over her shoulder to where Sam was dancing with Randy Augustine’s pretty daughter, and Ben thought Shannon’s shoulders slumped the slightest bit. He tossed back the rest of his water, hoping Tess’s softer twin wasn’t falling for the likes of Cunningham, whose Romeo reputation at Memorial was well known.

One song ended and another began, and Chase jumped up and rounded the table, tugging an open-mouthed Shannon to her feet. “Love this song, Shan. Let’s dance.”

Shannon balked, heels digging in while she clutched the back of her chair. “Chase, really, you don’t have to do this.”

“Of course I do—it’s one of my faves.” Not taking “no” for an answer, he steered Shannon onto the dance floor and into his arms, not far from where Sam Cunningham was on his third dance with Memorial’s most popular nurse.

Lacey sighed as her gaze trailed after Shannon and Chase. “He is such a great guy.”

Jack arched a brow, smile flat. “You do realize, Lace, that I’m still here, right? Listening to you brag on the guy you dated before me?”

Lacey reached up to graze Jack’s mouth with a tender kiss. “You mean the one I dumped for you? Oh, you bet, big boy—I always know when you’re around.”

“Hey, where’s Shan?” Sam returned to the table alone, sliding into his chair before upending his water.

“Dancing with Chase,” Lacey said, glancing to where Chase and Shannon were laughing while he dipped her, “and I’m sure hoping it’s the first of many because those two would be great together.”

“Chase?” Sam squinted at the dance floor with a hint of a frown before zeroing in on Cat. “But I thought you and Chase—”

“Oh, bite your tongue, Doc,” Cat said with a mock shudder. “I mean Chase is a great guy and great to look at, sure, but I’m afraid my taste doesn’t run that pure.”

“Unfortunately.” Lacey delivered a wry smile.

“I’ll second that.” Jack raised his drink in a toast before taking a swig.

Cat jumped up when the band began another song. “Oh, man, I love this one! Come on, Doc.” She tapped on Sam’s shoulder while dancing in place. “This one’s too good to waste.”

“I’ll second that.” Matt pulled Nicki back up and followed Sam and Cat to the floor with Lacey and Jack right behind.

Face and posture nonchalant, Ben slowly reached under the tablecloth to clasp Tess’s hand, taking advantage of the fact they were alone. “Have I told you lately just how over-the-top crazy I am about you, Ms. O’Bryen?” he said, leaning back while his free arm rested over the next chair.

She peeked up out of the corner of her eye, the dewy blush on her cheeks making her look like a woman far too young for him to date. “Uh … out on the dance floor?” Her smile shimmered with the peach gloss he just ached to taste.

“No, ma’am. That was a simple ‘I love you.’” His thumb teased the inside of her palm. “This is certifiably, undeniably, put-me-in-a-padded-cell crazy over the only woman alive who can transform me into a total fool for love.”

She squeezed his hand under the table, her response husky with affection. “Then no, Dr. Carmichael, you haven’t told me lately,” she said, blue eyes glowing misty with love, “but you certainly have shown it.”

“Why, Ben Carmichael—I thought you weren’t bringing a date.”

Ben’s body went to stone at the sound of the statement, all blood leaching from his face when he glanced over his shoulder. “Cynthia …” He sprang up from his seat, voice cracking like some pimple-faced kid fresh into puberty. You’re supposed to be in Libya ...

Tess swiveled to stare up at the woman Ben had dated prior to her—the one Tess referred to as “Dr. Barbie”—and heat roared into his face while his Adam’s apple ducked in his throat. The same woman with whom he’d spent his last month in Libya, who’d wanted to pick up right where they’d left off before Tess.

She slid a perfectly manicured hand down the arm of his suit coat, the scent of her Poison perfume reminding him of the temptation she’d posed on the final stint of his medical mission trip. “I checked with your secretary, and she said you were flying solo, Ben, so I was disappointed to see you came with a date.”

Flustered for one of the few times in his life, he actually stuttered, the sight of his colleague in a snug sequined dress with ample cleavage making his hands sweat. “This is not a d-date,” he said quickly, waving a hand between him and Tess, pretty sure his stupid promise to keep their engagement a secret would trip him up. “Tess is Jack O’Bryen’s mother and my neighbor.”