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I blushed. “She does like to talk up her kin.”

“Karen’s married to my brother Drake, she has a monster named Andrew running around here with my nephews.”

A blonde man walked in through the sliding glass door. He was holding a wiggling, wet boy under each arm. “That’s my brother-in-law Aiden O’Malley. He owns this house and is married to Evie. Those boys are named Holden and Zephyr.”

“I want to go back to the pool, Dad,” one of the struggling boys insisted.

“Bathroom break first, pool second.” Aiden walked down the hall with his two rascals.

I turned when Trenda called my name. “Everybody’s happy you moved back to Jasper Creek. It’d be nice if my little sister would consider it.” She threw Piper a pointed look, which she ignored.

“Not everybody is happy,” I interjected. “My overprotective brother Seth is pissed because I didn’t move back in with my parents.”

All the women in the kitchen groaned. “Ah, the scourge of overbearing big brothers,” Evie shook her head. “I need a margarita.”

“Joy! Piper! Oh my God! This is fabulous!”

Piper and I spun around at the same time and were almost toppled over as my cousin Emmie hurdled her small body into us.

“I never thought I’d see the day all three of us would be back together again,” she screeched in delight. “Piper, I haven’t seen you in years.” She pulled her in for a long hug, finally releasing her and looking at me.

“What are you doing dressed in shorts and a shirt?” Emmie demanded to know. “You better have your swimsuit on underneath those clothes.” She gave me the stink eye.

I looked at Emmie’s bikini, she hadn’t been kidding. Her bikini was gold, and it did have tassels on each hip. Meanwhile, Piper’s white one-piece made her look like a model with her dark hair and California tan. Looking around the backyard, I saw at least six people in the pool, and almost all of the women wore swimsuits that showed off their bodies.

“Where can I change?”

“Strip down here,” Emmie waved her hand at me.

I blushed.

“The powder room is down the hall. You can take off your clothes there and put them on one of the kitchen stools,” Evie told me. “Don’t worry, Aiden took the boys upstairs.”

I headed down the hall, found the bathroom, and closed the door. After I undressed, I looked in the mirror one more time and took a deep breath.

Here goes nothing.

As soon as I hit the kitchen, I realized the population had doubled.

Great.

But the only person I really noticed was Graham Wallace. He stopped mid-sentence in what he was saying to Trenda’s husband, Simon. He stared at me. Just like I’d been afraid of. This was totally inappropriate.

“What a cute suit,” Trenda cooed. “I think I’ve seen Emmie wear something just like it.”

“I love it,” Piper concurred.

I looked over at Graham, wanting to know his opinion. He was still not talking, just staring. Drake looked over at him and laughed. “I think Graham is in shock.”

“Looks like,” Trenda agreed.

He shook his head and started to grin. “Really like the suit, Doll. You look dangerous.”

Dangerous? What the hell did that mean?

“Come outside. Let’s get you some food,” he said as he held out his hand to me.

I took it and followed him outside to a table groaning under the weight of the food laid out on it, buffet-style. Graham picked up two plates from a stack at one end and handed one to me. As we went down the line, he asked me what I wanted and filled my plate for me, as well as his own. It was nice not having to balance my plate and scoop up food at the same time.