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“Did you hear that Evan’s next?” Cade asked.
Kayla nodded. Pushing her muffin away, she took a tentative sip of her coffee and looked over at Evan.
“I was just asking if she would maybe throw me in the regular dating pool too just in case,” Evan explained.
“You have no faith in your friends?” Kayla asked him.
“Cade didn’t even pick last time; he pawned it off on his sister.”
“Hey! I didn’t pawn it off. She had an idea and I let her run with it,” Cade said in weak defense.
“All right, gentlemen. Evan, yes, but let’s wait until after everyone does their picks so it doesn’t try to match you at the same time. Cade, I’m sure whoever you pick will be a good choice, with or without Catherine’s help.”
Cade winked at her. “I think we all know the right choices to make here.”
She didn’t respond as she tried to puzzle out what that meant. Did he know what Jake and Lauren had asked her? Ugh, probably. This group was as thick as thieves, and she knew that.
The conversation steered away from dates and she was grateful. They talked business and she focused on her coffee while watching the people pass by the window, lost in her own thoughts.
“Thanks for letting me crash your morning. I need to get back to it.” Cade stood and nodded at each of them before leaving.
“Do you think they will actually have some good picks?” Evan asked nervously.
She took a moment to think it over. “Honestly, I think the only person you have to worry about is Luke.”
Evan rubbed his beard. “Any chance we can just not do his?”
Kayla laughed. “This wasn’t my idea. Your agreement here with your friends is on the line. Besides, even Jake made it through, and look how well it turned out.”
“Luke is such an idiot,” Evan lamented.
He wasn’t wrong. “He’s young. Eventually, he will grow up and it will be different.” She hoped anyway. She knew plenty of men that never grew up.
They both stood and walked to the trashcan, clearing their mess. Evan held the door for her and again his hand rested on her back as he guided her out the door. As a strong woman, it should bother her that he felt the need to do that, but instead, she repressed a shiver of awareness.
“I’m headed home now to shower and get a little work done,” she told him as they walked.
“Don’t work too hard.”
“Oh please, like you aren’t going to do the same thing.”
“Maybe you should try a date, too? We could do a double date thing?” Evan was full of ideas today, and she didn’t want to hear anymore.
Ha! Absolutely not. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You could come witness the terrible woman that Luke will pick for me.”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “The woman won’t be terrible, just…flirty.”
“That’s one word for her,” Evan muttered.
She took a breath and reminded herself that he was her friend and she wanted him to be happy. “You have to go into this with an open mind or it won’t work at all,” she reminded him.
“I just want something like Jake and Owen have. I know that’s weird for a man to want a relationship, but I do.”
“It’s not weird. I assume that’s why most of your friends agreed to this.” She wasn’t sure why Luke had agreed except that the rest had.
“Maybe.”
