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As an incentive, Anna had offered to buy dinner for the person who finished first and helped the slowpoke of the group get up to speed.
Becca knew she might very well end up being the slowpoke tonight because her mind was elsewhere. She loved her friends, but tonight, she wanted to be a fly on the wall in the living room, where Nick was bonding with the guys.
He’d surprised her and agreed to come with her to Kate and Liam’s tonight. After the arm twisting the night before last, Becca made up her mind not to push him. She couldn’t think of a faster way to scare off a man than to guilt him into spending a Sunday evening with her friends.
But if the sounds coming from the living room were any indication, her friends were becoming his friends. That made her happy beyond words. Still, a fly on the wall had no use for words. So she kept her head down and her ear tuned in, trying to pick out Nick’s voice among the mix of hooting, hollering and the occasional bit of hospital talk, since four of the six men were doctors.
“Who needs more wine?” Pepper hopped up and started going around the table refilling goblets with the bottle of Chianti she’d brought back from Italy.
“Becca, honey, why are you drinking that god-awful caffeine-free tea when you could be enjoying a little piece of Italian heaven. Here, let me get you a glass.”
“No, thanks, Pepper. I’m good.”
Pepper laughed. “How could anybody be good drinking that liquid spice ball?”
When Pepper headed off into the kitchen, Becca and Kate exchanged a look. Pepper was a sweetheart, but sometimes she could be too damn bossy for her own good. Or in tonight’s circumstances, for Becca’s good.
The woman was like a bloodhound—she could smell a secret two counties over. And Pepper’s antennae had been up since Becca’s trip to the emergency room after her bout of food poisoning. Pepper hated feeling left out. However, she was a Southern belle, and rather than ferreting out the answer she was looking for, she used techniques that involved endearment, helpfulness and graciousness—key tools of the Southern belles trade.
Tonight she would obviously not rest until Becca either drank the Chianti or served up a Pepper-approved explanation as to why she was passing on such a treat.
When she came back into the dining room, she set the glass in front of Becca and drained the rest of the bottle into it. As soon as Pepper had finished, Kate waltzed right over and swooped up the wine.
There was hierarchy at work here. Pepper was married to Kate’s brother, Rob, and as the sister-in-law, Kate could get away with certain transgressions that mere mortals would never in their right minds dream of committing.
“Kate, darling, if you would like some more wine, I brought another bottle. We can open it. Granted, it’s not from Italy, but I do so want Becca to try the Chianti. I don’t want her to miss out.”
Kate had done her part. Becca had to think fast.
“It’s very sweet of you, Pepper, but I haven’t felt like myself all day long. I’m afraid if I have even a taste of wine it might not settle with me. It doesn’t even sound good right now. So I’d hate for you to waste it on me.”
There. That was good. Only a social moron would keep pushing wine on a person who wasn’t feeling well. Becca was glad to get Pepper off of her back, because she certainly couldn’t tell anyone else about the babies until she told her parents.
Kate was a rare, reliable jewel, and Becca knew her secret was safe with her. Kate was more reliable than a Fort Knox vault.
“You’re not pregnant, are you?” A.J. laughed at her own joke. Their friends Lily and Anna joined in the merriment because on a normal day Becca would’ve been voted the least likely of all the women at the table to announce she was carrying twins.
“Good one, A.J.,” Becca said. “How many glasses of wine has she had tonight? I hope Shane is driving.”
Then the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it.” Becca stood to answer it. Kate seemed to instinctively understand that answering the door was Becca’s chance to escape the inquisition. On her way, as she passed by the living room, she would also be able to glance in and see how Nick was getting along.
Nick caught her looking. She was glad, too, because even though there was a football game on the television and an abundance of testosterone in the room, he’d been in tune enough to her presence that he’d sensed her coming. Or more likely she just got lucky and happened by when he happened to be looking up.
She relished the breathless excitement, the way the mere sight of him made her stomach flip. She shot him a flirty little smile that was as much eyes as it was lips and kept right on walking to the front door.
