Kara blushed, and Logan grinned. As the son of a billionaire, Logan wasn’t invisible to the public eye either, but since marrying and settling down, his popularity had died down significantly. When you were famous for being a rich playboy and suddenly you’re not anymore, people lose interest.
Declan, however, was an actor—or he used to be. He’d stopped taking roles over two years ago when he stepped behind the camera and started directing, but that didn’t mean people stopped recognizing him. He was gaining some serious credibility as a director. He hadn’t shown up in the tabloids as much, but the women could still point him out in a crowd.
“Well, we wouldn’t want to disappoint a fan, would we, Declan?” Logan said over his shoulder to his good friend.
Declan just shook his head and chuckled, standing to greet us. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kara,” he said in a voice that oozed sex appeal.
Kara’s blush spread even further. “Can I get your autograph?”
“Uh…sure. You got anything for me to sign? I’m afraid I don’t really carry anything like that.”
She dived into her purse and rummaged around, looking for something, but she only found a pen. Nothing to write on. “I have a pen. You could sign me,” she said with a giggle.
I heard Colin choke on his laugh as he had been sucking down his beer. Declan gave a half-grin, but he handled it like the pro he was.
“That’s very sweet, but I gave up signing body parts a long time ago,” he said, holding up his wedding ring as an explanation.
“Of course. I was just being silly,” she answered, fumbling now and looking highly embarrassed.
Didn’t this girl just go on a date with me? Next to Declan James, I was suddenly chopped liver, not that I was jealous. It actually made my life a hell of a lot easier.
Declan reached down and grabbed a napkin off the table. He took the pen from her hand, and he scribbled something on the napkin. When he handed it back to her, she thanked him. They took a picture, which of course caused a domino effect, and he had to take many more pictures with several other women who were suddenly brave enough to come over.
After about fifteen minutes, he politely thanked them and said he was going to join his buddies for a beer. He sat back down, and everyone, thankfully, dispersed. The conversation Logan, Kara, and I had been having started to come to a close. Just as Kara and I were about to say our good-byes to everyone and join our coworkers again, Logan caught someone’s eye over my shoulder and cursed.
“Motherfucker!” Declan joined in.
“Is that my wife?” Colin asked.
I turned to see my sister and her two best friends entering the bar. I lost interest immediately when I saw who was walking behind them.
Mia.
She was dressed in a short skirt and f**k-me heels, and I had to brace myself against the wall for a second to recover from the impact. Mia had always been beautiful and sexy in a natural way. She was never overdone but never plain either. Tonight though, she was dripping sex from head to toe, and I wanted to kill every man in the bar who was eyeing her as she walked in.
She wasn’t mine though. I had no right. My hands fisted at my sides, and I took a cleansing deep breath that did absolutely nothing to calm my nerves. I tried to turn back and start another conversation with Logan, but he was now entirely focused on Clare. He stood frozen in place, completely mesmerized, as he waited for her to join him. When Clare reached his side, she grinned, and he whispered something in her ear, which caused her to blush.
“Funny meeting you here, handsome,” she whispered.
“My night just got much, much better,” Logan said.
Yuck, I really didn’t want to witness sexy time between my sister and her husband.
Declan and Colin were engaged in similar acts with their wives—eye-fucking the shit out of them and whispering God-only-knows-what in their ears. I looked over, and Mia and Liv were casually leaning over the bar, waiting to buy a drink. She glanced over at Leah with a grin. It died immediately when her eyes found mine, and her face fell even more when she saw me standing with Kara.
Shit, she thinks I’m on a date. I needed to get out of here. Nothing good could come from this.
“Goober!” Leah said, finally realizing my presence.
“Hey, Leah,” I said.
“I didn’t know you were going to be here! I thought we were just crashing our husbands’ night out. To what do we owe the pleasure?” she asked, settling herself on her husband’s lap.
Declan looked mighty happy with his new arrangements for the evening. His hand was caressing up and down Leah’s bare thigh. I shuddered and looked away. It was like being at a family get-together, but instead of playing Parcheesi, everyone had decided to make out instead.
Gross.
“I showed up with a few of my coworkers. This is Kara,” I said. “We should probably head back. You guys have a nice evening.”
“Hold up!” Leah said.
I paused. Damn, I knew I wouldn’t get off that easy.
Leah could smell bullshit like a shark could smell blood.
“Why don’t you and Kara join us?” Leah asked.
Now that the offer had been extended, I knew it wouldn’t be refused. One glance at Declan’s number one fan, and I knew we were staying. Two additional chairs were added, and then we were settling in and ordering drinks as Mia and Liv joined us.
“Mia! Look who’s here!” Leah said with an evil gleam in her eye.
I hated Leah right now. Family or not, I wanted to strangle her.
“Hi, Garrett,” Mia said meekly.
I reciprocated. “Evening, Mia.”
Clare’s eyes flew up to mine, and I could see the apology written all over her face. I had no doubt that she remembered who Mia was and how much she had once meant to me and in her Logan-frazzled mind, she’d forgotten that we were both now sitting at the same small table. Together. Clare knew how uncomfortable this situation was for the both of us.
The table was silent. Had it not been for the loud noise of the bar and the wailing voices from the karaoke going on behind us, I was fairly certain I could have heard a pin drop.
This isn’t awkward. No, not at all.
“So, who’s singing first?” Leah asked loudly, clapping her hands together.
We all groaned.
The question was followed by a handful of, “No,” and “Hell no.”
“Oh, come on! It’s karaoke night and no one is going to sing? Come on! Anyone? Clare? Oh, I know! Mia, what about you? You need to do something crazy tonight, especially in that outfit! Get your ass up there and sing.”