“I’m on it!” I hollered, diving into the backseat and surprising us both. I had my legs in the air and my bottom on display as I clasped my upside-down face in my hands behind the seat. I could feel how red my cheeks were, and I gave myself a little slap to snap me back into this world.

“That is one sweet ass, my friend.” He sighed, leaning his head on it as though it were a pillow.

“Hey. Ass Man. Pay attention to the road and not my heiney, or no bread for you.” I gave his head a bump with my bum and sent myself flailing as he took a turn.

“Caroline, you need to control yourself back there, or I’m pulling over.”

“Oh, zip it. Here’s your damn bread,” I snapped, crawling back into my chair in a graceless way and throwing the bread at him.

“What the hell? Don’t throw this. What if you’d bruised it?” he cried, gently stroking the foil-wrapped loaf.

“I worry about you, Simon. I really do.” I laughed, watching him struggle to open the end of the wrapper. “You want me to cut you a piece—okay, or you could just do that.” I frowned as he took a giant bite out of the end.

“Thif if mine, righ?” he asked, spraying crumbs.

“How do you function in normal society?” I asked, shaking my head as he took another monster bite. He just smiled and continued, eating the entire loaf in less than five minutes.

“You’re gonna be so sick tonight. That’s meant to be eaten piece by piece, not ingested whole,” I said. His only response was to burp loudly and pat his tummy.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re one twisted man, Simon.” I chuckled.

“You’re still intrigued though, aren’t you?” He grinned, turning the blue eyes loose on me.

My panties actually disintegrated. “Oddly, yes,” I admitted, feeling my face flame again.

“I know.” He smirked, and we drove on.

“Okay, the turn should be coming up just around this corner—I remember that house!” I cried, bouncing in my seat. It had been a while since I was up here, and I’d forgotten how beautiful it was. I loved Tahoe in the summertime—all the water sports and everything—but in autumn? Autumn was beautiful.

“Thank God. I need to pee,” Simon groaned, as he’d been doing for the past twenty or so miles.

“That’s your own fault for drinking that Big Gulp,” I admonished, still bouncing away.

“Wow, is that it?” he asked as we turned into the drive. Lanterns lit the way to a sprawling, two-story cedar house with a giant stone fireplace up the left side. Cars were already in the driveway, and I could hear the music spilling out from the back deck.

“Sounds like our friends have already got their party on,” Simon observed. Squealing and laughter joined the music coming from the back side of the house.

“Oh, I don’t doubt it. My guess is they’ve been drinking since dinner and are half-naked in the hot tub by now.” I walked around back to grab my bag.

“We’ll just have to catch up, now won’t we?”He winked, pulling a bottle of Galliano from his bag. “I thought we could make some Wallbangers.”

“Now isn’t that interesting. I was thinking the same thing,” I countered, pulling an identical bottle from my duffle.

“I knew you were dying to get me inside you, Caroline.” He chuckled and grabbed my bag as we headed to the door.

“Please, you would make up a drink and call it a Pink Nightie just to have me in your mouth—and don’t even try to lie,” I taunted, nudging him with my shoulder.

He stopped midway up the walk and looked at me fiercely. “Is that an invitation? Cuz I’m a hell of a bartender,” he stated, the eyes glowing in the darkness.

“I’ve no doubt,” I breathed, the space between us now crackling with tension that was becoming ridiculously hard to ignore. I took a deep breath, and noticed he did as well.

“Come on, let’s get sauced and start this weekend.” He chuckled, nudging me with his shoulder and breaking the spell.

“Sauce away,” I muttered, walking up the path behind him.

Finding the front door open, Simon stashed our bags, and we made our way through the house to the back deck. There the lake spread out before us, just barely lit by the tiki torches dotting the dock and pathways that led to the shore. The entire back of the house was flanked with brick patios and decks, and that’s where we found our friends.

“Caroline!” Mimi screeched from the hot tub, where she and Ryan were splashing each other. Ah, we’d made it to Drunky Loud already.

“Mimi!” I squealed back, looking around for Sophia. She and Neil were perched on the stone bench by the firepit, roasting marshmallows. They both waved merrily, and Neil gestured obscenely with his stick.

“Making them see the error of their ways might be easier than we thought, fellow matchmaker,” I whispered to Simon, who was already mixing a cocktail at the patio bar.

“You think its gonna be that easy?” he whispered back, giving his friends the international guy head nod that said, “What’s up, man?”

“Hell, yes. They’re almost already there without our help. All we have to do is show them what’s right in front of them.”

He handed me a cocktail. “So, how am I?” he asked, winking.

“Is this a Wallbanger?”

“It is.”

I took a sip, swirling the taste around my mouth and over my tongue.

“You’re as good as I knew you’d be,” I whispered, taking a dangerously large swallow.

“To things staring you right in the face,” he added, clinking my glass and taking his own large gulp.

“To things staring you right in the face,” I echoed, our eyes locking over the rims.

Damn Banger Voodoo.

Chapter Twelve

“WHOSE FOOT IS THAT?”

“It’s mine, Neil. Quit rubbing it.”

“Dude! Quit trying to play footsie with me, Ryan!”

“You’re the one still holding my foot.”

Ryan and Neil tried to look nonchalant as they disengaged from their footsie session under the bubbling water. I laughed as I caught Simon’s eye across the hot tub, and he grinned back at me.

“Want another?” he mouthed, nodding to my empty glass.

“I have had enough for tonight, don’t you think?” I mouthed back, as our friends cackled all around us.

“I thought you were girl who always wanted more,” he mouthed. The characteristic smirk returned.