Glenn chuckled. “Well, have you gotten anything else thrown at your head since then?”

“No. We’re past that and decided to be friends. We had dinner together last night.” Gabriel wanted to snatch the words back as soon as they were out of his mouth. That’s all his friends needed to hear. They’d been trying to hook him up with one woman after another to “help” him get over his heartbreak. This would be all the ammunition they needed.

“Dinner, as in the get-together thing like before?”

“Just the two of us. And before you clowns start, she invited me to dinner because I mowed her lawn. The company she hired no-showed on her twice.” He crossed the room to the terrace and reclaimed his lounger.

“Aw, look at you out there being all neighborly,” Brent said. “How long were you over there?”

“Why?”

“Just answer the question.”

Gabriel sighed. Reason number twenty-five to keep personal business personal. “A few hours,” he finally mumbled.

“Well, that settles it. I do believe it’s time for another trip out West, gentlemen,” Darius said.

“Agreed,” Brent said.

Glenn, always the level-headed one, said, “Sounds like she was just returning the favor.”

“Thank you, Glenn. At least one person has some sense. That’s all it was. Besides, there’s no reason to start anything with Serenity when I don’t plan on being here long.” Gabriel said the words but knew they weren’t completely truthful. He did want to start something with Serenity. Just what, he didn’t know.

Darius snorted. “Nah, bro. Nice try, but we know you. You’re feeling this woman.”

Why do I even bother? “And if I am?” Like Darius said, they knew Gabriel. Knew how devastated he’d been by his ex’s betrayal and how he’d used work as a cover-up, a substitute for what was missing in his personal life. Though he no longer thought of it that way, the long working hours filled the void whenever loneliness came calling. Yes, he’d finally put that chapter behind him, and the pain no longer consumed him day and night, but his version of dating now didn’t involve anything remotely close to an emotional entanglement. Dinner: check. Movie: check. Sex: maybe. Love: absolutely not. But if he were being honest with himself, Serenity did stir something inside him. And not all of it was physical, which would typically send him running in the opposite direction. Why wasn’t he running this time? Maybe because I know I won’t be here long.

“Then it’s a good thing, and I hope it works out with her.”

“Darius, I don’t know how you and Brent are deep into my business when the two of you don’t even have your own relationship issues straightened out.”