Justin watched him, suspicion radiating from every one of his pores, but backed off and stepped aside to let Eli in. The door opened directly into the kitchen, which was in absolute chaos. An older couple was sitting at the table, playing a spirited card game while a solidly built guy fried half a dozen steaks on an indoor barbeque. Aria was tossing meals on plates, and food was strewn across the available counter space. The tall, dark-haired girl he’d seen her with at Davy’s Bar was pouring alcohol and juice into a punch bowl with no apparent formula.

Justin closed the door behind him and said, “Are you sure you don’t want to come back tomorrow?”

Eli took a deep breath and nodded.

“Aria!” Justin called. “You’ve got a guest.”

Guest. If Eli was a guest, then what were all these other people? Surely they didn’t live here. Aria spun around, her wild curls bouncing around her ears, and Eli pictured that hair fanned out across the pillows as he pushed into her. There was a stirring in his pants. Think unsexy thoughts.

“Eli, what are you doing here?” Her friendly smile was fixed in place, but the warmth faded from her eyes.

“I could ask you the same thing. I can see it’s not a good time.”

“Nonsense,” the older woman said as she struggled to shuffle the deck of cards, her fingers too short to do a good job of it. Plump, with cropped auburn hair and rosy cheeks, she smiled at him welcomingly, the only person in this madhouse who had done so. “Have a seat. We’re almost ready to eat.”

That’s right. He’d forgotten about her family dinner.

“Why don’t you introduce us?” Justin suggested.

She looked flustered but recovered quickly. “Of course. This is my mum and dad, Donna and Geoff.” She gestured to the couple playing cards. “My friend Avery.” The tall girl with the deep-set eyes. “And my brothers, Cooper and Justin.”

Her brothers. Thank freaking God. Eli studied the two men. There was a certain degree of resemblance—both brothers and Aria had olive complexions—but the men dwarfed her.

“Family, this is Elijah Lockwood.”

“Of Lockwood Holdings?” the tall girl, Avery, asked. Her voice was slightly husky, like she smoked. While she resembled the girls Eli usually dated, she didn’t appeal to him at all. Her model-like figure couldn’t compare to Aria, who was earthy and sexy and a little bit fun.

“Yes,” he said quickly, to cover the moment of awkwardness. Avery glanced at Aria, and he could have sworn his lover shrank a couple of inches.

“How interesting to see you here,” Avery said. “I didn’t realize you and Aria were friends.”

She was astute, this woman.