She finally looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed. “We’ve met?”

Unbelievable. He’d only held her in the woods overnight so she didn’t have a panic attack.

“You have to remember my brother, Reed,” Cassie said, motioning for him to be quicker with her drink.

Erika’s mouth gaped slightly.

There you go. He knew he’d changed over the years. In high school, he’d been tall and lanky...skinny was a better term. Food wasn’t always plentiful at home and being active in every sport that he could play for free had him burning energy faster than his body could keep up. Luckily, he’d discovered weight training. “Hard to believe this hunk is the same guy, huh?” he asked when she continued to stare.

Her look of disbelief was quickly replaced with a disapproving, incredulous one. “Do you own this place?”

“Nope. I’m just here to encourage copious amounts of alcohol and misbehaving,” he said, his jaw tight. Within seconds, she had him feeling like the teenage kid who wasn’t sure he’d ever amount to anything. Over the years, his confidence had grown along with the size of his biceps. Very little shook him, so how this woman he hadn’t seen in years had him agitated, he didn’t know. No doubt, their history was part of it.

“He makes the best cranberry martinis in Wild River. Have a seat,” Cassie said, gesturing to the barstool next to her.

“Or don’t.” Reed shrugged when Erika hesitated.

She ignored him as she examined the barstool. Picking up a napkin, she wiped the seat before removing her coat and sitting, folding the coat over her legs. Ready for a quick exit if needed.

“Wow,” he muttered, pouring alcohol into the shaker.

At Cassie’s desperate expression, he poured a little longer. Reaching into the fridge, he ignored the opened carton of cranberry juice and grabbed a new one, irritated by his desire to please Ms. Better Than Everyone with fresh juice. “So, Erika, how’ve you been?” Second and last attempt at polite conversation.

She unwrapped her red scarf but left it dangling around her shoulders. The contrast of the red scarf against the white cashmere V-neck sweater pulled his gaze downward to her chest. The swell of her soft-looking, full breasts spilled slightly over the top and he remembered summer days when his gaze, hidden behind sunglasses, had been on nothing else. She’d always been a pain in the ass, but her body had been rockin’ even back then. Apparently, she still had an effect on him. The front of his jeans was uncomfortably tight.

“I’m a surgeon now,” was her reply to his question.

And modest. He grinned, feeling his semi disappear. “Impressive. That’s like a doctor, right?”

“Are you making fun of me?”

He shook his head as he tossed ice in the mixer and shook. “Not at all.” He grabbed two martini glasses from the back wall and inspected them just to freak her out a little. “Clean enough,” he said, pouring the red liquid into the glasses. Grabbing several lime wedges, he attached one to Cassie’s glass.