Opening one eye, the woman in question made a sleepy noise. “Hey. It’s at least two sneezes.” River yawned, pulled the blanket higher up her neck, then rolled over.

“She was sleeping in her car, Ash.”

“So? How is that your problem?”

“It wasn’t my problem.” Easton’s eyes flickered over to the red hair on his couch pillow. “These are my clients. I might as well start things off with them right. Did you get ahold of Ruby?”

“Yes, and I think you’re drinking the Kool-Aid. She’s willing to meet everyone. But seriously, don’t drag it out. Ruby Lou’s not as young as she used to be.”

“None of us are,” Easton said. “Is everything ready for tomorrow?”

“It will be.” Ash crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll fly up there and drop off the supplies, but don’t expect me to do anything but drop it.”

He hadn’t expected her to. Wrapping his sister in a hug—and earning a gagging noise from her in response—Easton smirked as she fought her way free.

“Gross. Take a shower.” As she left, Ash pointed a warning finger at him. “Stress out my grandma, and I’m kicking your ass.”

“Yup.”

On the off chance he actually smelled as bad as his sister inferred, Easton took his shower. Having so many people in his house wasn’t uncomfortable or abnormal; they’d been having parties here for a lot of years now. More than once, his friends or family had slept on his couch, floor, or even porch. What Easton wasn’t used to was having strangers in his home.

He almost ran into River as he left the bathroom, still rubbing the towel over his hair to dry it.

“Whoa.” River took a step back, eyes widening. Thinking he’d startled her off-balance, Easton reached for her arm to steady her.

“Dude,” Jessie murmured to Bree at the end of the hall. “Did he move in slow motion for anyone else? Like, step, step, towel, wet hair flip, sexy naked rescue.”

“He didn’t rescue me.” River’s eyes narrowed. “He grabbed on.”

Well, that wasn’t fair.

“River bobbled. And I didn’t flip my hair.”

“You kind of flipped your hair,” River told him. “There was a motion.”

Easton frowned. “There wasn’t.”

“Nope,” she insisted, her hand flapping in his head’s direction. “There was definitely a motion.”

Across the living room, Bree edged toward Jessie. “Where’s the handheld?”

“Why are you whispering?” he asked her.

Bree pointed a finger Easton’s way. “Because he might move if I speak too loud.”