“For God’s sake, Parker, I just ... He’s a friend of mine, so why not ask him along? Plus you said how you were the only one without a date.”

“And it was so nice of you to arrange one for me, without even asking if I’d like you to.” She jabbed him with her finger as he started to speak. “You’d better back out of my personal business, or I’ll sleep with him just to make your life hell.”

He paled, visibly. “You would not.”

“Don’t test me, Delaney.” She jabbed him again. “Don’t test me.”

“Time for a walk.” Laurel reached down to tug on Del’s arm. “No. Really time for a walk. Some things even you can’t talk your way out of,” she muttered to him as she dragged him away.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s pissed at you, of course. I told you she would be.”

He skirted the path of a flying Frisbee, then stopped. “She wouldn’t be if you hadn’t told her. Why did you do that?”

“Because she’s my friend, and I was pissed at you before she was. I’d have told her even if I hadn’t been pissed at you, but that was a secondary factor. You can’t pull a date for her out of your hat without telling her, Del, or I have to.”

“Another rule. Maybe she should send me a damn memo.” She gave the hand she held an impatient shake. “You should know better.”

“I should know better? She’s the one who grabbed him and kissed him like that, in front of everybody.”

“Yes, she should’ve dragged him off to the bushes and done it in private, but you know Parker. She’s brazen.”

“You think it’s funny?” He stopped, stared her down. “She made a move on him in public, she’s really steamed at me, plus now I have to talk to Mal. It’s not funny.”

“No. No, you don’t have to talk to Mal. Leave it alone, Mr. Fix-It.They’re grown-ups.”

“You have your rules, I have mine.”

“Sometimes I could just ...” She turned away, turned back. “How many guys did you ‘talk to’ and/or warn off when it was me?”

He slid his hands into his pockets. “The past is the past.”

“You should probably have a talk with yourself.”

“Believe me, I have been. It doesn’t seem to do any good. I’ve got a taste for you now.”

“A taste for me?”

“Yeah. You know about tastes, and how some of them are just irresistible. That’s you.”

She let out a half sigh, then framed his face with her hands. “Semi-redeemed. Let’s walk the long way around. We’ll work up an appetite.”