“It’s so nice to see you, Abby,” Linda said. “We’re sorry to hear things didn’t work out with Cal.”

“I was sorry, too.” She hesitated to say more but could tell from the earnest expressions on the faces of Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy that they were interested in what’d happened. “It was different in Texas. We didn’t… It didn’t work there.”

“That’s too bad,” Linda said. “But better to find out now than after the ‘I dos.’”

“Yes, that’s true.” Anxious to turn the conversation away from her sorry love life, Abby tried to think of something else they could talk about. “You must be excited about being grandparents again. Congratulations.”

“We’re thrilled for Janey and Joe,” Big Mac said. “Can’t wait for August.”

“She’ll have a lot on her plate with the baby and school,” Abby said.

“If anyone can handle it, she sure can,” Linda said.

“That is so true,” Abby said.

The conversation seemed to lag a bit, making Abby wonder why Adam was being so quiet. Couldn’t he contribute something? But no, he sat there fiddling with his beer bottle and sneaking looks at her as she talked to his parents. And why did he keep looking at her? Was there something on her dress? She glanced down to find nothing other than a little more breast than she normally showed, but nothing obscene.

She looked up, met his gaze and tried to challenge him to look elsewhere, but he kept his eyes locked on her, almost daring her to look away.

Chelsea arrived with their drinks, which gave Adam something else to focus on besides her chest.

It wasn’t lost on Abby that her entrance had bowled him over. That was ridiculously flattering and did amazing things for her self-confidence. If only his parents weren’t watching their every move, she might be able to enjoy his reaction a little more.

As she took a sip of her wine and pondered the deeper meaning of their attraction to each other, his hand landed on her thigh—under her dress. She choked on her wine, which somehow ended up in her windpipe. The coughing fit that followed was almost as embarrassing as telling Adam her sex secrets.

He patted her on the back until she’d coughed the wine out of her windpipe.

“Sorry about that,” she croaked, mortified as she dabbed at her eyes.

Linda pushed a glass of ice water toward Abby. “Have a drink.”

As she drank from the cool glass of water, she caught Adam giving her a smug smile and wanted to smack him. He knew exactly what he’d done to her—for the second time that day—and wasn’t the slightest bit sorry. Between that and stealing her clothes at the beach, he was batting a thousand today.

“They told me I might find you in here, darlin’.”