“No one could beat Ned, so we started getting bored. It was either come here or go find trouble somewhere else. We figured you’d rather we came here.”

Maddie raised a brow, her expression skeptical. “How long did it take you fools to come up with that story?”

“On behalf of all the fools, I’m offended,” Mac said, stealing a kiss from his wife.

Adam leaned in to whisper in Abby’s ear. “Having fun?”

She loved that his arm was resting on the back of her chair, just shy of touching her. “Lots of fun.” The endless flow of champagne had made her a tad bit giddy. “I think I’ve found my drink.”

He raised a brow as he took in the empty bottles on the table. “Is that so?”

“Uh-huh. It’s my favorite so far.”

“How much have you had?”

“Just enough,” she said with a wink that made his eyes darken with what might’ve been desire.

Janey turned to them and gave her brother the death stare. “What did Grant have to say about this?” She waggled her finger between him and Abby.

“You told my sister?” he asked Abby.

“They were going to fix you up with Jenny. I couldn’t let that happen.”

He smiled at her and then turned his attention to Janey. “He, um, he told me not to screw it up the way he did.”

“And how’s he doing?” Janey asked Abby.

“So far, so good,” Abby said, her inhibitions lessened by the champagne. “There’s still time for him to mess up, though.”

“True,” Janey said. “He is a man.”

“And he’s fully equipped with ears, among other things,” Adam muttered.

Abby giggled at their sibling banter.

“If you screw it up, I’ll kill you myself,” Janey said.

“I stand warned,” Adam said.

In a matter of minutes, the guys had completely infiltrated their group. With the restaurant emptying of diners, Owen fetched a couple of guitars that he and Evan put to good use.

Abby couldn’t recall an evening she’d enjoyed more than this one. Throughout the sing-along, Adam kept a warm hand on the inside of her thigh, reminding her of their plans for later. Maybe it was the champagne or perhaps it was the excellent company, but suddenly it didn’t matter that he might be leaving or that she’d allowed herself to get more involved with him than she’d planned to. The only thing that mattered was right now. Tonight.

The rest would take care of itself. New Abby could handle a fling with a smart, sexy, sensitive man. If only Old Abby weren’t so worried about her heart being broken once again when he left, everything would truly be perfect.