I chuckle, but Theo doesn’t look fazed.
“No, we’re just friends,” he stage-whispers back, mirroring her. He sets her down on her feet and puts his hands on her shoulders as he turns her to face me, his grin that of a proud father. “Carys, this is Lucie. And this little ball of fun is my favourite niece, Carys.”
She slaps his stomach and frowns. “I’m your only niece.”
Theo nods. “Hence, my favourite.”
I give her a nod and a big smile. “Nice to meet you, Carys.”
The woman who was with the girl at her table is walking towards us now, and a megawatt smile covers her face as her eyes flick between Theo and me. She’s probably mid-fifties, and she actually looks like Theo a bit; they have the same colour hair and bright smile. There’s a baby sitting on her hip—a few months old, I’d guess. The gentleman at the table finishes the last of his drink in two gulps before he follows behind her.
“Hey. You made it,” the lady greets, leaning in to kiss Theo’s cheek and give him a one-armed hug.
“Hey, Mum. Hi, Dad.” Theo grins happily and nods, instantly—and somewhat expertly—plucking the baby from his mother’s arms, nuzzling his nose against the baby’s cheek until the baby grins and grabs two fistfuls of Theo’s hair.
I slow-blink. Well, goodbye, ovaries! It was nice knowing you.
If I thought he was hot before, throw in a baby, and my underwear seems to have melted. If Aubrey could see this …
Theo’s hand rests on my back again, his thumb doing that soft sweep thing across my skin, and I silently wonder if he can somehow tell what I’m thinking because he looks smug as hell.
“Lucie, these are my parents, Deborah and Kenneth. And this little fella”—he tickles the baby again, garnering another giggle that makes my heart stutter—“is Finley, my nephew.” He turns the baby towards me. “Cute, right?”
I nod dumbly. “Very cute.” And I’m not just talking about the baby.
Deborah steps forward and beams a smile at me before opening her arms and pulling me into a tight hug. It’s the type of hug you give someone you know, not someone you’ve just met. Awkwardness overcomes me, and I pat her back and wince in Theo’s direction, but he just laughs and shrugs one shoulder, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
When Deborah pulls back, she clutches my shoulders and looks right into my eyes. It’s like I can almost see her joy fizzing. No wonder Theo was so desperate for a date. By the looks of this woman’s expression, she’s likely the one who keeps asking him when he’s going to find someone and settle down, like he told me during Lift-gate.
“It’s so wonderful to meet you, Lucie! How was your flight? Are your rooms nice? How beautiful is this place?” She puts her hand on her heart, and her eyes well with tears. “The wedding is going to be so beautiful.” She sniffs, and Kenneth sighs heavily, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket and passing it to his wife, who takes it gratefully and dabs her eyes, laughing. “Sorry. I’m just so happy at the moment.”
Carys stage-whispers again, “She keeps happy-crying all the time. The plane ride was so fun.” She rolls her eyes, and I fight a chuckle.
Theo steps closer to me, probably sensing my unease. “Flight was good. Rooms are great. The wedding will be beautiful.” He holds up a hand and waves at someone at another table. “We’re gonna grab some food and then hook up with Jared and Amy.”
Deborah sniffles. “Oh, if I’d known you were coming to eat, we would have waited, and we could have all eaten together. It’s even lucky you came in when you did. A couple of minutes later, and you’d have missed us. We’re just on our way out for a walk along the beach; we promised Carys we’d explore. We’re on babysitting duty while Emily and Chris enjoy the night off.”
“And by night off, you mean, they’re in the bar, getting blathered?” Theo raises one eyebrow knowingly, and Deborah chuckles and nods along. “Thought so. Anyway, don’t let us stop you. Go enjoy your beach walk.” He leans in and gives his mum another one-armed hug before passing Finley back to her, dropping a kiss on the top of the baby’s head and ruffling Carys’s hair. “Have fun.” He and the little girl do a fist bump, and he pats his dad on the shoulder as they walk past.
“You could have warned me your mum was a hugger,” I say quietly, waving at her again as she waves Finley’s chubby arm from the door.
“We’re all huggers. Get used to it.” His arm casually slips around my waist as he guides me forward and towards an empty table.
We both order cheeseburgers. He gets a beer, and I order a glass of wine. Dinner is lovely, and the company is even better. Conversation flows freely. He jokes around and makes me laugh. At one point, I laugh so hard that wine dribbles down my chin, but he doesn’t seem to care; he just seems proud of himself. The more I talk to him, the more I see how great he is. This weekend is going to be fabulous, and I’m so pleased Aubrey forced me to come.
“Shall we get dessert?” Theo asks as our empty plates are cleared away.
And even though I just pronounced that I couldn’t possibly eat another bite, my mouth waters. I can’t say no to dessert, just ask my arse and thighs. Thigh gap? Hell no, I have a pie gap—as in no gap, blame the pie.
“Hell yes. What kind of question is that?” I reply.
He grins. “An unnecessary one, clearly.”
I nod and sip my wine. “Exactly. Don’t ever ask me such a stupid question again.”
We order. I go for death-by-chocolate cake, and he orders a caramel sundae. When they arrive, they look like heaven.
As I dig in and the sweetness hits my tongue, I moan in appreciation. “You know, if it were socially acceptable, I’d eat dessert first.”
A smile twitches at the corner of his mouth as he scrapes the caramel sauce that’s running down the side of the glass with his finger and sucks it off. “Same. You know, maybe we’re soul mates,” he jokes. “Maybe that lift meeting was good karma, not bad …”
I roll my eyes. “If it were good karma, I wouldn’t have had to share my doughnuts with you.”
He points his spoon at me and grins. “Ah, but you got extras in return, so you lucked in. Case closed. We’re meant to be.”
He sends me a wink, and I try so hard not to let it make me giddy, but I just can’t help it. I haven’t been flirted with for months—hell, maybe even years. It seems like a lifetime ago when Lucas used to flirty-banter with me like this.
When we’ve finished gorging ourselves, Theo signs to add the bill to our room, and then we head to the bar next door.
As we step in, my eyes instantly land on his twin. I’m momentarily startled when I discover they look exactly alike. They’re not just twins; they’re identical twins. I gasp, and my mouth drops open. When Theo said “twin brother,” I didn’t expect an actual body double. Damn, two of their hotness? It’s almost too much. Two killer smiles and those twinkling amber eyes? Jesus, their mother certainly outdid herself by creating not one, but two fine specimens in one go. I really should congratulate her on her achievement next time I see her.
My eyes rake over Jared as we walk over to him, and I can’t help but wonder how Amy chose between the two of them. If they look exactly alike, how can you fall in love with one and not the other? How would you know which one of them you wanted to be with and marry if they were exactly the same? It seems so weird. An impossible decision, surely.