Rule of Three Read Online Free

used the extra time to fix herself up, changing from rolled-up sweatpants and a T-shirt into a pair of knee-length shorts and a loose camisole top.
    She was ready. The casserole was ready. Chris and Dag still weren’t back. They must have gone out somewhere after the game. With another glance at her watch, she sighed. The casserole sat on the stove. It would keep.
    Then she heard the key in the lock and hurried toward the door. Chris and Dag walked in, bringing the smell of fresh air and sunshine with them. Their eyes sparkled, their faces were tanned from sitting in the sun all afternoon at Wrigley Field and they looked like they’d been laughing.
    “Hey, sweetheart, sorry we’re late,” Chris said, hugging her and kissing her mouth. He smelled like beer. Not obnoxiously, like he was drunk, just as if he’d had a few.
    “It’s my fault,” Dag said from behind him, and she met his sexy dark eyes. Once again that little current of electricity jolted her as their eyes met and held. “These are for you.”
    He held out a cellophane cone full of pale pink and fuchsia gerbera daisies, all bright and cheery. She’d been ready to be annoyed, but the sweet gesture softened her up, even though she totally recognized it as sucking up.
    “Thank you.” She moved to take them from him. He opened his arms for a hug. She hesitated. For some reason she did not want to touch him. But she moved toward him anyway and gave him one of those superficial, barely touching hugs you give a near-stranger or an uncle you haven’t seen for years.
    But that wasn’t good enough for him, and he pulled her in and gave her a quick squeeze that pressed her breasts into his chest and sent fire licking over her. It was over in a second but she had to swallow and clasp her hands tightly around the flowers. She focused on them instead of Dag.
    “They’re beautiful,” she said. “I love them.”
    Dag smiled, his dark eyes crinkling and warm. Both he and Chris were bright-eyed and suntanned and happy, and her heart swelled at seeing Chris so relaxed and cheerful. A surge of gratitude toward Dag rose inside her, gratitude for coming back to see his old friend, for bringing such a smile to his face and a sparkle to his eyes. Not that Chris had been miserable. She just knew this meant a lot to him. So she sent a warm smile Dag’s way, and once again their gazes hooked together and hung there, suspended, as if she couldn’t look away.
    “Come on in,” Chris said, leading the way into the living room. Dag looked around and Kassidy moved to the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers, hands unsteady, stomach quivering.
    She could not remember where she’d put the vases. Likely Hailey had unpacked them. She searched through cupboards, flustered— Where are the vases, dammit? —and listened to the guys talking about the condo.
    “Nice,” Dag said. “Really nice.”
    “Three bedrooms,” Chris said. “One’s going to be my home office eventually. Still have some work to do.”
    She found a vase and arranged the flowers then carried them to the living room and set them on a side table. “Dinner’ll be ready in a few minutes,” she said. “I just have to cook the pasta and toss the salad.”
    “How about another beer?” Chris offered Dag. They followed her into the kitchen. It seemed very confined in that small space with those two big guys moving around.
    “Who won the game?” she asked, filling a pot with water.
    “Phillies won, three to two.”
    “Cubs kinda sucked,” Dag added.
    “It’s early in the season,” Chris said. “Thanks for the game, man.” And he looped an arm around Dag’s neck and pulled him in for a brief squeeze.
    She watched the hug then turned away to run water into the big pot for the pasta, the image of that brief embrace lingering in her head. Stuck there. Making her feel…she didn’t know what. And she didn’t know why. Maybe it was because she’d never seen Chris do that with any of his other friends.