Inside Out - Lauren Dane [81]
“Sounds good. I’ll let Ella know.”
“Hell yeah. I hope she wears a turtleneck.” He waggled his brows, and Cope shot him the evil eye.
“I’ll see what she’s up to and hopefully make it.”
“Cool. You two have a good time this weekend.”
They walked out together after he showed Cope the new editing bay they’d just completed.
“I’ll see you soon. I’ll have my cell with me if you read over that stuff and you want to talk about it.”
Cope backed out and was gone, leaving Adrian standing outside, looking over the front garden. Peaceful. Even in the middle of the city it was peaceful here. Aside from the occasional fan who camped at the gates at the bottom of the drive, he lived a normal life in the city. No paparazzi to speak of, people left him alone in the grocery store and he was near all his favorite people.
He was unsettled. Erin was part of it. He wasn’t used to seeing her need to rest so much. Her blood pressure had been slightly elevated, so she’d been taking it easy, and thank heavens she’d been cleared to go back to work here and there. She’d been going stir-crazy and Adrian knew how much she worried and felt the need to simply go about her life with some level of normalcy.
Maybe it was the changes in their circle with Ella and Cope coming together the way they had. It wasn’t that he’d ever really crushed on Ella; not like Cope had. But he supposed he’d finally hit the age where he realized he wanted someone to come home to. A hand to hold on a morning walk. Someone to pick up the phone and sound thrilled when they heard his voice.
The big house was awesome. He’d worked hard to earn it. So had Erin. He took a side path through the gate into the expansive backyard overlooking the Sound. A flash of color caught his gaze and he smiled, seeing the flutter of the tassels on Rennie’s pogo stick where she’d left it, propped up against the side of his deck. Being an uncle was one of his favorite things. He dug kids a lot. Which was good, because he knew Erin’s baby would fill the place with bright toys that squeaked or made music when they got stepped on.
Home was important. His brother had found it, his sister had found it and one of his best friends may have found it too. Life was very good indeed. He’d do this tour and use the webcam idea to be there in some way for the new baby and, more important, his sister.
16
Cope stopped at the grocery store near Ella’s building to grab a few extras for their weekend. Wine. Cheese and crackers. Chocolate. And a few boxes of condoms.
“My goodness, is this just a party for two, or can a guest join in?”
He looked up from the acres of boutique chocolate and found . . . Sandy? Cindy? Candy? Whatever, a woman he saw on and off for a stretch the year before. Talk about inventive. Whatshername there was like a sexual encyclopedia. And a yoga teacher, so she was extra bendy too.
Without thinking, he crooked a smile her way. “Not that the invitation isn’t enticing and all, but no. I’m not partying with anyone else but my girlfriend these days.” That also came out without thinking. He liked that last bit better.
“Girlfriend? You?” She laughed, making sure he saw all her parts jiggling. Not a lot of subtle, but she wasn’t hiding what she was either.
“Yep. Even us old dogs can learn new tricks.” He grabbed several of the dark chocolate truffle bars she liked so much. “Nice seeing you.”
“Cope, you’re not boyfriend material. You have to know that. You’re a great fuck and all, but you’re going to be cheating on this poor naive girl before she knows it.”
“I don’t cheat on anyone, thank you very much.” This offended him deeply. He might have liked to fuck a lot of women, back when he was with Candy—yeah that’s right, Candy—but he didn’t lie about it, and he wasn’t a cheater. He had principles, damn it.
“You’re not a one-woman man, Cope. You like women. You like sex. One woman can’t satisfy you. Is she a freak? Does she let you bring home friends? Maybe I’d like her. We had some good times with a few of my friends, remember?”
It was like some scene from his past