Page 77 of Edge of Darkness

“All right. I’m here. What’s up? Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. Sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you.” Everything was not fine, but Connie wasn’t going to drop that bomb on Kit over the phone. “Hudson invited Kage and Austin over for dinner tonight. We would like for you to join us around six.”

“Ah, us meaning… you and Hudson?”

“Yes. And you. It’ll be the five of us.”

“Oh. I-I don’t know. I don’t want to be the fifth wheel,” Kit said slowly. “That’d be really awkward.”

Shit. He had to keep reminding himself that Kit didn’t know who he was to them. “You won’t be. Trust me on that. Please, have dinner with us. It would mean a lot to meandHudson.” There. Hopefully, that was enough of a tease to get Kit interested.

“Both of you, huh?”

“Both of us, yes.”

“I see. Okay, yes, I’ll come.”

Hearing that word made Connie shudder. He wanted to see Kit coming. Preferably numerous times.

“But I have questions.”

“We have answers,” Connie promised. “Now, are you okay with steak? In particular, rib eye? Oh, and by the way, how do you like your steak cooked? What do you want on your baked potato? What kind of salad dressing do you like too? How do you feel about brownies?”

Kit laughed softly. “Tell you what, why don’t you text me all of that, because that was a lot of questions that were all run together. I’ll text back my answers.”

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it? Sure thing. I’ll send that as soon as we hang up.”

“Okay. I’ll tell Beckett we might want to leave just a little bit early since it takes so long to get back to where you guys live. How dressy is this little get-together?”

“Casual. Jeans are perfectly fine. We’re just a bunch of friends relaxing.”

Kit snickered. “Uh-huh. You guys aren’tjusta bunch of anything. Okay, I’ll see you then.”

“Have a good day, Kit.”

“Thank you. You too, Connie. Bye,” Kit said.

“Goodbye.” Happy with the way the conversation went, Connie disconnected the call, texted the questions, and slipped his cell phone into his pocket.

CONNIE STOPPED by the office around five to make sure Hudson was wrapping things up. Then he followed Hudson to his quarters so they could get ready.

“I told Kit casual,” Connie said when Hudson came out of his walk-in closet in a pair of pants. “I also gave the kitchen Kit’s likes and dislikes.”

“Good, good. Casual, huh? Okay.” Hudson headed back into his closet. A few minutes later he stepped out in a pair of tight jeans and a light-blue polo.

Connie’s jeans were so faded they were almost white, and he wore a silky chocolate brown shirt. “I’m going to go get Kit. It’s almost six.”

Hudson was in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing his hair. He met Connie’s eyes in the mirror. “Okay. By the way, you look very nice.”

Connie winked. “So do you. Oh, I forgot to mention, but when I was talking to Kit, I told him that you and Ibothwanted him to attend this dinner. I hinted heavily that we’re together too.”

“Good. We’re also going to hint heavily that we’re interested in him.”

“No lie, I’m ready to skip to the good part.” Connie’s dragon rumbled in agreement in his head.

“Keep your mind out of the gutter, sweetheart, or you’re going to end up in the pool again.”

Connie grimaced. That, unfortunately, was true. Ridiculous, but true. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

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