Page 11 of Love or Leave

In a bush.

Not to mention the fact that every time she saw him, she wondered what he looked like naked.

She forced away the thought and straightened her spine. It occurred to her that she wasn't really sure how he and Max knew each other, or why she'd never met him before. She'd have to ask Max without sounding too curious.

Not that she was curious about Antonio.

The corner of her mouth pulled at the lie and she shook the thought from her mind.

"Is Ethan coming?" Jer asked, breaking the silence.

Max nodded. "He and Adam had to stop at Ethan's on their way. They should be here soon."

"Good," he said. "We tapped the new ale today. He asked when it would be ready."

"I'll take one," Antonio said, his deep, smooth voice floating over her ear.

"Same," Max said, sitting on the other side of Cara.

"Cara?" Jer asked.

"Sure," she said, then cleared her clogged up throat. "Thanks."

Jer put a little metal bucket of peanuts on the bar before turning to fill three glasses.

Max grabbed a peanut from the bucket and crushed it in his fingers. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Right. She braced herself for the flurry of questions she knew would come, then let it out. "Can I borrow your golf clubs?"

Max's eyebrows hit the ceiling. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "To go stargazing. Why do you think?"

Antonio and Jer snickered, and she took a deep breath, trying to stop herself from coming off too aggressively.

"You're going golfing?" Max asked incredulously. "Seriously?"

Cara tipped her chin up. "I've signed up for lessons. I already started Monday, but I need clubs."

"You started already? Did anyone get hurt?"

"Only my pride," she muttered, her neck going hot at the memory of swinging and missing.

Max narrowed his eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

"Ugh," she said just as her drink arrived. She took a gulp of the amber liquid before continuing. "I want to meet new people, step out of my comfort zone, try new things."

Max stared at her for a moment, opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and opted to just nod instead. "Sure, you can borrow them, but they're probably too big for you."

"Oh," she said, not realizing there were sizes.

"You can borrow mine," Antonio said from the other side of her. "They're human size."

She twisted toward him, and was greeted by his warm, picture-perfect smile.

"Really?"

He nodded. "I'll get them to you," he said, casually taking a drink.

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