Soufflés at Sunrise by M.J. O'Shea and Anna Martin Page A

something comforting to eat, and a movie on his laptop. The chance to relax for a few hours.
    It clearly wasn’t going to happen, though. Jenna had gotten everyone excited about some new Argentinian place down on the beach, and had organized a bunch of taxis to get them all there and back. Kai knew if he backed out now he would look like a total dick, so he pulled on a pair of half-decent jeans and a shirt, hoping to look like he’d made at least some of an effort.
    Chase looked hot. Kai had watched him shower, then change into nearly the same jeans-and-shirt combination. It was different on Chase, though. He had only done about four buttons up on his plaid shirt, and the green brought out the color of his eyes. If Kai weren’t quite so aware of Aaron watching them, he would have gone over and unbuttoned a few more.
    “You guys ready?” Polly stuck her head around the door and grinned at them. Kai couldn’t help but smile back.
    “I think so. If I can get Aaron to stop drowning himself in cologne.”
    “Hey!” Aaron protested, and put the bottle down.
    The traffic on the way to the beach was hideous, but no one in their car seemed to care. Chase had been dragged into another vehicle, and Kai couldn’t help but be annoyed. If there was one thing that could have made this little school trip bearable, it would have been running his hand up and down Chase’s thigh in the backseat where no one else could see. Instead he was jammed in between Aaron and Jenna, who was bouncing in her seat.
    “How are your kids?” Kai asked, pushing the one button he knew would get Jenna talking for hours without any need for him to reply.
    “Oh, they’re good,” Jenna said with a big smile. “Missing Mommy, of course, but Caitlin has been telling everyone her Mommy is going to be on TV, and that seems to be keeping them going.”
    She started on a new story about her eldest son, who had just joined the Little League team and was desperate for Jenna to go home and watch him play. She had three or four kids in total, Kai couldn’t remember exactly, and her poor husband and mother were now looking after them full-time.
    “It must be hard for you,” he said sympathetically, patting her arm.
    Jenna turned watery eyes on him. “It is. But you do what you have to do for your kids. This show is securing their futures, you know?”
    Kai did know. He could see what was next for Jenna as if he’d suddenly become a master of divination—she’d get some big national campaign for healthy school snacks, would go on The View to show her deep concern for the health of the nation’s children who were, after all, the future. Jenna would go on to do a cookbook, maybe brand some snack bars that would be sold in Whole Foods, and generally be a pain in the ass for the next few years until people forgot about her.
    It was practically written in the stars.
    When they finally— finally —got to the restaurant, Kai hung back from the crowd to get a few moments of fresh air. He tagged along at the back after the hostess started showing the group to the long table that had been reserved for them, eyes on Chase’s ass in those jeans.
    Fuck. Did he paint those things on?
    “Hey,” he said in a low voice as he caught up, his lips close to Chase’s neck so the puff of warm air danced over his skin. The resulting shiver through Chase’s body made Kai grin wickedly to himself.
    “Hey.”
    There were two seats left at the end of the table by the time Chase and Kai got there, opposite each other, which was fine by Kai. He could play footsie under the table.
    “Want to share a bottle of wine?” he said to Chase as they sat down, immediately reaching for the wine list.
    Chase laughed. “Sure. What are you in the mood for?”
    “Wine,” Kai muttered darkly. “Lots of wine.”
    “I don’t drink that much red,” Chase admitted. “It gives me a headache.”
    “White is fine with me,” Kai said, running his finger down the list until he found a