Eric glared at Nathan as he reluctantly sat down in the only other chair available, the one right next to Amber. As soon as Eric sat down she shifted her chair closer to him.

"What's for dinner, mom?" Nathan asked.

"I thought we'd order in. What are you in the mood for?" she asked brightly as she watched Amber and Eric with a pleased little smile.

"I could go for Chinese," Joe said, deciding that now that she got her second wind she was hungry.

"Pizza," Nathan said, giving a strand of her hair a playful tug.

She noticed that Amber squished her face up in disgust. Alice must have noticed it as well. "What would you like, Amber? Chinese or pizza?"

"Neither actually. There's too many carbs and fat. But I know a great tofu place," she added with a smile that clearly stated that she always got her way and this time would be no different.

As much as she'd love to screw over the guys, she was not a tofu kind of girl. The one time she tried tofu she ended up slapping a hand over her mouth as she made a run for the bathroom. The matching grimaces on the guys' faces told her exactly what they thought on the matter. Even Alice had a hard time biting back a grimace.

"What about the Chinese buffet on Harrison Street? That has a tofu and sushi bar," Eric said, already getting to his feet. Nathan sighed with obvious relief as he got to his.

"That sounds great," Alice said, latching onto the choice that would save them all from eating things that scared them.

The only one that didn't get up was Amber. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking putout as she explained, "But it's not organic."

"Hmmm," Alice said, looking thoughtful and making Eric look nervous and for good reason. The woman was up to something and they all knew it. The only question at the moment was how hard was this going to make Nathan and her laugh.

"Why don't you take Amber to the restaurant that she feels more comfortable with and Nathan, Joe, and I will grab something to eat and meet you at the movies," Alice suggested.

"Movie?" she said at the same time as Nathan and Eric.

"Since when are we seeing a movie?" Eric demanded, shifting away from Amber as she sent a smug smile his way. Seriously, where did Alice find these women? Even though it entertained her, it was a bit creepy.

"I think it would be a nice chance to spend some time together," Alice said in that motherly tone that none of them dared argue. It didn't matter that they all saw each other at least twice a week, Alice wanted to go the movies then they were going to the movies.

"That sounds like fun," she said brightly, sending Eric another evil little smile that was met with a scowl.

"Fine, but Nathan should bring Amber since he loves tofu," Eric explained as he reached out and grabbed Nathan by the arm and yanked him out of his way. In seconds he was by her side with his arm around her. The glare Amber sent her way was a little concerning, but she shrugged it off mostly because the woman was providing her with free entertainment.

"No, I don't. I love Chinese," Nathan grumbled.

"Don't be silly, Eric. You take Amber out and we'll meet at Emerald Cinemas at nine," Alice said, grabbing her purse off the kitchen counter and heading towards the living room door as if everything was settled, but she knew Eric wasn't about to let this go. Even if they weren't seeing each other now she knew he'd do anything and everything to get out of this.

"Mom, I have something I have to tell you," Eric said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"Oh? What is it?" Alice asked, pausing by the door.

"I can't take your friend out because Joe and I have decided to start seeing each other," he explained. "So, as you can see it would be a little awkward taking another woman out and ditching my girlfriend," he pointed out with a helpless shrug.

Amber's glare on her intensified as Alice narrowed her eyes on them.

"Joe?" was all Alice had to say.

She could confirm Eric's story and get the woman who looked close to clawing her eyes out the hell away from her or she could have a little more fun. In the end she knew what she had to do. She loved him and knew how much he hated these little setups of Alice's.

"I have no idea what he's talking about," she said, shaking her head in wonder as she stepped away from him.

Nathan grinned hugely as he reached out and took her hand. Eric's shocked gasp of course pleased her.

"You betraying bitch!" he hissed, making a mad grab for her hand.

"Honestly, Eric. You'll do and say anything to get out of trying something new. It won't kill you to give tofu another try. I'm sure the rash you developed last time was just a fluke," Alice said, starting to head for the door once again.

"This isn't over!" Eric called after them.

********

"What the hell are you doing here?" Nathan asked as he loaded his plate with chicken fingers.

"Contemplating manslaughter," Eric said, snagging the plate away from his brother and moving down the line to add beef teriyaki and pork fried rice. With a resigned sigh Nathan grabbed another plate.

"Where's your date?" Nathan asked, chuckling.

"You mean your date? She's sitting at the table waiting for you," Eric said, nodding towards the woman who looked seconds away from throwing a tantrum.

Nathan frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Eric shrugged even as his eyes sought out the little traitor loading her plate up three tables down. "After I explained that I was unavailable, but that you were looking for someone like her, she decided to give you a chance," Eric said, slapping his brother on the back before moving on to his next prey.

"You better be kidding," Nathan bit out. "You are kidding, right? Eric?" he said, sounding nervous. Good. The bastard should be nervous. That woman was a nightmare.

The second his brother pulled out of the driveway with their mother and Joe she started in on him, telling him she didn't appreciate his attitude one bit. He just barely stopped himself from sending her packing when he decided to unload the woman on Nathan to let the bastard see how it felt to be set up with a psycho.

When she started in about Joe he set her straight on that subject. He told her that he was in love with her and the damn woman was just nervous about letting his mother know since she wouldn't want to get Alice's hopes up. Not that she could. She was his and that's all there was to it.

"He said what?" he heard his mother suddenly demand.

His eyes shot over to the table where he left Amber pouting and he tried not to wince as his mother turned a glare on him. It was just so wrong that one look from his mother could still make him cringe.

"Uh oh, looks like someone's in trouble," Joe said in a mock whisper as she walked past him.

With a glare that admittedly dropped to her ass several times he followed after her, snatching the soda out of Nathan's hand on the way. He waited for Joe to sit down and then sat down right next to her and thankfully well away from the two women glaring in his direction.

He pointedly ignored them as he put his arm along the back of Joe's chair and ate. Occasionally he looked up to send a smug smile in his brother's direction as the harpy his mother tried setting him up with chatted his ear off about fashion and diets. Every time the poor bastard went to eat something she went into a lecture about animal cruelty that Eric easily ignored. When Nathan filled his plate up with vegetables, probably to get her to shut the hell up, she lectured him about oils and choosing organic foods.

Joe happily ignored the woman's pointed comments in her direction and enjoyed her meal. When she finally shoved her plate away, a clear sign from Joe that she was done, he took her hand into his and was surprised when she didn't pull away. Then again they'd always been close so this wouldn't be a big deal to his mother. Even though he could appreciate the fact that she was still his Joe and clearly enjoyed screwing him over for a good laugh, he fully planned on getting her back.

"Aren't you getting dessert?" he asked, reaching over to smooth a loose strand of her honey blond hair behind her ear.

"Now why would I do that when you're going to buy me something at the movies?" she asked, sending him an impish smile.

Nathan snorted at that and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "gold digger," but he ignored it, mostly because he agreed with his brother. What was it with women these days? Any other woman and he would have laughed and wished her luck with that, but this was his Joe. So he might just treat her to a soda, small of course.

But he wanted a kiss first and he wanted it now. He stood up, giving her hand a small tug that had her standing up. "We'll meet you outside," he told his family as he stepped away from the table, dropping enough money on the table to cover his and Joe's share plus a tip, and headed for the door before his mother could stop him.

"Why exactly are you in a rush to leave the restaurant?" Joe asked once they reached his car.

"For this of course," he said, pulling her into his arms so that he could kiss her.

Over the past couple of days they'd snuck a few kisses, but it had been damn difficult to kiss her the way he wanted with Nathan always under foot. He had no proof, but he was pretty sure the bastard was doing it on purpose to screw with him. More than once over the past couple of days he thought he'd die if didn't touch her and now that she was in his arms he didn't want to let her go.

"Come home with me," he murmured against her lips.

"What about the movie?" she asked, tightening her arms around his neck.

"We can watch a movie at my place," he suggested, loving the idea of living that particular fantasy out again.

"Do I get to pick the movie?" she asked in between nibbling on his lips.

"Yes," he said, knowing that he had absolutely no plans on watching the movie.

"He's just really shy," he heard Nathan explain. "But I know he's interested."

"Yes, he is-Eric Parish, what are you doing?" his mother demanded in a bit of a hysterical screech.

He pressed one last kiss to Joe's lips before pulling back, noting the beautiful blush that painted her cheeks.

"Kissing my girlfriend. What does it look like?" he asked, turning to face his mother while he took Joe's hand into his.

He couldn't help but be amused as he watched the play of emotions float over his mother's features. She went from shocked, to horrified when her eyes landed on Amber and then turned pleased, very pleased.

His mother grinned hugely as she faced Amber. "Did I mention that Nathan is single?"

Chapter 25

"We have to go," she said, but didn't pull away from him as he reached between them and undid her pants. She said even less as he shoved her pants and panties down around her knees. After one last kiss that left her panting he turned her around and urged her to her knees.