Free Charm School After Dark: Lesson 1 by Lynn Carmer

him, she zoomed in on his buddy. “Frank, I almost didn’t recognize you. Milk has done a body good. You look… bigger.”
    Bigger? He was bigger than the twerp next to him. He bunched his muscles, deciding to ignore the comments. “Hi.”
    A breezy smile was her only response.
    Not this shit again. He leaned in, and she eyed him warily. “We playing that game again?”
    Before she could answer, Frank cut in. “Damn, it’s been a long time. I haven’t seen you guys since high school. I forgot how different you all look. All four of you are like that, right? Tall and short. How does that happen? You adopted?”
    “Well, we’re quadruplets, so no. We just have a lot going on.” Caelen laughed and directed her smile toward her sister.
    “Like what?”
    Brynn sighed, but plastered a polite smile on her lips. “Our mom’s originally from Denmark; she’s pretty tall. Our dad’s Puerto Rican, and he’s about her height, right?” she asked Caelen.
    Caelen directed a sultry gaze in Frank’s direction, acting as if no one else were in the room.
    Jealousy, deep and dark, crept under Dare’s skin. She should be looking at him like that. Maybe he’d share how worried Frank was about the fatties and losers at the bar? Shaking his head, he took a mental step back. No matter how jealous, he’d never cockblock one of his crew. He had better wait it out, for now.
    Caelen finally pried her eyes off Frank. “Yeah, I think he might be a little shorter than her, but we have one grandma who doesn’t even reach five feet and another that’s closer to six. So we’re all kind of a hodgepodge in the height department.”
    “And skin and hair. Light and dark. Curly and straight. It’s crazy. I wouldn’t even believe you were sisters, if it weren’t for the eyes.” He chortled, loving the attention. “Anyway, can I get you guys a drink?” Frank sidled closer to Caelen, and she made room for him.
    What the hell?
    “We’re good,” Brynn said. “So, where do you work, Frank?”
    “I’m a firefighter for the local engine, but I’m hoping to be a part of the Hotshot crew, like Dare.”
    “What’s a Hotshot?”
    “Same as firefighters, except they’re the guys they drop out in the middle of nowhere.”
    “Why?”
    “Wildfires.” Dare cleared his throat, his hands shoved in his pockets so he didn’t physically remove Frank from Caelen’s presence.
    “Except Dare won’t be worrying about working for the next week. He was—”
    Dare quickly kicked Frank’s stool, effectively cutting off the next words that would have come out of his big mouth. Shut up, Frank . No need to share that he’d been suspended. He didn’t want Caelen to think he was an unemployed loser.
    Frank looked confused, as usual, but thankfully didn’t say anymore.
    Caelen looked at him sharply, then tilted her head to the side as if to figure out what was going on. After a minute, she reached over and touched Frank’s arm. “How brave.”
    His friend’s eyes looked like they were going to bug out of his head. Dare gritted his teeth, never believing he’d be jealous of Frank. Frank. How was this happening? Reminding himself that games were Caelen’s specialty, he decided it was time to bring her attention back to him. No way in hell she was going to be spending time with Frank and giving that fool any attention.
    No. Way.
    *
    C AELEN WANTED TO laugh out loud. This night was turning out better than she could’ve hoped. She had not one, but two men to choose from, and the pickings were decent. Translation: Dare, more than decent; Frank, not so much. Dare, masculine yumminess; Frank, not someone she’d touch with a ten foot pole.
    “Tool” had been too kind a word to describe Frank in high school; he was a “richie” who’d looked down on her and her sisters, while simultaneously trying to get into their pants. He’d been such a follower. No way she’d ever put her mouth anywhere near his dick.
    But Dare didn’t know that. And if