“Don’t worry, Dunc, I’ll be gone as soon as I can. Jillian’s checking around to see if anyone she knows needs a roommate. I’ll find something cheap.”

“You can stay as long as you need to.”

“That’s not what you were saying yesterday.”

He rolled his eyes. “Jesus, you’re pissy today. What crawled up your butt?”

She cast another narrow-eyed look at Marc, briefly meeting his eyes, then looked back at Duncan with her chin lifted. “Nothing. So. I have stuff to do. I’ll see you later.”

She grabbed her laptop case and carried it and her cup of coffee into the empty bedroom. She plugged in the computer and turned it on. She settled herself on the carpeted floor, leaning against the wall, ready to check emails and various news and then social media sites. It was Sunday, but even so, she would do some work for her clients.

She spent a couple of hours working, changing position several times to get comfortable; not having a desk was a major pain the butt. And neck. And wrists. Hopefully her furniture would be able to be shipped quickly. She sent off a quick email to her mom to check on that and to assure Mom she wasn’t brokenhearted over Richard and was fine.

Then she powered down her computer and popped into the bathroom. Before going out she needed a little cosmetic armor. She put on some eye shadow and mascara, and a swipe of lip gloss. When she came out of the bathroom, Marc’s bedroom door was closed.

Whatever.

She headed out, not sure where she was going, but she’d figure it out. She wanted to explore her new neighborhood, even if it was only a temporary home. She needed to find a store where she could pick up some groceries. She needed a reason to get out of that condo and stay out for the rest of the day.

Today the sun was out and the unexpected snow from yesterday was melting. Streets and sidewalks were a slushy mess. With boots and gloves, and her big scarf snuggled up around her chin, she was quite comfortable walking for a while.

She explored the South Loop neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon, walking through Millennium Park, lingering at the “Bean” sculpture, then wandered past funky little restaurants and pubs, a wine shop, a shoe boutique, and a used bookstore. She passed a small Italian market and noted its location to return to on her way home.

She went into the Museum of Contemporary Photography, partly because she needed to warm up and partly because of her interest in photography. She’d always liked taking pictures and had done a couple of college courses in photography as part of her Visual Arts diploma.

She returned home several hours later carrying a few plastic bags of food. She let herself into the condo, not sure what to expect, but a bunch of big guys on stools at the kitchen island wasn’t it.

She swept them with her gaze. Jared, Brent, Hughie, and Olaf. Not Marc and not Duncan. She dropped her bags, hung up her jacket, and removed her boots, then lifted the groceries and carried them into the kitchen. “Hey, guys. What’s up?”

“Not much.” Brent jumped up to help her with the bags. So sweet. “Waiting for Duper and Army to get home.”

“Oh. Where are they?”

“They went for a run. Then we’re going to eat. Burgers. Wanna come?”

She pursed her lips as she pulled food out of the bags. Greek yogurt. Cottage cheese. Bags of spinach. Fruit. “I don’t know. Sounds like fun, but Duncan probably doesn’t want me to tag along.”

“Huh. You’re probably right. He already told us you’re off-limits.”

She lifted her eyebrows, pausing. “He did?”

“Hell yeah. It’s the rule.”

“The rule?”

They explained it to her.

“We told him we’re all nice guys and he should be happy if you went out with one of us.” Hughie grinned. “He wasn’t buying it.”

“He’s a little overprotective,” Lovey said dryly. “You know what? I’d love to come for burgers.”

“Attagirl.” Jared nodded with a grin. “Want a beer?” He nodded at the empties on the counter.

“Yeah. I do.” She smiled at him. Damn, he was gorgeous, and always dressed so well and perfectly groomed. And yet, she wasn’t even a little interested in him. She sighed.

Jared opened the fridge and pulled a beer out, then opened it for her.

“Thanks.” She lifted it in a small toast. “You guys just come in here and make yourselves at home?”

“Yup. And drink Army’s beer. Cheers.”

Lovey reached for one more shopping bag. She wasn’t sure why she’d bought two big bags of tortilla chips and two jars of salsa, but this seemed the perfect time to break them open.

“Oh man, chips,” Jared said with appreciation. “You rock, Lovey.”

She grinned as she found a couple of bowls and filled them, then climbed onto a stool. “Did you stay late last night at Eddy’s?”

The guys all dove into the chips like they hadn’t eaten in a year. “Depends what you consider late. I left around two,” Jared said.

“That’s late.”

“So Lovey, what do you do for a living?” Brent asked.

“I’m in marketing and visual arts. In Madison, I was working for Kleinheinz Cheese.”

Silence. Then Hughie said, “Cheese?”

“Yeah.” She grinned. “Come on, guys, it’s Wisconsin.”

They all nodded.

“I was working with ad agencies, coming up with slogans like ‘Sometimes you feel like a cheese, sometimes you don’t.’ ”

They guffawed.

“And ‘please don’t squeeze the cheese.’ ”

“ ‘Good to the last cheese’?” Hughie said.

Lovey laughed with delight. “Yes! You got it.”

“I know a good joke about cheese,” Brent said. He paused. “Well, actually it’s about mice.” Lovey smiled. “Three mice are in a bar talking about which one of them’s the toughest. One mouse says, ‘I’m so tough I go up to the mousetrap and rip the cheese out.’ The other says, ‘I’m so tough I snort rat poison.’ The third mouse finishes his beer and gets up to leave. ‘Where you going?’ asks the first mouse. The third one says, ‘I’m going home to fuck the cat.’ ”

The guys all roared with laughter and Lovey giggled along with them. Then Brent said, “Uh, sorry, language.”

Lovey waved a hand. “God, don’t worry about it. I grew up with Duncan and all his hockey player friends.”

“True that.”

“I know some stupid cheese jokes,” she said. “How do you get a mouse to smile?” She paused for a beat. “Say cheese!” They all groaned, but she grinned. “Okay, how about this one—what do you call cheese that is sad? Blue cheese.” More groans, but reluctant laughs too.

“Not cheese jokes,” Hughie said. “Cheesy jokes.”

She grinned. “Ha! Exactly. What do you call cheese that isn’t yours? Nacho cheese!” This time they laughed.

“What’s going on?”

Everyone turned at Duncan’s voice.

“Hey, Armdog, you’re home,” Jared said.

Marc walked in too, looking at the laughing group at the table.

“Just hanging out waiting for you two,” Jared said. “Lovey’s been entertaining us with cheesy jokes.” He grinned.

“They’ve been waiting here for hours.” Lovey winked at Jared.

Duncan frowned at her.

“They invited me to go for burgers,” she said. “Sounds great.”

Marc frowned too.

Fuck him and his Captain Codger stick up his ass.

Her own thoughts made her smile and she lifted her beer to her lips.

“You assholes are drinking all my beer,” Marc said. “It’s not like you can’t afford your own.”

“Dude,” Hughie said. “We brought more. Don’t get your shorts in a twist.”

“Lovey probably doesn’t want to hang out with you losers,” Duncan said with a meaningful look at her.

She drained her beer and set it down on the granite countertop. “Sure I do. We were having fun—right, guys?”

“Right.” They all smiled at her.

Duncan muttered something under his breath and Marc’s face tightened.

“I bought you more yogurt,” she said to Marc.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

“Fine,” Duncan said. “We need to shower. Be right back.”