Chapter Five
Lainey
The after-lunch crowd had thinned out to only the college student in the corner taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi. When she left, I brought Conor down to the bakery in his carrier after nursing him again.
Although he’d received his first round of vaccinations at his doctor’s appointment last week, I was hesitant to allow him around people since his little immune system was still developing.
Paulina had clocked out, so it was just me and my son. From his spot on the counter in his infant seat, Conor supervised me wiping the tables and chairs. I turned the music up and danced around, using the rag as a choreography prop, trying to get him to laugh.
My little dude didn’t know what to think when I grabbed the broom and used it as a microphone to belt out the lyrics to Bruno Mars’ “Runaway Baby,” as I bopped around to the beat.
While doing a spin move I thought would make any pop star envious, I noticed a man standing at the front of the store watching me with a grin and let out a scream.
I rushed to turn the volume down and his deep voice sounded amused when he said, “Please, don’t stop on my account.”
I caught sight of myself in the mirror on the wall. I wasn’t sure if my face was beet red from embarrassment or exertion from my performance. Maybe a little of both.
Still, I turned around with my best customer-service smile, trying to mask my mortification, then decided to just own it.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there!”
“I had a feeling…”
The man was the same one I’d seen walking along the sidewalk earlier.
Because, of course it was. That’s how my luck ran.
It couldn’t have been Mr. Morrison, the eighty-year-old man who owned the hardware store next door, who caught me making a fool out of myself. No, it had to be the handsome hottie.
He continued, “I didn’t want to interrupt.”
I really needed to get that damn door chime fixed.
****
Adam
Brian and I had pulled into a parking space in front of the bakery I’d noticed earlier. I hadn’t realized it was Lainey’s at the time, but Brian filled me in on the drive over about how she’d used some of the money Shawn had left her to buy it.
Before we even got out of the car, a woman in the front of a store two doors down from the bakery was waving madly at Brian trying to get the sergeant’s attention.
“I’ll be right in,” he’d told me as he gestured toward the bakery front.
I walked inside the shop, and there she was. The most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. Dancing around, singing to her baby on the counter with reckless abandon.
It seemed fitting that as I watched, the sun came out and was now shining through the bakery’s large picture window. It was as if any traces of the gloomy day earlier had suddenly vanished.
There was no one else in the store, so I deduced the dancing goddess must be Lainey.
I had not expected Shawn’s girl to be so stunning. Like, take-my-breath-away-kind-of-gorgeous. Her blonde hair was peeking out from the ballcap on her head that framed her heart- shaped face and her perfect button nose. I didn’t think her cheeks were normally that red though.
“I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. You have some moves.”
She put her hands on her cheeks and shook her head back and forth.
“Oh God!”
I heard the door open behind me, and her eyes lit up.
“Hey, stranger! You just missed out on seeing me make a fool of myself.”
I turned to see who’d made her smile like that. It was Brian.
He laughed as he walked closer. “I’m sorry I missed it?” He phrased it like a question.
She greeted him with a hug. He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her, and I found myself jealous that my new friend got to hold this beautiful creature like that.
Pulling away with a giggle, Lainey knocked on the Kevlar on Brian’s chest.
“Doesn’t it get hot in this thing in the summer?”
“You have no idea.” He glanced at me. “Although I’m sure it’s still no comparison to the heat of the summer in the desert.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t get there until September, but yeah, it was still pretty brutal.”
She eyed me for a second, then held her hand out. “Hi, Lainey Beaumont—a.k.a. the dancing queen.”
The beauty was a queen all right.
Her hazel eyes were kind as she introduced herself, and I couldn’t help but stare at her plump lips that seemed like they were made for kissing, among other things.
As she’d been shaking her bootie while she performed for her son, I noticed her body was curvy in all the right places. I’d found myself wondering if her hourglass figure was new, thanks to having just had a baby, or if she’d always been blessed with sexy curves.
My brain screamed, Speak, dumbass!
I reached for her hand. “Nice to meet you. Adam Callahan.”
The second our eyes met and our hands touched, I felt a zing of electricity.
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
****
Lainey
When Brian walked in not long after the man caught me embarrassing myself, my first thought was maybe the guy was a friend of Brian’s and not Shawn’s, like I’d thought when I’d seen him that morning.
I’d felt a sense of relief at the idea.
While I’d been honored Shawn’s fellow Marines wanted to pay their respects, I hadn’t cared for being the object of their pity when they came into town.
And the guy who caught me serenading Conor was hot. The last thing I wanted was his sympathy.
Then he said he’d gone to the desert in September, the same as when Shawn landed in the Middle East. My original assumption about the man might have been right after all.
It was confirmed when he told me his name. Adam Callahan . Shawn had written to me about him. The two had originally bonded over their Irish ancestry and shared misery about being pale skinned in a place where the sun shone over three hundred days a year. And their friendship grew from there.
“You served with Shawn.”
He nodded slowly. “I did.”
“Is he the reason you’re in town?”
“Yeah.” His smile was sad. “He made me promise to—”
Just then the tone on Brian’s radio went off, indicating an emergency. The dispatcher’s voice came on, saying “All units, ten-thirty-one in progress at five eleven Willow Lane. Caller states he heard a couple arguing, followed by a woman’s screams.”
Brian clicked the mic on his shoulder. “Sierra Four en route.” Another designator voiced he was also on the way.
He kissed my cheek and nodded toward Adam, who replied, “Be safe out there. Thanks for all your help today,” then the sergeant was out the door. We watched as he got in his car and the lights on his roof lit up before he even backed out of the parking space.
Once Brian took off down the road, I turned to my visitor and smiled.
“You were saying, you made a promise to Shawn…”
****
Adam
“You were saying, you made a promise to Shawn?”
“I did.”
Although it didn’t seem right, handing her the ring while she wiped down tables.
“Do you think we could have dinner, and I can explain then?”
Her plump, perfect lips formed an “O”, and I felt my dick jump.
No! Bad cock! She’s Shawn’s girl!
“I, um…” She glanced toward the front of the store where the little strawberry-blonde baby was now asleep in the baby carrier on the counter. “I’m not comfortable leaving Conor.”
“We can bring him with us.”
Lainey shook her head. “He’s too little to go out in public places yet.”
I wasn’t sure if she was making excuses, so I didn’t know how to proceed.
Then, she suggested, “We could have dinner at my apartment. It’s just upstairs.”
I felt my face split into a grin.
“Perfect. Is there a place I can get us takeout?”
“Well, there’s Clay’s Diner across the street. We also have a pizza place and a Chinese restaurant.”
I cocked my head. “Really? I didn’t see those when I walked Main Street earlier.”
“They’re on the side streets.”
“Ah, that explains it. I’ll get whatever you’re in the mood for.”
“I haven’t had pizza in forever. It made me sick when I was pregnant.”
“So, does that mean you want pizza or don’t want pizza?”
“Oh, want—definitely.”
“Pizza it is—what do you like on it?”
“Is pepperoni okay?”
I laughed. “For the last ten months, I’ve subsisted mostly on MREs or hospital food. A pepperoni pizza sounds fantastic.”
She let out a little giggle that once again made my dick take notice.
I was glad to know it still worked—it’d been a while since I’d had any interest in giving it attention and had worried maybe I needed to talk to my doctor. But I was dismayed at what was making it come alive.
It should not be my best friend’s girl.
Oh, not to mention, his baby mama.
“Awesome. Will seven o’clock work for you?”
“Seven works great.” I pulled out my phone. “Can you tell me the name of the pizza place? I’ll stop by and pick it up before coming back.”
“Pizza and More.” Lainey wrinkled her nose. “I know, not very original, but the food is good.”
“That’s all that matters.”
While I had my phone out...
“Can I get your number, too?” I quickly added, “In case I have questions, or get lost.”
She didn’t hesitate to rattle off her digits, and I plugged them into my phone, then called her. When I heard it ringing, I hung up and smiled.
“And now you have mine.”
Her smile was shy when she parroted, “And now I have yours.”
I glanced at my watch. I had enough time to check into a hotel and maybe grab a quick nap before ordering the pizza.
“Is there a hotel nearby that you’d recommend?”
Her brows furrowed. “In Haven Springs?”
That didn’t sound good.
Fuck.
In Lancastle, we had The Inn for lodging, but that was it. Haven Springs was about the same size as my hometown.
I grimaced. “I didn’t think about there not being a hotel here. I should’ve looked to see what was available or at least tried to find a VRBO or something.”
I didn’t even have a car to sleep in.
Not wanting her to think that I was angling for an invitation to stay at her place, I continued, “I’m sure the O’Briens will let me stay in Shawn’s room for the night, or maybe Brian will take pity on me and let me crash on his couch.”
“You’re welcome to sleep on my couch. I can’t promise how comfortable it will be, or that Conor won’t wake you up multiple times in the middle of the night, but you’ll at least have a bathroom to use, and pillow and a blanket.”
I grinned at her. “That’s all I need.” It was tempting to not even look for a place elsewhere.
I’d love to be under the same roof as her all night, even if we were in separate rooms. But I knew that was just asking for trouble.
“I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn’t want to be in your way, so I’ll try to find someplace else. ”
“You wouldn’t be in my way, but I understand. At least you know you have a backup plan.”
Backup plan. Yeah.
Part of me wanted it to be Plan A.
Maybe that’s why, instead of going back to the O’Brien’s and arranging for a place to sleep that night, I looked around her bakery and said, “Since I don’t have a hotel room to hang out in, can I help you here?”