Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
AVERY
I wiped a damp rag across the bar, my eyes on the door.
Whoever was escorting me home would be here any minute, and Cammie hadn’t shown up yet.
She’d always been a little flaky, but mostly reliable.
Since the break-in, she’d been all over the place, canceling at the last minute more often than not.
I didn’t want to fire her. Despite her recent flakiness, I liked her.
I didn’t like coming into work early and staying to clean up after closing.
It was a long day, and more than once lately, I’d felt the exhaustion to my bones.
A wave of relief washed over me as the back door to the brewery slammed open, and Cammie exploded through, all apologies and waving arms. “I’m so sorry. The dog got out, and I couldn’t get him back. I’m so sorry, Ave.”
“It’s all right,” I said, as I always did, slinging an arm around her shoulders and giving her a quick hug. She wore a low-cut Sawyers Bend Brewing t-shirt and red lipstick, and her frizzy hair smelled of perfume and cigarettes. Her dark eyes were heavy with remorse.
“Seriously,” I said with another squeeze of her shoulders, “It’s okay. My ride isn’t here yet anyway.”
Cammie slung an apron around her waist and tossed her hair back off her shoulders. “They’re still keeping you under guard?”
“Looks like it,” I said. “After what happened at the Orchard, I’m not as annoyed by it as I used to be.”
The cut had been shallow and was mostly healed, but overall, two thumbs down on knife wounds from me. I wasn’t too keen on my brother almost getting stabbed either.
Cammie took her place behind the bar, grabbing a pint glass and pulling a beer for a customer.
I patted her on the shoulder and headed back to my office to grab my bag and my jacket.
I needed to stop at the drugstore on the way home.
Hopefully, whoever Hawk sent after me wouldn’t mind a quick stop.
I liked his team well enough, but I was hoping none of them showed.
In the week since the Orchard and the hospital, I’d only seen West a few times.
He’d come to the taproom to bring me home, and both times, police chief stuff had gotten in the way.
We both acted like his chauffeur service was run-of-the-mill, like he was just up on rotation, but I thought we both knew it was more than that.
Or maybe that was just wishful thinking. I couldn’t forget that kiss. I’d been woozy and in pain, but that kiss had blown it all away. His lips had been so soft, his hands strong as they held my face, reigniting every lustful thought I’d ever had about West Garfield.
He was my brother’s best friend. Too old for me, too serious for me, too bossy for me. All of that was true.
But hey, West was hot. I had eyes, so I’d noticed. I’d filed him away under “never going to happen.”
He’d also never given me the slightest indication he saw me as anything other than Griffen’s annoying little sister. Until lately. Lately, he’d looked at me differently, and I’d realized I liked it.
I still hadn’t seen that kiss coming. And damn, I wanted another one.
I didn’t care if I should, or if it would be good for me, or if it would cause a mess when, inevitably, we stopped kissing.
We’d deal with that when it came. In light of all the other crap going on, getting tangled up with West didn’t seem like the worst idea I’d ever had.
I slung my purse strap over my shoulder, zipped up my jacket.
Who was I kidding? I was making excuses because I wanted to kiss the police chief again.
The first time he’d come to bring me home, he had to bail when his phone rang.
Fender bender in town. I’d been disappointed, but I knew it came with the job.
Two days before, we’d been about to head out the door, and it happened again.
This time, a domestic disturbance. I didn’t know more than that.
West knew how to keep his mouth shut. I could respect that, even when it was annoying.
It was leaf season in Western North Carolina, and the height of tourist season.
The Inn was booked to the max, every short-term rental in a 50-mile radius was taken, and there were more out-of-state plates in town than locals.
Sawyers Bend was a madhouse, but those of us who catered to the tourist trade weren’t complaining.
Even my quiet little brewery on the far end of Main Street was packed daily.
I glanced out at the taproom. Cammie and Dave could handle it.
They’d have their hands full, but their pockets would be stuffed with tips by the end of the night.
My feet ached as I pushed through the door to the taproom and took a spot at the end of the bar, watching Cammie and Dave pull beers, make change, and run credit cards.
I just wanted to get home. Maybe the drugstore could wait.
But if I didn’t do it now, it’d just be there for me later.
I let out a sigh, pushing my hair back from my face. I might as well just get it over with.
The door shoved open, letting in a blast of crisp fall air, and there was West, his dark hair falling in his eyes and his Sawyers Bend police coat hanging open.
Here was a man with a gun on his hip who I didn’t mind following me around.
My heart lurched as his eyes locked on mine.
He crossed the room in that long-legged stride I’d always found so appealing.
For a second, disappointment threaded through me as I wondered if he was here for a beer and not for me. It faded as he headed to my end of the bar.
“I’m your ride tonight. You ready to go?” he asked, reaching to close his hand around my upper arm.
“I’m ready,” I said, letting him tug me close enough to slide his arm around my shoulders, leading me to the door, West angling himself into the crowd, using his shoulder to clear a path.
That was the thing about West; sometimes he could be bossy and overbearing, but I liked the way he protected me.
I hadn’t had a lot of that for most of my life.
Everyone assumed I could take care of myself.
I could. I did. But sometimes it was nice to know someone else was taking care of me, too.
I followed West out to his Sawyers Bend Police SUV. He held open the passenger door. “You hungry?” he asked, not waiting for an answer. He closed the door, and I watched him round the front of the vehicle, my stomach grumbling.
“I’m starving,” I said as he got in. I’d missed dinner at the Manor, but I’d see if Finn would take pity on me and give me some leftovers.
West glanced my way, putting the SUV in reverse. “Do you have plans tonight?”
“Not really,” I said, deciding to run my errands another time. “I was going to eat, put my feet up, and go to bed early. The usual, if I can get out of the brewery before close.”
“Good,” was all he said.
I wanted to ask what that meant, but a wave of fatigue hit me, and I settled into the passenger seat, leaning my head back, giving myself up to the flow.
It sounded like he was going to feed me.
I wanted food, and I wanted to see West, so whatever happened next was fine with me.
In the back of my head, I must have expected him to turn toward town and one of the many restaurants we’d find there. Maybe we could get a table at the Inn.
Instead, he went the other way, toward the Manor. Why would he ask about dinner if he was just taking me home? Before we got to the Manor, he flicked on his blinker and turned left onto a narrow road.
“Where are we going?” I asked .
Without looking at me, he said, “My place.”
Anticipation rippled through me as my heart picked up speed in my chest. Maybe I was going to get my wish about that kiss.
My stomach rumbled again. “Do you have food at your place?” I asked.
I wanted to see where West lived. For all that we’d known each other most of my life, I’d never been to the house he’d bought as an adult.
“I do,” he answered.
“Works for me,” I said, straightening a little in my seat, the fatigue gone. My heart hadn’t slowed. I waited to feel cautious, for the doubts to creep in. I wanted a kiss, but going to his house at night—that seemed to imply a lot more than just a kiss.
Was I ready for that? Was it what I wanted?
I watched the trees flash by under the headlights as we wound further off the main road, turning at a bank of old mailboxes.
“Hang on,” West said. “Driveway’s a little bumpy. We need to get it regraded, but all the neighbors can’t agree, so at the moment it’s a mess.”
He wasn’t wrong. I gripped onto the oh-shit handle above the door, gritting my teeth as the SUV bounced beneath us. After a very long, bumpy minute, we turned onto a neatly graveled drive.