Chapter 3
Lawson
Ethan Fairchild could be a problem. He was much too…
observant. I wondered the rest of that afternoon and into the dinner hour who he was.
Wanted to know more about him. His offer to take me into the bayou wasn’t anything but that, an offer.
Just a way to be neighborly. But my suspicion wasn’t just ingrained because I was running from the one man in my life who should care about me, I was used to the indifference of the city and the people who populated it. They minded their own business.
Apparently small town people didn’t sit on propriety.
They opened up their hearts and their wallets to complete strangers.
I didn’t know that someone like Braxton Outlaw and Ethan Fairchild existed.
I was thankful, so grateful that they had been so kind because I had been running on empty this morning.
Now I’d had three square meals, and there was some gas in my tank.
I also felt guilty that I was withholding from them, but really, this was a stopgap.
Someplace for me to recover from the past year of being always on the go.
I was tired, and I wanted to rest, if for just a little while.
The minute Ethan got anywhere near me, I swear I could feel his heat, the fine hair on my skin stirring as if his aura brushed over mine. “You almost done?” he asked.
I turned from the table I was straightening. “I think so. I’m not exactly sure of the process.”
“We turn the chairs over and then sweep up. Brax is already gone, so I usually handle that for him. He has a family to go home to, a wife and triplet sons. I do as much as I can so he can tuck those little guys in bed.
Was this guy for real? “No family for you?” I asked, realizing how personal a question that was and cringing because when you got personal with someone, they got personal with you.
He froze for a minute then said, his voice subdued, “No, no wife or kids, not even a girlfriend. I guess I haven’t met the right person.”
Were all the women in this town blind? He was so well put together, and his generosity only added to that appeal.
“How about you?”
“Huh?” I asked, soaking him in and getting a little lost.
“Family? Significant other?”
There it was, another question I needed to dodge, but maybe it was the constant loneliness, or the deflecting I was getting sick of because, irrationally, I wanted to tell him the truth. But that wasn’t possible and made Ethan seem even more dangerous.
“Nope, same as you.” That wasn’t technically true, but I couldn’t go into details with him about my past. It would lead to more questions with the answers I didn’t want to give.
My pursuers would stop at nothing to find me, not even short of hurting my best friend.
She had the bruises to prove it, and she’d been too afraid for me to press charges.
There was no one I could trust because there was no one, usually an innocent one who wouldn’t be affected by the violence that followed me.
He nudged me with his shoulder to get me going and that one light touch sent a hot-and-cold sensation shooting through me, making my pulse trip.
For an instant, it felt as if my lungs had collapsed.
Closing my eyes and clamping my teeth together, I forced myself to inhale, a new rush of heat sizzling through me.
Lord, I must be out of my mind, letting him get this close.
I knew he’d been there, and I should have moved further away. Why hadn’t I?
He turned over a chair and gave me a sidelong glance, his tone dry. “You going to give me a hand, Tinkerbell?”
“ Tinkerbell ?”
“Yeah, you look like a fairy princess.”
I rolled my eyes. “Really?” Maybe once upon a time I had been, but no more.
If he wanted to call me Tinkerbell, that was fine.
Maybe he would forget my name altogether and that would suit me.
I started at the nearby table needing to put distance between us.
Just a few more days and I could get out of here, away from the mesmerizing Ethan, the overhead light making the flecks in his compelling hazel eyes look like pure gold.
We moved through the room, turning the chairs until they were all stacked on the tables. “What is the process in the morning?”
“Fill the salt and pepper shakers, make sure there’s plenty of syrup in the containers, roll silverware, and get the coffee going. I can show you how that’s done in the morning. Brax wanted me to give you this key.” He pulled it off his own key chain and handed it to me.
“You’re handling the bar again tomorrow?”
“Yeah, especially now that he’s short two waitresses. One of our bartenders will be filling in tomorrow so it won’t be so hectic for you.”
“Thank God. It was busy something fierce.”
He turned when I said that, stopping in mid-stride.
I walked right into that big, broad chest and he steadied me against him.
“Whoa,” he murmured, looking down into what I was sure were my startled eyes.
What else he saw there, I wasn’t sure because I kind of got lost in his.
The air tightened both inside and outside as if I was being constricted internally and externally, as if Ethan had control of all the oxygen in the room.
“You okay? I was just going to grab the broom. I forgot it was behind the bar.”
Unable to tear my eyes from his face, I said, my voice thick, “Yes. I’m fine. Just clumsy.”
“You’re far from clumsy. You moved around these tables like you were floating on air. I’m the idiot who stopped in mid-stride.”
I had been so used to making excuses, to belittling myself before I could be belittled, I was so warmed by his taking the blame and not seeming to care one whit. Then startled. He’d been watching me. All day. I swallowed, and it felt as if I had just slid into something charming but risky.
He let me go, and I stepped back, shaking and affected by not only his presence, but his words.
I’d been here less than a day and he was already doing things to me no man had ever done.
That couldn’t be good for either of us when I knew this was only a temporary situation.
I so didn’t want him to get mixed up in my problems.
He went past me, grabbed the broom and started to sweep the floor.
There were a couple of glasses at the end of the bar.
I went and picked them up and headed for the kitchen.
It would give me a good breather. I set them in the sink and was so impressed that Brax’s kitchen was spotless.
I really hadn’t ever tasted gumbo like that.
At least I worked for a man who was top-notch at what he did.
I headed back out to the dining room, and Ethan was almost done. He finished up the last of it while I watched. I really needed him to go before I could do what I needed to do.
“We’re good to go.” We headed for the back door. We walked outside and he said, “Let me walk you to your car.”
“That’s not necessary,” I murmured.
“I insist.” We started toward my car and when we got to the vehicle, I opened the door.
“Thanks.” I got inside and he closed the door for me, then walked to his truck.
I started my car, and he waved to me as he passed out of the parking lot.
I turned on my lights, but didn’t put the car into drive.
As soon as he was out of sight, I reached in the back and got what I needed.
Holding the key Ethan had given me, I got out and headed toward Outlaw’s.
I slipped inside and went to the restroom, did a quick sponge bath, washed my hair and dried it at the hand dryer. I then brushed my teeth.
Back inside my car, I got into the back seat and set my alarm for four-thirty. I was completely exhausted, but at least I’d found a job. I pulled a blanket up over me and fluffed up my pillow.
It was all I could expect.
Four-thirty came quickly, and it took me a moment to wake up, then I went back inside and did a quick wash, brush and got dressed.
Keeping in mind what Ethan had said, I started with the salt and pepper shakers, found the syrup and took care of that chore, then started rolling silverware.
At five, I heard the back door and then Ethan came through the double doors.
He was on his phone and distracted, so all that intensity was channeled into the conversation.
But, I just couldn’t seem to pull my eyes away from him.
His hair, shining black under the lights made me want to touch it.
His exposed skin was so smooth everywhere except for the rough stubble on his face.
His blue T-shirt outlined every contour of his chest, the sleeves snug over his biceps, revealing strong forearms dusted with black hair, and flexing with muscle.
“No, Roscoe, I didn’t pay you to scratch the whole side of the boat.
I paid to have you replace the motor and do general maintenance.
” He listened for a moment. “Chase is much nicer than I am.” He set his hand on his hip, his features hardening.
“No, I’ll tell you what you’re going to do.
You’re going to fix it out of your own pocket, and you’re going to pick it up and drop it off. ”
He listened for a few minutes. His eyes glittered, his mouth set in sterner lines again above his strong, stubborn-looking chin.
He looked tough and dangerous suddenly, and the transformation from the generous, affable guy to this alpha male sent a shiver of apprehension down my back.
He looked like a warrior, a predatory male.
“I don’t care what Chase said. He just got married and is on top of the world.
I’m a grumpy so-and-so, and I don’t have any more patience in arguing with you, Roscoe. ”
She should move and get on with what she was doing, not stand here and stare at Ethan like this. But he was…something…to look at.