Chapter 11
Griffin
I keep thinking that at some point Cricket will bring up Costa Rica, even in a casual mention or slipup. But she doesn’t.
It’s becoming a fixation I don’t need, a little like her.
I have no idea why it’s so fun to banter with her, but the slight twitch of her lips is another of my new addictions.
The way her eyes seem to glow with joy when she’s pretending to be annoyed makes me want to prod a little more to expose the recognition I know must rest somewhere in her mind.
It isn’t possible that she doesn’t remember me. Our time together was unforgettable. So why won’t she end this charade? She laughs with the group sitting at the nearest table, then returns her attention to the game when it’s her turn. There must be some way to get this out of her.
Since everything is a game to her, a challenge of wills, I’ll just have to charm it out of her instead. There is no way I’m going to lose this battle, especially not to a Dover. Whatever history lies between our families, I might have resurrected it to win.
Lifting my ball cap, I scrape my fingers through my hair before setting it on my head backward so I don’t have any distractions while planning my strategy.
She slides the puck down the shuffleboard table, knocking my puck right off the side. With a grin that reeks of victory before the game is even done, she struts toward me at the other end of the table and pokes my arm. “Take your best shot, Greene.”
With a mouth that can hold its own in any shit-talking arena, why does she have to be so fucking beautiful when she does it? Fucking hell.
I give her a little wink as I pass. “One shot is all I need, Dover.”
“You sure about that?”
Glancing back at her, I grin. “Abso-fucking-lutely, sweetheart.”
She rolls her eyes, but I see the smile that’s tugging her lips up at the sides.
Maybe I’ve been coming at this from the wrong angle.
Is banter her foreplay? I laugh as I grab the puck, bend down, and narrow my eyes on the target at the other end of the board.
But my gaze lands on her when she leans over the edge of the table in that damn sexy jersey that no button could hold closed.
Two fingers tap the lane in front of her and then lift.
When I follow them higher, she points at her eyes with a formidable look shaping her face under raised eyebrows, a discerning glare in her eyes.
“Up here,” she mouths.
I grimace, knowing I fell right into that trap of hers. Shifting my eyes back to the target, her puck, I slide mine down, knocking hers out of contention. I stand, and my arms go wide. “Looks like I won.”
She laughs and doesn’t let me appreciate my win long before she sidles up to me and says, “It’s a beer, not the World Cup.” Before I can snap back with something I know would have her reeling in the cutest way, she’s back at the bar.
When I rest my forearms down next to her, she adds, “I’m closing the tab, so if you want something else, better order it now.”
“A beer is reward enough.”
My dad sets the pints in front of us, eyeing me with disapproval. “Don’t ya know to let a lady win, son?”
“Trust me, Dad, Cricket here wouldn’t accept anything less than an honest and fully earned victory.”
“No one has to let me win, Mr. Greene. I can hold my own.”
Giving her a smile, he says, “I have no doubt you can. You’re gonna need to with my son.” He shoots me another look before he starts for the kitchen.
“Oh, nothing is needed with your son because I don’t . . .” She gives up when he’s out of earshot. Turning to me, she says, “I don’t need anything with you.”
After taking a sip, I smirk. “It wasn’t a dare.” Bumping my foot against hers, I add, “Weapons down, remember? I know you can hold your own. You don’t have anything to prove.”
She takes a drink, her eyes staring ahead at the mirrored wall full of glasses. As if a thought occurs out of nowhere, she looks up at me. “Why do I feel like I do?”
“Generational belief system?”
“Huh?” It’s cute the way her nose scrunches and her eyes blink quickly before her expression settles back to a natural, sweet little shape again. “I don’t understand.”
Angling to face her, I reply, “Dover versus Greene. It’s something I’ve been thinking about lately.”
“I’m still lost.” She takes another drink and slips onto the stool like she just might stay a while.
“Did you ever hear any stories about the Dovers not liking the Greenes?”
She pauses, and then under a soft laugh, says, “A little. Who hasn’t? But I never heard anything that could be substantiated. What about you?”
“No specifics from anyone, which makes it more confusing. Why is there a preexisting competition of sorts, like one is better than the other and they don’t like each other?”
Her eyebrows shoot straight up as she asks, “The Greenes don’t like my family?” Offense coats her tone as much as shock widens her eyes.
“As the official spokesperson for my family, they have no issues with your family. I’m assuming by your reaction that your family has no issues with mine.
” Leaning closer, I lower my voice. “That’s the thing, though.
Is this just folklore passed through generations of our families with no actual evidence to back it? ”
She blinks again, several times, before her lips twist to the side.
“I’m going with folklore.” Her tone is curt as she’s over this topic of conversation.
“What is there to say anyway? Of course everyone talks about the Greenes because of the ranch, the farm, and even the orchard. Then there’s the county.
I’ve heard a few jokes over the years about crossing enemy lines, but nothing that would give it legitimacy.
” She looks out at the restaurant behind us.
Some tables have emptied, but a healthy crowd remains.
When she turns back to me, she whispers, “Why do rumors run rampant like we’re the Hatfields and you’re the McCoys? ”
“I’ve been trying to figure that out myself.”
There’s no guard in her eyes and no walls keeping her shoulders from relaxing. She pulls her long hair over one shoulder, but when she looks up at me again, there’s a sparkle, a light I haven’t seen in her pretty green eyes before. And for the briefest moment, I wonder if I put it there.
She tilts her head to the side. “Sure makes you wonder what happened back then to keep this rivalry alive.”
“Sure does.” I take another long drink of my beer before setting it down and turning the glass around on the circle of condensation puddled under it, suddenly worried this is going to end too soon.
She could leave any minute because I haven’t given her a reason to stay.
Fuck. Just talk to her, Greene. “So what’s next for—? ”
“What are your plans—?” She laughs, making me smile as well that we’re both nervous like two teens talking at the same time. Looking down between us, she says, “You go.”
“I’d rather hear you speak.”
The sun set a bit ago, only leaving the dimly lit room to help me see her as well as I want. It’s not enough, but I’m not going to demand the brightest lights be turned on for my benefit. I swear I detect the faintest deepening color of her cheeks that even this light can’t hide from me.
She replies, “I was just going to ask if you had plans now that the game is over? I hear you like to travel.”
“I do. Did . . .” Not sure why the words stumble on my tongue. “I’ve been traveling a long time. I might stick around for a bit.”
“Yeah?”
The right side of my grin rises higher just from looking at her. “Yeah. It’s good to spend time with my family and help where I can. It’s nice to be a part of things again.”
“What do you think you’ll do while visiting?” There’s a shyness to her question that has her glancing away before standing behind it and staring up at me for a response.
This moment between us is different. The energy has shifted into something more mellow, as if the deal turned into a truce without requesting it.
“Visiting?” I shake my head. “It’s weird to be a visitor in your own hometown, but I suppose I am these days.
” Turning my back to the bar, I rest my elbows on the wood top and stare out over the thinning crowd.
“Help my brother with some of his projects and,” I say, glancing at her, “my sister and brother-in-law out on the ranch. I’m not really sure other than to go where I’m needed. ”
“I know a fabulous winery you can visit if you’re into that kind of thing.” Her smile is so genuine that she makes me wish I were into wine.
Swinging the bill of my hat back to the front, I say, “I heard it’s real nice out there.” Nudging her with my elbow, I laugh. “In Dover County.”
“It is. It’s a beautiful property. The views,” she says, raising her hands in the air in front of her as if she can picture it now, “are stunning.” Her breath catches, and she slowly exhales with her smile softening.
“I’m sure you have similar views on the ranch.
You own most of the county and some of the next from what I hear. ”
“I only own a small share these days, but I still get to claim that it’s the most beautiful place on earth.”
Her elbow taps against mine this time. “Maybe that’s how the feud started. Dueling properties.”
“I have no doubt it involved property somehow.”
“Hey, Cricket?” Blake’s fiancée stands up next to him and waves her over. “You ready to go?”
My gaze slides to the woman next to me, kind of hoping she’ll stay . . . fine, there’s no kind of about it. I want her to.
Cricket whispers, “They’re my ride.”
“I can give you a ride,” I say before having time to think twice. Shit. The heat of rejection strikes fast, making me want to take it back. “No press—”
“That’s quite a detour out of your way.”
“I don’t mind.” I face her, watching her eyes for any reaction she’ll give me. But I see something steady that I can only identify as certainty.
“If you really don’t mind?”
I’m not sure what we’ve just gotten ourselves into, but I don’t want to untangle myself. “I promise I don’t mind.”
Her smile just about knocks me out. “Okay. I’ll go tell my cousin.” She walks off with a bounce to her steps, the ends of her hair swinging back and forth while cutting through the tables to reach her.
While they talk, I turn around. “Hey, Dad?”
My dad comes over with a rag in his hand, wiping the bar on approach. “Cricket Dover, huh?”
I chuckle. “Let’s not make something out of nothing.” I tap the top. “I’ll cover the tab.”
“She was charging everything to her card.”
“I know. I’ll cover it. They spent a lot to make this event happen, so I don’t mind.”
Taking the black card I pulled from my wallet, he heads for the computer, and says, “You’ll get the family discount.”
“As long as it’s a discount and not cutting into profits. You need to get this place on its feet.”
I sign the tab just as Cricket returns. “Soooo.” She rocks back on her heels. “What do you want to do?”
Too many ideas come to mind, none of them appropriate for the current situation between us. Unlike the last time we were alone together, this time is about getting to know one another outside the bedroom. “Do you know how to swim?”