Chapter 19
Worley
Someone seriously needs to explain to me what just happened. Then again, I’m not an idiot. My club Enforcer and his mother are meddling. He and I will have a little chat tomorrow. The look on Nina’s face tells me she didn’t see this coming either.
“Darin?”
“Huh?”
“The door.” She nods, motioning to it.
“Right.” I fumble for my keys and unlock it. “Let me get those.”
I take the containers from her as she steps inside. The food is still hot, so I set the plates on the table. I’m not sure what to say to her. Jay and Lauren put us in an awkward spot here.
“Sorry about that. My sister knows no boundaries sometimes.”
“It’s okay. What would you like to drink?” I hang my coat up and open the little fridge.
“Sweet tea.”
“I don’t have tea.”
“I’ll get it. Be right back.” She’s out the door before I can turn around.
Sweet tea does sound good. Hopefully, she won’t punch her sister and nephew while she’s in there. I better stop her. She’s back by the time I open the door, carrying two large glasses of sweet tea. Okay. Nobody needed saving. That’s good. I motion to the table and pull the chair out for her.
“You sure you don’t mind doing this?”
“What? Having dinner with you?” I sit across from her.
“I didn’t plan this.” Her voice and eyes drop.
“Hey.” I tap my finger on the table and wait for her to look at me. “Having dinner with you is the highlight of my day.” Maybe even my week, but she doesn’t need to know that.”
Her lips part on a small gasp. Yeah, I feel the same way. We’re crossing lines and boundaries here, ones we can’t uncross. I just don’t know how to stop it. Honestly, I’m not sure I want it to stop. I mean, I should stop it. I don’t always do what I should, though.
“Mine, too,” she says softly. “I mean, having dinner with you, not me.”
“Yeah?” I chuckle, letting her off the hook, and remove the lids from the plates. “You have an angel inside. We should enjoy this while we can.”
She hops up and grabs forks from a drawer. “You’re right. Everything Lauren cooks is awesome.”
She sounds a little hurt. I’m an idiot.
“I meant, we should enjoy the time we have before you have to go back inside. I didn’t mean the food.”
She presses her lips together and nods. It still feels awkward. Leave it to me to put us in this position. I need to fix this. Can’t have a pretty woman disappointed in me.
“Didn’t mean to make it weird. We can move to pleasant dinner conversation if you’d like.” It’s the best I can come up with. I don’t go on dinner dates. Of course, this isn’t a date. Or is it?
She laughs. “Yeah, let’s do that.”
Sadly, our conversation while we eat focuses on everything going on with the club.
Bankz is home. Our lawyer is trying to keep him out of jail.
The cops didn’t want to listen until Nick sent Ciara the security footage from the Roadhouse.
Bankz didn’t start the fight as several people claimed.
He was defending his customers and server.
Harley’s been spotted twice. At least Nick and his brother think it’s her.
We talked about Skylar and her mother. Nope.
This definitely isn’t a date. You don’t talk club business on a date.
I decide to switch things up. “When would you like to go to town?”
“Oh.” Nina leans back in her chair. “We should do that. I’d like an idea of what I’m walking into. Lauren’s planned a little party at Angie’s on my birthday.”
“Really?” No one’s mentioned it. I’ll make sure they have protection.
“When would you be able to go? The club keeps you busy.”
That’s an understatement. This club is my life. Protecting the people who’ve become my family is all I know. I only go to town when it’s club business. My nights are at the Den, keeping everything under control.
“How about Tuesday, the town's slow day?” I suggest.
Her forehead wrinkles. “There’s a town slow day?|
I lay my fork on the empty plate. “Yeah. Thursday through Saturday are the busiest days. Two-thirds of the people here shop on those days. At night, the party crowd comes. Sundays, most of the stores are closed, and half the town goes to one of the churches. Mondays are senior citizen day and for appointments. Tuesdays are kinda quiet, less people, less traffic.”
She laughs. “Willow Creek has a traffic problem? Wow. Things really changed while I was gone. And senior citizen day?” She grins and lifts an eyebrow. She wants to laugh again so badly.
“Yeah. The elderly shop and make appointments on Monday, so they miss all the town madness at the end of the week. And traffic isn’t usually a problem, but more than half of these folks can’t drive. I don’t know how they got a license to begin with.”
That did it. She bursts out laughing and covers her mouth with her hand.
Never in my life would I believe a laugh could pull at your heart.
I was wrong. A genuine laugh from her, one where her eyes sparkle, and her face lights up, just grabbed my heart with both hands.
The feeling is so foreign, I rub my fingertips over my chest above my heart.
It’s wrong to want her. I’m too old for her.
She deserves someone her own age. It might be too late for that, though.
“Okay, Darin.” She composes herself for a moment and lightly laughs again. “We’ll go to town on slow day.”
Her smile is wide, and her eyes still sparkle. Yeah, it’s too late. I just don’t know what I’m going to do about it.