4.
Marry the man who really wants to go ride his motorcycle but cleans the kitchen first.
Jolie Pardo
LARA
“I didn’t ask you to make me any promises, just like you didn’t actually ask me out on a date,” I said primly. “How about them apples?”
“Can we save the apples for the dessert course?” Shiloh asked calmly, refusing to take the bait of my sarcastic tone.
“Where are you taking me for dinner?” I asked.
“I have a few questions before I can tell you that.”
“So you didn’t plan for this? You’re just winging it?”
“Something like that, but there’s a plan in there somewhere.”
I sighed before he grinned and asked, “What’s your favorite appetizer?”
“From which restaurant?”
“No, I mean of all time that’s served in a restaurant in Marlboro.”
I didn’t have to think about it for long. “Fried street corn bites from Wing It.”
“Let’s do it.”
“So we’re eating at Wing It?” I asked.
“We’ll eat our appetizer there, and while we enjoy that, you can decide where you’d like to eat the main course.”
“You’re going to take me to two places?” I asked in shock.
“Three. Appetizer, main course, and then dessert. No sense settling for two courses you don’t like as much as the first, is there?”
“We’re gonna end up driving all over town.”
“No, Cupcake, we’re gonna end up riding all over town, and that’s going to benefit me in a few ways.”
“How?”
“First, if we hop from one restaurant to another, that means we get to ride more than if we just went there and back. Second, all that riding means you’ll be on the back of my bike for a while, which means I’ll get to enjoy your arms around me for longer than I would the conventional way.”
“Hmm. Interesting.”
“Oh, but I’m not finished.”
“There’s more?”
“The third benefit is that you get all your favorite things, so I can commit them to memory as my go-to destinations on future dates. And the fourth is that while we spend so much time waiting for different servers to bring our orders, I’ll be able to get to know you better.”
“So what you’re telling me is that you can’t commit?”
“I didn’t say anything of the sort. If you’d been listening, you would have heard me mention that I plan to take you out again and again.”
“If I’d been listening?” I asked in shock, not quite pissed, but definitely irritated.
But what he said next had my blood pressure skyrocketing, which didn’t help when my siblings, who were still listening to our conversation, started hooting with laughter as they cheered him on.
“Try to keep up, Cupcake.”
I heard my sisters and even one of my brothers laughing from somewhere down the hall, but it was hard to pinpoint which ones I needed to kill after I disposed of the dead man standing in front of me.
Shiloh put his hand up between us and waved. “Are you still with me, babe?”
“I have a name, you know!”
“You do, but shouldn’t your boyfriend have a pet name for you? What do you want to call me?”
“I have a list, but unfortunately I’m too much of a lady to say them out loud.”
“Chickenshit!” Lana yelled from down the hall.
“Don’t be a puss, Lara!”
“What’s wrong with all of you?” I pushed Shiloh a few feet back so I could stick my head out into the hall and yell, "Would all of you shut the hell up before I come down there and kick your asses?”
“Try it!” Lana yelled.
“Hold on! I’m opening my camera!” Lana’s husband, Clay, shouted from inside the apartment. Before I had a chance to respond, he added, “Got it! Go ahead!”
“Are you ready to go for a ride?” Shiloh asked. “I’ve never eaten there, but I’m excited to try new things with you.”
“I’ve got something you can try,” I said with a deadpan expression.
Shiloh grinned before asking, “Does it include the words fuck off?”
“That’s highly likely.”
“But I thought you were too much of a lady and all that bullshit.”
“You’re much better looking when you’re not talking.”
“So you think I’m handsome?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Technically . . .”
“Oh, shut up and take me to dinner before I kill someone.”
Shiloh was still chuckling when we reached the bottom of the stairs. He smiled down at me as he held the door open so I could walk through ahead of him.
“You are way too cheerful for someone who’s skating on thin ice.”
“You’re such a badass, I’m shaking in my boots,” he lied. “Will you be in a better mood once we get you fed?”
“If you’re lucky.”
“Well, we’ve got some time, so I guess we’ll see if you can make it through dessert without killing me.”
I scoffed before I repeated, “If you’re lucky.”
◆◆◆
“I understand why these are your favorite. Is it still considered an appetizer if I order more?”
I couldn’t help but smile as Shiloh licked the spices off his fingers. I had to admit I would enjoy more, too, so I said, “You’re asking a woman who considers two ice cream sandwiches and a handful of granola a balanced breakfast.”
“In that case, I can’t wait to have breakfast at your place,” Shiloh said as he scooted his chair back and stood up.
Before I had a chance to reply, he patted his stomach and said, “I’m gonna get three more orders.
Corn’s a vegetable. As far as I’m concerned, we’re starting our evening on a healthy note. ”
I laughed as Shiloh walked toward the counter, but it trailed off as I gave myself a few uninterrupted seconds to study him without him noticing. I’d done the same thing when we got to his house to exchange his truck for his motorcycle, and I’d come to a few conclusions.
The man was very good-looking, but not in that put-together way that seemed to be popular on television and book covers. His hair needed a trim, and his beard was longer than I’d ever thought was sexy, but he was, without a doubt, the sexiest man I’d ever seen.
I loved that he was tall, but not thin. The best word I could think of to describe him was solid.
Or even sturdy. He seemed like the kind of man who could help your brother-in-law load a bunch of drywall into the back of his truck and then help hang it once they got to the job site.
But somehow, he still had an air about him that hinted that if he were working in the garden with my sister, he’d be gentle on the seedlings as he helped her carefully put them in the ground.
After watching him with his daughter before we walked downstairs, I realized he wasn’t just a sarcastic, cocky ass, but a man with a gentle side he wasn’t afraid to show, at least to his young daughter.
Their interaction was so sweet that Jolie and I were both ready to swoon by the time Shiloh walked away.
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling when he called her Biscuit, but when he said, “To the moon,” and she replied, “And all the way back,” I knew that was something they said often.
After watching that interaction, I knew for sure that he had a gentle side, even if it wasn’t as obvious as the sarcastic side that made me want to scream.
When I was still wary, I wondered if I was letting my anger at Jeremy and all of his bullshit color my opinion of Shiloh and realized that was exactly what I was doing.
On paper, Jeremy was the perfect man. He had a respectable job, was hardworking, a doting father, and a loyal friend.
At least, that was what I believed when we first got together.
Over time, I realized that despite the respectable job and the love he felt for his kids, there were way too many areas of his life, and his attitude, that I found lacking.
From the few minutes of conversation I’d had with Shiloh, I could tell that he was much more of a good man than Jeremy could ever dream of being. I didn’t know all the details of his history, but I had a little insight from what I’d learned while working with Raylee this past week.
We were at the second restaurant waiting on our entrees when I asked, “How long have you known Dante?”
“A few years.”
“You’re not from here.”
“How do you know?”
I gave him a pointed look. “I have a huge family, and Marlboro isn’t that big. I’m sure we would have met each other at some point before, especially if you knew Dante when he was a teenager, since he was friends with my brother in school and that was when he first started dating Jolie.”
Shiloh smiled before he conceded, “That’s a good point.”
“So, how did you meet him?”
“You know Dante pretty well, right?”
“I’d like to think so. I consider him a good friend as well as family.”
“And he hasn’t always lived in Marlboro.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement, so I nodded. Finally, Shiloh gave me a tight smile before explaining, “I met Dante when he wasn’t living in Marlboro.”
I felt more surprise than shock as I asked, “You met him in prison?”
Shiloh nodded slowly. “The first time I was in prison.”
“You’ve been twice?” I asked incredulously.
“Why does that seem shocking?”
“Because–and don’t look too deeply into this–you seem like a smart guy. How did you not learn from the first time?”
Shiloh’s loud guffaw caught the attention of several people around us, but he didn’t seem to notice. He was still chuckling when he said, “They wrongfully convicted me the second time.”
I binge-watched law and crime documentaries, so I knew of a few cases that involved someone going to prison for something they didn’t do.
I also knew wrongful convictions were rare - or at least I hoped they were.
I asked, “If they wrongfully convicted you, did they ever find out who actually committed the crime?”
“Do you even want to know what my original sentence was, or are you just interested in the second one?”
“I’d like to know all of it, but I’m most intrigued by the first one.”