Chapter 3 #2
The blood drained out of her face and the fingers on her Yuengling bottle went bone white. “What?”
Alarmed at her reaction, Ty reached across the table to gently extract the beer and tangle his fingers with hers. “Hey, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s not like some kind of enemy operative. It’s just a boatload of the town busybodies. Like Betsy Schoemaker back home.”
Old Betsy Schoemaker had been a notorious snoop, who delighted in calling the cops on any couples who were fool enough to use the dirt road cutting through her heavily forested back forty as a lover’s lane.
He and Paisley had only made that mistake once, and they’d gotten away before the officer had arrived.
But that hadn’t stopped Lieutenant Petrie from stopping by to put the fear of God into Ty about the seriousness of trespassing and safe sex.
To this day, Ty didn’t know whether Betsy had some kind of wildlife camera on the road that had caught pictures of his truck or if she just camped out with field glasses and watched.
Paisley’s breath gusted out and color returned to her cheeks. “Oh.” Not bothering to pull her hand away, she reached for her beer with the other and tipped it back for a long swallow.
“What, exactly, were you imagining?”
“Don’t mind me. Writer brain goes zero to ninety with little provocation.”
Was it really her writer’s brain on overdrive or did it have something to do with why she’d seemed just a little off since he talked to her last night?
She made a visible effort to relax, focusing those whiskey-gold eyes on him. “So, why exactly are the town gossips of Eden’s Ridge following you?”
“Us. They’re following us.” He’d spotted the first tail as he’d helped Paisley out of his truck a couple blocks down from Crystal’s Diner.
Jolene Lowrey, famed for her blue-ribbon-winning red velvet cake, had been coming out of Moonbeams and Sweet Dreams. She’d snapped a none-too-subtle photo of them with her phone and, shock of shocks, there’d been multiple faces pressed to the diner window as they’d strolled past. Reverend Hodgson’s wife, Patty, was next, hanging back as he’d given Paisley the fifty-cent tour of downtown.
She’d turned off abruptly into the hardware store when he caught her looking.
Estelle Murchison hadn’t even bothered trying for subtle.
She’d just about gotten whiplash from watching them walk into the tavern.
“Us?” Paisley paused, considering. “I take it Eden’s Ridge is cut from the same cloth as Coopers Bend.”
“Bingo.” She’d always been quick to pick up on precisely what he meant.
“So, tongues are wagging already, wondering who I am and whether I’ve taken one of the town’s most eligible bachelors off the market.”
“It’s a distinct possibility.”
“That explains the death glare our waitress shot me when she thought I wasn’t looking.”
He’d missed that but wasn’t surprised. Trish Morgan hadn’t been subtle in her interest this past year. “I don’t know why they keep trying to matchmake me.”
She snorted. “You’re single, gorgeous, and new in town.”
He’d also been more than a little bit of a train wreck when he’d moved here. Not that he’d advertised that fact. With a lot of work, he’d moved past the worst of it, but he still wasn’t what he’d consider good relationship material.
With a wry quirk of his lips, he picked up his own beer. “They’re overlooking the rather salient point that I’m not interested.”
“Psh. Since when does that stop a bunch of wannabe grandmas from trying to snare you for their daughters?”
“Grandmas?” Ty felt the blood drain from his own cheeks. Taking a firmer grip on Paisley’s hand, he leaned forward and stared into her eyes. “Help me, Paisley Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”
Her dimples flashed. “Does the big, bad Ranger need protection from a bunch of gossipy old biddies?”
“Damned straight. They’re terrifying.” He was man enough to admit it.
Her big, bawdy laughter rolled out, loosening something in his chest. God, he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed the sound of it all these years.
“Is that why we came out tonight? To try to put a stop to the matchmaking attempts?”
That hadn’t been on his mind at all. He’d been busy trying to figure out how to act and wondering how the hell could they do this causal thing when they’d once been so much more.
The idea of it didn’t sit well with him, no matter what he’d agreed to when they’d reconnected in Nashville.
Paisley deserved respect and decency and just…
more. Even if he couldn’t give her promises, he could do better than treating her like the insignificant wedding fling he’d led Sebastian to believe she was.
Guilt over his prevarication had driven him to suggest dinner out.
And even though he’d just spotted Marilyn Kincaid, his boss’s mom, and Essie Vaughn, the Sheriff’s Department dispatcher, ensconced in a booth across the bar, he couldn’t regret it.
Whatever hell got dished up over the water cooler come Monday would be worth it.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been around someone who’d known him before he was broken, and he wasn’t above admitting that the feeling was its own special drug.
“We came out because I wanted to spend time with you.” It was the truth, but it skated well beyond the boundaries of the casual thing she’d asked for.
Because he didn’t want to make her balk, he lightened his tone.
“And because you were always a fun date. You did promise to add more of that to my life.”
“So I did.” She leaned forward, eyes sultry, smile devilish. “In that case, let’s give them something to talk about.”
Before he could close the distance between them, someone clapped him on the shoulder.
Damn it.
“Well, if it isn’t Miss Brunette from the wedding.” Sebastian stuck his hand into the space between the kiss he’d interrupted. The jackass. “I’m Sebastian Donnelly, one of this one’s Army buddies. And you are?”
After a moment’s hesitation, she sat back in her seat, releasing Ty’s hand. “Paisley Parish. You were one of the other groomsmen.”
“I was, indeed.” Sebastian seemed pleased she’d remembered him.
Not fighting the scowl, Ty glared at him. “What are you doing here?”
“Picking up takeout for dinner. Laurel had meetings in Knoxville today.”
“Then I’m sure she’d appreciate you hurrying up with it.”
“Oh, the kitchen’s not quite done with our order. I’ve got a few minutes.” Sebastian turned his attention back to Paisley, flashing the friendly smile that his fiancée seemed to find charming. “And where has our Ty been hiding you?”
Ty bristled. He wasn’t hiding her. They were here, weren’t they? But as Sebastian waited for her answer as if he had all the time in the world, Ty wished they’d stayed in.
“I live in Nashville.” She flicked a questioning gaze to Ty, then back to Sebastian. “I’m a friend of Ivy’s.”
God love the woman for knowing he didn’t want to get into their past. If Sebastian got a whiff of that, there’d be no getting rid of him.
“Ah. Since she’s still on her honeymoon, I’m guessing you must be in town to check out the spa.”
Smiling sweetly, she lifted her beer. “You must have failed interrogation tactics.”
Ty managed to hold in the bark of laughter—barely. “Sebastian is recently engaged and falls into that category we were discussing earlier.”
“Ah.” Paisley offered a sage nod.
Already looking vaguely insulted, Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Subtle you are not. Whatever’s going on between me and Ty is between me and Ty, and you’ll just have to wait until he’s ready to tell you himself.”
His mouth opened and closed a couple of times. “Well. That’ll teach me.”
“Hope springs eternal,” Ty muttered.
A waitress swooped in with a to-go bag. “Here’s your order, Sebastian.”
The bastard actually looked disappointed. “Thanks, Staci.” He reluctantly accepted the bag and turned back to their table. “Well, seems I’ve got food to deliver to my lady. Paisley, so nice to meet you. I hope to see you again sometime.”
She nodded. “Nice to meet you, Sebastian.”
With a significant look at Ty, he gave a nod and headed for the door.
Paisley sipped at her beer. “I get the feeling that was a problem.”
“Not a problem.” He didn’t want her to think he was trying to keep her from his friends.
“It just means I’m the one who’ll be interrogated later.
It’s payback for what I dished out when he met Laurel.
Besides, he saw us at the wedding, so it was only a matter of time.
I trust Sebastian with my life. He’s saved it often enough.
But with the details of my love life…hell no. He gossips like an old woman.”
She pursed her lips. “So, what I’m hearing is that it’s to your benefit if I keep you occupied and unavailable for comment?”
The sparkle in her eye had his blood beginning to simmer. “I mean, I’m perfectly capable of telling him to fuck off, but I like your way better.”
Paisley grinned up at Trish as she arrived with a tray on one shoulder. “Can we get our order boxed up to go?”
Damn, he was in serious danger of remembering all the reasons he’d been ass over teakettle in love with this woman all those years ago.
He lifted his own hand. “Check please.”