Chapter 2
KRISTA
I closed the car door as gently as possible, my head still throbbing from whatever I did last night to cause such a terrible hangover.
The last thing I wanted was to go anywhere, but desperate times called for desperate measures. I could have scrounged up some coffee, but breakfast would have meant going to Mom’s house, and there was no way I was bringing a stranger home without knowing our backstory.
Not even if I knew our backstory.
“Quaint town,” the guy muttered, glancing around at all the shops lining the streets with their adorable signs and old-fashioned awnings. “Where did you say we are?”
“Montana.”
Sighing, he strode toward the diner, peering up at the sign. He didn’t seem all that thrilled to be here, but then again, I wasn’t that thrilled that I didn’t even know this guy.
“What did you say your name is?”
“Rob.”
I nodded. “Krista.”
“I wonder if we introduced ourselves first last night?”
“Beats me.”
Tugging my coat tighter, I felt slightly bad that he was standing there in nothing but a long-sleeved shirt I’d snagged off my floor that probably belonged to an ex, but not enough to offer him my coat, though it would have been funny.
Still, this gave me a chance to really get a good look at him. Thick muscles pulled at the seams, making the shirt stretch tighter than was normal on an ordinary man. That alone checked off a few boxes that made me feel even worse about not remembering my night with him.
And as if that wasn’t enough, his sharp jaw and high cheekbones that would make any girl weep for joy if she were lucky enough to have them, only put me in a darker mood.
He was beautiful. Too damn beautiful. And I might consider punching him in the face just to make him a little uglier, but his beautiful blue eyes kept flicking my way, distracting me from my original thoughts of injuring him.
The man was definitely too good-looking for his own good, and what pissed me off even more was that I didn’t remember having his hands on my body or his lips skimming over my breasts.
I couldn’t be certain he was a good lover, but since last night was a blank slate, I figured I could make up my own story about what happened between us.
And he was definitely a giver.
Rob opened the door for me, motioning me through like a gentleman. It kind of cut through the fantasy of how ungentlemanly he was last night, but since I was hungover and making up fantasies, I could always imagine that he had a split personality disorder or something.
“What’s everyone staring at?” he asked, leaning over my shoulder to whisper in my ear.
“Us.”
“People don’t exactly get out much around here, do they?”
“Oh, more than you’d think,” I said, making my way to a booth by the windows.
Thankfully, Cora was already on her way over with a pot of coffee, having zeroed in on the booth I wanted like the well-trained waitress she was. Then again, I’d been coming here for years, and I always tried to sit in the same booth.
“Good morning!” she beamed, pouring two coffees. “Did everyone sleep well last night?”
The way she was looking at us, watching for our reaction, startled me so much that I didn’t answer immediately.
“Um…good. Just fine,” I said, not wanting to rehash my inability to remember a single thing from the previous night.
“Good, good. That’s really good.” Her eyes shifted to Rob.
“Uh…this is Rob.”
“I know,” she beamed. “We met last night.”
“We did?” he asked, looking at her curiously.
“Oh, but then you met a lot of people last night. You probably don’t remember me. I’ll just grab some menus.”
She turned in a flurry before I could ask her what we were doing last night.
“That’s weird, right?” Rob asked. “Who did we meet last night?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have met anyone, but you…” I shook my head, uncertain what had happened. “Maybe we came to town.”
“Is there anything to do around here?”
“There’s the bar,” I said thoughtfully, thinking of The Beaver and Boot.
“Is that all?”
“I don’t think there were any festivals going on.” Shaking my head, I sighed, “But then again, my brain is so fuzzy. I feel like I was dosed with something.”
My eyes shot to Rob’s. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure he was telling me the truth.
“What?”
“I can’t remember a thing. I’ve never been so drunk that I couldn’t remember at least bits and pieces, which makes me wonder what the hell you did.”
His eyebrow quirked at me. “Yes, I dosed both of us so neither of us could remember a thing.”
“How do I know you’re not lying to me?”
“Because I’m from Pennsylvania. What could I possibly be doing on the other side of the country? I mean, was I on a job? Was I meeting someone out here? How the hell did I even meet you?”
“That doesn’t mean you didn’t drug me,” I snapped.
“For what purpose?” he questioned. “Seriously, we’re both walking around with massive headaches. Neither of us can remember a thing. It’s freezing around here. I don’t even have a coat! I don’t even like snow!”
I reared back at his statement. “You don’t like snow?”
“No!”
“Who doesn’t like snow? What kind of psychopath are you?”
“The kind who doesn’t like to watch it turn brown and stare at slush all winter.”
“But you’re from Pennsylvania. It has to snow out there.”
“That doesn’t mean I like snow,” he gritted out, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Fuck, how long does it take to get a menu around here?”
Saying things like that would get you in big trouble in this town. “If I were you, I’d watch what you say.”
“What? That the service is slow? That I want a fucking menu? What’s the worst they’ll do? Kick me out?”
If he only knew the kind of revenge people took around here. He wouldn’t be so willing to let his lips fly like that.
“Here we are!” Cora grinned, dropping the menus on the table. “Now, I went ahead and took the liberty of placing an order for you. It looks like you need food fast. In the meantime, go ahead and look over the menu. Tell me if there’s anything else you want.
Another waitress came over with two red concoctions, setting them down for us.
“I also took the liberty of mixing up the best hangover cure in the state,” she winked.
I smiled at her, then turned to Rob, wondering what he would say now.
“Thank you,” he murmured, taking the drink. He grimaced as he swallowed it, but didn’t gripe any further.
“Can I get you anything else?” Cora asked, winking at me.
What was with that? What the hell happened yesterday? “Uh, no, I’ll just eat whatever you put in for us.”
“Alright, I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it,” she giggled, walking away.
I watched her go, then leaned over the table. “Okay, that is seriously creepy. She knows more about what happened between us than we do!”
“Then why didn’t you ask her?”
“Because I’m not sure I want everyone in town knowing our business.”
He huffed out a laugh at that. “I highly doubt everyone in town will know what happened at this table.”
“Little do you know about the town you’re in,” I shot back. “It just so happens that this town runs like a well-oiled machine when it comes to gossip.”
“It can’t be that bad.”
I snorted. “Just keep telling yourself that.”
It took another ten minutes for our food to arrive, and during that time, it didn’t escape my notice that nearly everyone in the diner was waiting on pins and needles to see what would happen.
Watchful gazes and curious townsfolk passed our table at random, just to see if they could catch a bit of conversation.
Even people on the sidewalk stopped to peer inside and gawk at us.
“Here you go! I call this the honeymooners’ special,” Cora said, sliding the plates onto the table.
It was a weird name for a breakfast, but I didn’t care. I was too starving to argue with her about her choice of breakfast names. I dug in, my stomach turning with every bite I took, but with time, the ache would ease.
When I was finished, I had my first sip of coffee, wishing I hadn’t waited so long to drink it. The warmth of the cup had all but fled the diner, and that toasty feeling I had been hoping for was nowhere in sight.
“So, I guess we need to find your things,” I said when I was done eating. “Do you have anyone you can call to pick you up?”
“In Montana?” he scoffed. “I doubt they’d do much more than get me a plane ticket.”
“Sounds like great friends,” I muttered.
“I still don’t understand what I’m doing out here. I need to find my phone and check in with my boss.”
“Why? Do you often check in with your boss instead of your family?”
“My boss is my family. In fact, pretty much everyone at my job is like family. Which is why I would assume if anyone knows why I’m out here, it’ll be them.”
Sighing, I tossed my napkin on the table and slipped out of the booth. “Well, we’d better get moving, then.”
I needed him out of here as quickly as possible. The last thing in the world I wanted was for anyone in my family to find out that I had a stranger with me. Then again, if the whole town knew, chances were my family did also. Still, I could at least get him out of town before anyone met him.
I paid the bill, ignoring the feel of eyes watching me, and strode out the door. I barely made it fifty feet from the restaurant when I heard a splash and Rob curse behind me.
Spinning, I smirked at the red liquid dripping from his face. “Strawberry?”
Growling under his breath, he swiped a hand across his face. “Why did someone just throw a milkshake at me?”
“I told you not to badmouth anyone in town.”