Chapter 9 #2
Then I noticed Tom Walker standing by the other exit, talking with the mayor while casually assessing the hallway. They were manning the exits. My skin prickled at the idea of Tate arranging all of this for my safety, without me knowing a thing. At something so vanilla as a party for the mayor.
I couldn’t imagine Leroy in this space.
“He’s in cop mode, if you’re wondering why he’s not talking to you much.”
“I’m not wondering that,” I bristled too quickly.
He shot me a knowing glance that made my face flush.
“You’re not on the tractor anymore, Toto,” Jaxon said, nodding toward Tate. “Your man’s on the clock now.”
Jaxon peered back out into the hallway, looking both ways before he was satisfied enough to lean casually against the doorway, manning his post once more.
“Now quit distracting me, woman. Tate will kill me if I miss something. Go away.”
With nothing else to do, I was relieved when Sadie Stevenson, my favorite baker at Keller’s, greeted me. She motioned toward Tate with an excited, if not slightly incredulous, look on her face.
“I saw you two holding hands at the bakehouse. Well done snagging a Walker brother.”
Easy answers. Keep it light.
“Yeah, I kind of like him.” I beamed and gave myself an internal pat on the back for such an incredibly normal answer.
Sadie nodded, her red hair swept up in a pretty updo. “Are you at the B&B? Last I heard, Rosie was hurrying to get all the renovations finished by the fall festival.” Her face lit up. “Or are you staying with the Walkers?”
Even though I knew the answer we’d practiced, I found myself floundering like a fish under the questions. But thankfully, before I could answer, Sadie was called back to the kitchen.
“We’ll catch up later!” she called over her shoulder as she scurried away.
Since Tate had literal guards at the exits, I allowed myself to relax as much as possible, moving to greet more familiar faces, even though being so exposed in a big room felt like being half-dressed.
My eyes kept finding Tate as he stood a few paces away, still talking to Archer.
He was close enough that I could hear their low voices.
He was listening, even smiling a bit as his friend relayed something funny that happened when he bought hay from Tom, but from what I could tell, his attention was on three things and three things only: the exits, the crowd, and me.
It was all so familiar, this feeling of him watching over me.
But instead of teenage annoyance filtering through me, something else, something far more grown-up, had taken its place.
It felt like he was touching me even when he was standing across the room.
He wasn’t. Not really. But when our eyes met, I felt that same awareness of him I’d experienced when we danced at Will’s wedding.
It was disconcerting, to say the least.
And completely one-sided. I was a job. Going undercover was like breathing to him, and I’d do well to remember that.
Two glasses of Dr. Pepper later, a few more friends had joined Tate, so I motioned to Jaxon that I was headed toward the bathroom, which was just down the hallway a few paces from his door. He nodded, checked the hallway for me, and continued to talk loudly with a couple of his old buddies.
I hesitated at the threshold. From across the room, it felt like something I could easily do. I’d even marched boldly over to where Jaxon stood watch. Every other woman in this room could walk to the restroom right now and not think twice about doing so. I hated that I had to think twice.
It felt like leaving my apartment all over again. My brain knew it was safe to walk out of the room. Jaxon and Tom had been watching everybody coming in and out of this hallway. The bathroom was in sight. Jaxon would be watching. The chances of anything happening were ninety-nine to one.
But the grip that one percent had on me was strong.
I’d caught Jaxon’s attention once more. He saw my face and looked back into the hallway. He nodded toward me, and I stepped forward, determined not to show him just how much of a coward I was.
I entered the hallway and was just about to open the door when a hand reached around me and covered the knob.
“What are you doing?” Tate’s low voice puffed heat into my hair as he crowded into my space, barring my entrance. And my body relaxed immediately upon contact.
“I’ll give you one guess.”
He turned me around and took a step back. “I told you not to leave the room without me.”
It was a strange dichotomy to greatly appreciate this man’s presence while at the same time being slightly annoyed by it.
“I told Jaxon where I was going.” Okay, telling him was a stretch, but we did share two meaningful nods.
His eyes bored into me for a long moment, as if he knew it was just a nod Jaxon and I shared, and suddenly, I was so irrationally happy he was here with me.
“That’s an impressive glower,” I said, patting his shoulder. “Have I ever told you that? I always try to put one well-placed glower into my screenplays, but so far, no actor has ever gotten it right. You do it so naturally.”
He blinked slowly while I smiled at him proudly before going in for the kill.
“It’s different than a glare. It’s more like a total-body thing where your shoulders are tense, and you look like you’re ready to take someone down. A glare is, more or less, just in the eyes. Boring, right?”
He sucked in a sharp breath through his nose, probably counting to ten, before he leaned forward into my space, his face inches from mine.
I could count the light spattering of freckles across his nose if I wanted.
But it was his blue eyes, intense on mine, that had my attention.
My heartbeat took a wild gallop, but I held my ground, eagerly anticipating whatever came out of his mouth.
“Have I told you lately how much I don’t like you?”
Like a push of a button, a wide smile spread across my face.
“Liar,” I declared smartly.
Tate straightened and put a light hand on my upper arm, leading me away from the bathroom.
“Hey!” I protested, attempting to pull out of his grip.