AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Did that mean he’d have no time for a…friend? Her heart sank a little.
“I will,” he answered, not seeing her disappointment. He opened her car door for her, and peered inside, checking the back seat. “So…dinner?” he asked as she slipped in, fastened her seatbelt, and started the engine.
“Sure.” She shrugged. “Why not? You lead the way and I’ll follow.” It might be one of the last times they went out together. Once he moved…
“Actually, punch this address into your GPS.” He rattled off the location of the restaurant, and watched while she—without question—entered the information on her device. “I’ll feel better with you in front of me.”
“Okay.” She didn’t argue. There was no point. Once Doug got that look on his face, she knew he’d talk at her until he got his own way.
Forty minutes later,they were pulling into a restaurant parking lot, and her stomach was growling, heartily. Pixie hadn’t had a thing to eat since the donut she’d scarfed down with her coffee mid-day, and she was ravenous.
Doug drove up and parked beside her seconds later, beating her out of her vehicle, then rounding his hood to open her door.
She smiled up at him. “Thanks.” She stood and looked around. “Busy place.”
“Yeah. Because the food is great,” he rejoindered. “They have some excellent house made alfredos and scampis, but if you’re wanting something a little more in the comfort food line, the lobster mac & cheese is delicious.”
Pixie’s mouth was watering, and the minute they walked inside, that saliva threatened to leak out of her mouth from the wonderful smells, alone.
“I’ll take one of everything,” Pixie teased the server as she brought them to a table.
“We get that a lot from newbies,” the woman chuckled. “But we encourage only ordering one entrée, then coming back again multiple times to try everything else.”
“I can do that,” Pixie responded brightly. Then added, in case Doug got the wrong idea. “I travel this road a lot, between home and my sister’s place.”
The server smiled and nodded to her before turning to Doug. “And you, I recognize,” she said to him as she pointed to the board where the menu of the day was posted. “You’ve been in a few times over the past month, so you know the drill. Did you just lately discover us, or are you new to the area?”
Doug seemed a little reluctant to answer, but finally conjured a twitchy smile. “New to the area, I guess you’d say. I’m from Orono, but I just bought a place here, on the lake.”
“That’s great. Welcome to Newport. I guess that means we’ll be seeing a lot more of you two in the future.”
“Oh, no,” Pixie answered quickly, as Doug’s lips drew into a tight line at the server’s supposition. “I’m not moving here.” She pointed from herself to Doug. “We’re just friends. I live in Skowhegan.”
“That doesn’t mean you won’t be visiting a lot. Right?” The server winked. “I’ll give you two a few minutes to decide what you want, okay?”
Doug picked up and concentrated on his napkin, so it was left to Pixie to respond to at least the last half of what the woman asked. “That sounds good. But can we get our drinks?” She was suddenly parched, despite her previous mouth-flood. Navigating things with Doug was proving to be a bit of a nerve-inducing challenge.
“Sure. What can I bring you?”
“Water,” she and Doug said at the same time, and Pixie wasn’t surprised. She wasn’t much of a drinker, and the few times they’d gone out, Doug had never once ordered anything alcoholic. It was a situation she’d meant to question, and she did now, as the waitress walked away.
“You don’t drink,” she stated. “Ever?”
“Nope.”
So he wasn’t going to elaborate, but Pixie wasn’t going to let it go.
“Any reason in particular?” Surely this couldn’t be a taboo subject, but his face darkened.
Shit.Pixie would take back the question if she could, but it was already out there, laying between them like a ticking bomb. And she didn’t know how to defuse it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Goddammit
Doug felt like a deer in the headlights. He’d known if he kept seeing Pixie, things he didn’t want to talk about—couldn’t talk about—would arise, but had he listened to his own head?No.
And now…?
