“Archer has a kid?” the bartender asked in shock.
“You know Archer?”I asked her.
“Yeah.”A smirk appeared on her lips as she tossed long brown hair over her shoulder.
I didnotlike that smirk.
Not.At.All.
“I’ll put that order in for you.And then I’ll get to your mocktails.”She swept my card off the bar and headed for the computer.
Garrett peered at me.“Oh, it’s like that, huh?”
“What?”I demanded.
His smile widened.“You looked ready to reach across the bar and smack that smile right off Shay’s pretty little face.”
“I refuse to dignify that with a response.”I snapped my spine straight.
He rubbed his chin, the sound of his thumb rasping against his five o’clock shadow.Normally, that sound would make me quiver.But Garrett did nothing for me.
I thought about Archer’s stubble.
And then my stomach flipped.
Son of a bitch.
“So, Archer has a kid?”Garrett asked.
“Yeah.An eleven-year-old girl named Lenni,” I said.“She’s cool.Cooler than I am, actually.”
“I don’t believe that.You’re pretty cool.”
“Glad you think so,” I remarked.“So yeah, I’m hanging around for the time being and helping out.She was—ah—kind of a surprise.”
He frowned.“Surprise?What do you mean?”
I looked at Shay; her head was turned ever so slightly, and I swore I saw her ears twitch with the desire to know the gossip.
“He didn’t know about her,” I said, pitching my voice soft so only Garrett could hear.“Keep that between us, yeah?I don’t want his business shared all over town.”
He nodded, a pensive frown marring his face.
“How’s the family,” I asked, changing the subject.
“Good,” he said.“My sister’s coming home for Thanksgiving.Mom is over the moon about it.I think Greer is her favorite.”
Shay returned to the bar and began to make the mocktails in front of us.I couldn’t help but notice her colorful sleeve of ink or the dainty diamond stud in her nose.
“Wyn?”Garrett asked.
“Huh?”I reluctantly pulled my attention away from the gorgeous bartender and looked at Garrett.“What did you say?”
“I asked what you’re doing for Thanksgiving.”
“Oh.I don’t know, actually.”
“You’re not going back to New York and spending it with your parents?”
