Page 7 of Shallow Remains

She raised her perfectly arched eyebrows. “No? Even though I can’t remember anything I said after leaving the pub, and then I apparently stripped naked while you were still in the room?”

He waved his hands in front of him. “I wasn’t in the room, I swear. We can just drop that whole thing for good.”

She nodded. “Probably wise.”

“How did you meet Blaine, anyway?”

Her gaze slid past him, scanning the room. Looking for an escape excuse? “Through work.”

“In the US, or overseas?”

“Overseas.”

She wasn’t giving him much at all. “Did you serve in his unit?”

“Sort of. I was brought on as an IT contractor.”

“Ah.” He waited a few beats for her to lob a question his way.

She didn’t say anything for several seconds, then cleared her throat. “How do you know Tripp and Willow?”

“Tripp and I grew up together here, and I met Willow when she visited her grandma on vacation. Rafe too. We all go way back.”

Maddy nodded. Another long pause followed before she picked up the thread again. “Were you… Did you serve in the military?”

“Coast Guard.”

“Right. Makes sense.” Her gaze stopped on something or someone across the room.

He looked over his shoulder to see Grey coming their way.

There was no way to subtly wave him off without Maddy noticing, but he had just greased the wheels enough to get the conversation going and was reluctant to share her yet. “You remember my brother, Grey?”

“Oh. I didn’t realize you were brothers. Hi,” she said to him. “I’m Maddy.”

Grey smiled and held out a hand to shake with her, balancing his loaded plate on the other. “Hi. Guess we were never officially introduced that night.”

“No. You were both pretty busy keeping the boat upright in the water.”

“Nah, those boats are tougher than they look. And we had a good outcome. Except for Charlie, of course.”

“Yes, except for him.” She cleared her throat again in the heavy pause that followed. “Well, nice to meet you. I’m going to get some food.”

Lachlan resisted the urge to stall her and watched her go. “She’s still on edge around me.” When Grey didn’t say anything, Lachlan glanced at him.

His brother lifted his black eyebrows in silent question, amusement lurking in his crystal blue eyes.

“What?”

“Just so you’re aware, you’re not being even a little bit subtle.” Grey grinned and forked up a bite of baked beans. There was a piece of buttered sourdough next to it.

“Did John give you another piece?”

Grey shrugged. “He likes me.”

“He likes me more. We’re golf buddies.” He strode off to get his own piece in the kitchen. Because he was hungry. Not because he didn’t feel like being interrogated by his brother.

Okay, so he wasn’t being subtle about his interest in Maddy. But he wasn’t ready to quit trying to capture her interest.