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Alessandra looked distinctly uncomfortable. “There’ve been a lot of . . . changes. Moving in with Kenton, the job . . .”
Her voice trailed off as they moved up in line. So something was up, but her friend wasn’t going to let her in.
Charlotte tried not to be hurt—after all, Alessandra wasn’t the only one keeping secrets—but it still stung. “I get that,” she said, “but if you ever want to talk about it . . .”
Alessandra smiled, and Charlotte could tell she was grateful not to have been pressed for more information.
“Nah,” her friend said, “let’s talk about the way you stared at Torr Derrickson’s ass—”
“A mighty fine one, if I do say so myself.”
The two of them burst into giggles like schoolgirls, until Charlotte recovered enough to reassure Alessandra that she’d only admired his ass because she was human, and what human woman wouldn’t? Appreciating a thing of beauty and getting involved with the man, in any capacity, were two very different things. The former, well, she couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t happen again.
The latter? Nope. After the way he’d goaded her the night before?
He was simply . . .
Not.
For.
Her.
* * *
Torr,hair still wet, a towel wrapped around his waist as he got ready for a night out on the town, stuck his head outside the guest bedroom when he heard his brother approaching.
“Where’s Laria?” he asked.
Lawrence stopped in the hallway. “Gone already. Girls’ night with Toni and Alessandra. Why?”
Confident that Lawrence’s girlfriend wouldn’t be walking by at any moment, he opened the door wider.
“I assumed you and Toni would be doing something, so I wondered if she’d be interested in skipping town for the night. But if she’s off with the girls, maybe you—”
“No.”
His brother could be a real asshole sometimes. He made it difficult to talk to him.
“Jesus, Lawrence.”
“Sorry. But I know that look. And it isn’t a ‘let’s drink a whiskey or two, maybe play Monopoly—”
“Monopoly? Are you kidding me?”
Lawrence let out a harsh laugh. “OK, a bad example. But I know that look, and the answer is no. Whatever you’re up to—”
“I’m not up to anything,” he said. “Not really. But the nightlife in Stone Haven . . .” He shrugged. “What? Your bar isn’t open yet. I’m just saying, in the meantime, I’d like to have some fun.”
“Exactly. No. But enjoy whatever trouble you plan on getting yourself into. Or, on second thought—”
Lawrence started walking away.
Smart-ass. Torr had just the thing to stop him in his steps—his other reason for flagging Lawrence down in the hallway.
“I ran into Zach Walsh today. He was in front of me in line at the deli.”
That stopped his brother cold. Unfortunately, Torr didn’t have a whole lot of other information to pass on. That Zach had been seen was significant—it meant he was still in town—but it didn’t mean too much else.
