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He dropped his hand awkwardly.
“I’m late for work, so I’ll just leave this key here,” she said, placing it on the table near the door. Another secondhand treasure that had an old telephone book propping up one of the legs to keep it steady.
“Sure. Okay. I’ll let her know it’s there,” he said.
“Great. Thanks.” She headed for the door. Quickly. The space inside the small house seeming a lot smaller with this guy in it, and she needed the fresh fall air to clear the image of his naked body from her mind.
“Hey, Jess was actually planning on introducing us later tonight at some pumpkin patch thing,” he said behind her, “so maybe we could pretend this didn’t happen.”
Jess had invited this guy to their annual fall tradition? Without even asking her? She wasn’t sure how she felt about suddenly being the third wheel on one of her favorite fall activities. Or having to hide her attraction to her best friend’s date all evening. And she couldn’t help the sudden territorial feeling she was struggling with.
She turned and frowned. “Jess and I are best friends. We don’t keep stuff from each other. I’ll have to tell her that I saw…” She pointed to his lower region, her cheeks feeling slightly flushed.
“Her cousin’s penis? Maybe save her the gory details. That may just gross her out,” he said with a grin.
Whitney’s mouth dropped. “Cousin…” She racked her mind. Jessica only had one aunt. Another one of Frankie’s kids? Whitney thought she only had girls. She couldn’t remember ever meeting this guy…but he did seem a bit older. Thirty at least. “Why haven’t I met you, then?”
“I moved to the city straight out of high school and just moved back. I bought the old tavern on Main Street. Jess is letting me crash here for a few days until I find a place.”
Cousin,notboyfriend. Staying in Blue Moon Bay,notjust visiting. An obvious setup for Whitney later that evening,notan awkward third-wheel situation.
This meeting had certainly changed course for the better.
“Well, welcome home,” Whitney said.
The dimples were back, and this time she felt zero guilt for enjoying the sight of them.
“Thank you. It’s great to be back,” he said. “And when we officially meet later, I’ll be sure to have clothes on.”
“That’s a shame, but probably for the best,” she said with her own teasing wink.
Chapter Two
Now…
A two-hundred-and-sixty-pound, six-foot-three bouncer sobbing like a baby was an unexpected sight.
Trent sighed as hebeep-beepedhis Jeep in his reserved parking stall and walked toward the entrance to his bar, Trent’s Tavern, that evening.
“I told you, you can’t work here if you’re using,” he told Max, his former bodybuilder competitor turned friend and employee, as the man stood outside, waiting for Trent to unlock the door. Weepiness could be an unfortunate and unpleasant side effect of steroid use.
Max wiped his eyes with the back of his tattooed arm and sniffed. “Nah, man. I’m clean. My sister in New York just sent a video of my niece playing with her new rescue kitten. Wanna see?” Max extended the phone toward him.
Trent shook his head. “And have two burly men sobbing like babies in front of the club? No.” He laughed as he unlocked the door, and then they entered the bar.
“I thought Angel was opening tonight. Didn’t you and Whitney have plans to look at wedding rings?” Max asked, tucking his cell phone into a pocket on his military-looking black cargo pants.
Trent’s jaw twitched as he tried to make light of his fiancée canceling on him again. “She had to work late.” And wedding ring shopping could wait. Just like decisions on wedding dates, venues, flowers, cake…
“I thoughtyouwere ambitious, but that beauty of yours never seems to stop,” Max said.
It was true, and while Trent knew Max meant it as a compliment, Whitney’s demanding work schedule was putting a strain on her healthandtheir relationship. But he’d never admit that to his friend. Any issues he and Whitney may be having were private, and they’d work through them together. As a team. He was confident that they’d just hit a bit of a rough patch this year. Things would get better.
He flicked on the interior lights, and his eyes widened as he scanned the place.
Angel, his club manager, had been busy, too.
Overnight, his tavern had completely transformed. Lacy, gauzelike black fabric draped across the open wood beams. Orange pumpkin-shaped string lights hung from every corner of the ceiling. Old-fashioned-looking black-and-white photos hung on the walls, the creepy, hollow eyes following him as he moved, the faces turning into skulls based on the angle at which he stood. A large animatronic vampire butler moved as he approached, bending to “offer” him a drink that looked like blood. Near the pool tables, a jumping spider sat waiting to terrorize unsuspecting victims. Everywhere he looked, there was a Halloween decoration to be discovered. “The place looks amazing.”
