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This was a thank-you dinner between colleagues—nothing more, although he wasn’t naïve enough to believe the locals would come to that same conclusion.
Bethenny stepped into Jackie’s wearing ripped jeans and a cozy sweater. She waved upon seeing him, her eyes immediately dropping to his cast.
She raised an eyebrow as she pulled out a seat. “Bit more than a sprain, huh?”
His lips turned up. “Might have a fracture or two.”
Her eyes lingered on his cast. “Can’t say I’m completely surprised. Six weeks?” she asked, nodding at it.
He nodded in return. “It’s going to be a long six weeks of trying to tie my own shoes.”
She gave a soft laugh. “You’ll figure it out. I have complete confidence in you,” she said with shining eyes.
He grinned, the nervousness he’d felt while waiting for her disappearing. They had an easy, casual banter that had been there since they’d first met. It didn’t feel like small talk, but like old friends catching up.
Lachlan looked around, noting some of the patrons were looking in their direction. He returned his attention to Bethenny, passing her a menu.
“How was your day?” he asked as he scanned over the options, but his heart had already made up its mind: pepperoni pizza.
“Good,” she said, then sighed, waving her hand dismissively. “I’m trying to force myself to learn how to work a case and be fully present without letting it consume every part of my life...” Her voice trailed off, and he didn’t know whether that was because she didn’t want to talk about it or because she was distracted by the menu. He was surprised she’d said as much as she had.
“How’s that going for you?” he asked even though he was sure he already knew the answer.
“About as good as me deciding what to order right now,” she said. “What are you having?”
“Pepperoni pizza. Simple yet delicious,” he said with a grin.
Her eyes met his and for the briefest of moments he felt a long-forgotten sensation: a flicker of chemistry, that kind of moment that makes your pulse race a little faster, and your stomach curl pleasantly.
She looked away, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop staring at her. She read over the menu, her long lashes concealing her eyes. She wasn’t wearing a lot of makeup, but her high cheekbones were ever-so-slightly blushed pink and a coat of mascara highlighted her lashes. Her lips parted as she inhaled deeply, the only hint she was feeling a touch of what he was.
“Are you ready to order?” the waitress asked, and Lachlan wondered how long she’d been standing there. He hadn’t noticed her approaching. He really was getting sloppy. In the past, within five seconds of walking into a restaurant he’d have been able to tell you where the exits were, how many staff were working there, and give a brief description of all of them.
He looked to Bethenny and she nodded. “I’ll have a Margherita pizza and a diet soda, please.”
The waitress nodded as she scribbled down the order. “Pepperoni for me, and a soda—no diet, thanks. I like mine full of sugar,” he said with a grin, and the waitress gave a flirty laugh.
His eyes were on Bethenny, though. “Daredevil,” she said under her breath, but just loud enough for him to catch it.
He chuckled, returning his attention to the waitress. “That’s it, thanks.” He was glad he’d chosen pizza, because eating with utensils was going to be hard with one hand in a cast.
“So, tell me how you ended up here,” Bethenny said once the waitress left. “After Arizona, I mean.”
He raised an eyebrow, grinning at her directness. Although her questions sometimes made him uncomfortable, he liked that she was direct.
“A job opened up, and I took it,” he said.
She raised her eyebrows in return. “Wow, that’s deflection if I ever saw it.”
He sighed but he was still grinning. “I was running. Running from everything I left behind in Nashville,” he said, surprising himself.
Her eyes softened and she gave a sad smile. “From your wife’s death?”
He nodded, unable to look directly at her. His fingers began to tingle and his stomach churned. He never talked about this—especially not with a woman he’d known for twenty-four hours.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice sounding choked even to his own ears.
Bethenny tilted her head, studying him a minute. He couldn’t tell what she was looking for, but when she didn’t press for more information about Eden, he was grateful.
