Page 8 of Tell Me Something True

The bartender glanced at Miles, then at the two empty stools between them, then at Tabitha. “You two know each other?”

“We do. We were… well, not friends, exactly. But not just acquaintances either… hmm…” She sent Miles a faux, thoughtful frown as she tapped her forefinger against the faded scar on her chin. “How was it you so charmingly described our relationship?”

“Tabitha,” he ground out, his expression full-on do not mess with me.

Guess he shouldn’t have messed with her first.

Because she’d not only realized how smart, driven, and determined she could be. She’d also learned a highly surprising, recently unknown fact about herself.

In the right circumstances, she could be stubborn.

When she was pushed, she could push back.

And if there was any man who deserved a bit of a shove, it was this new Miles Jennings.

“Oh, that’s right. I remember now.” She turned back to the bartender who was watching their exchange with rapt attention. “Miles and I used to fuck.”

Miles growled.

The bartender grinned, fast and appreciative. “I like you.”

Tabitha beamed and straightened on her stool. “I’m very likable.”

“I’m Hayden.”

“Tabitha,” she responded, shaking Hayden’s offered hand.

“What can I get you, Tabitha?”

“A club soda and lime, please. And a menu.”

Her new friend Hayden laid a plastic menu in front of Tabitha, then scooped ice into a glass. “I hate to break it to you,” she said, filling the glass with club soda, “but I’m not exactly shocked you and Miles hooked up. He has a reputation around town for loving ‘em and leaving ‘em.”

“Is that so?” Tabitha murmured, looking at Miles.

The Miles she’d known had been all about commitment. He’d wanted a woman to share his life with. Had dreamed of a house with a picket fence right here in Mount Laurel, complete with kids and dogs and a big yard.

Now, apparently, he was a small-town player.

But at least she had the answer to whether or not he was married.

“Yep.” Mouth quirked in sympathy, Hayden added a lime slice and stir straw to the drink, then set it in front of Tabitha on a paper napkin. “He’s pretty much king of one night stands around here.”

“We weren’t a one-night stand. We were together for almost a year while he was at Pitt.”

“Almost a year?” Hayden drawled, glancing at Miles. “Really? And now you’re here to try again?”

“Tabitha’s just passing through Mount Laurel,” Miles said. “Her being here, us running into each other, was a complete coincidence.”

If his dry tone didn’t make it clear he didn’t buy a word of it, the air quotes he made around the word coincidence sure did.

“Some people just don’t believe in the happenstance of fate,” she told Hayden. “The old Miles wasn’t quite so cynical.”

“No? What was the old Miles like, then?”

Tabitha took a sip of her drink. “Well, the first thing that drew me to him was his confidence.”

“His confidence, huh?” Hayden grinned. “Because I had a group of ladies in here last month who couldn’t stop talking about him. And nothing about his personality came up once.”

---