Page 22 of After All

The Come Again was a bar, and some could argue that a bar caused more problems than it solved. But Scott wasn’t convinced. The Come Again was a meeting spot, a place to kick back and relax, a place to laugh with people who had known you your entire life. There was something about stepping through the doors to that place that made everything feel better. Having a place to go, where everyone was welcomed and where you could always find a smile, to spend time with people you genuinely liked and enjoyed was, in Scott’s experience, incredibly important.

“I can see why she’s nervous about being with you,” Kyle finally said.

Scott looked up at him. “What?”

“I do,” his friend said with a nod. “She’s got some wild swing, you gotta admit. She can be sweet and happy, but she can also be a damned hellion. I can see her being worried about being with a guy she likes and cares about. You’re an all-in guy, Hansen. If you really start something with her, you’re not the type to bail when things get tough. So she figures if she gives in,you’restuck. And she cares about you enough to not want to make you miserable.”

Scott scowled. Mostly because he knew Kyle had a point. Dan was all-in with Jo. He was sticking through everything the woman threw at him—sometimes literally. Peyton saw her dad in Scott. Not the whipped, clingy enabler, but the guy who wouldn’t leave even if he wanted to.

Dammit.

He shoved his hand through his hair. “When are you letting me out of here?” he asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” Kyle told him. “If your numbers stay good.”

“And you’re taking me home?”

“Sure thing. I have clinic hours in Sapphire Falls tomorrow. I’ll spring you from here around seven a.m.”

“Great.” The sooner he got home, the better. Before Peyton decided to put a sex swing in his bedroom. Or get on another plane out of town. He knew she was a flight risk at the moment.

“Oh, and Derek will come along,” Kyle added.

“He will?” Scott asked.

“I will?” Derek asked at the same time.

Kyle grinned and reached for his phone. “Let me give you a rundown of the things Peyton went home to pack and the uniform she’s going to be wearing when we get to Scott’s. You’ll definitely want to come along.”

Scott refused to give Kyle a reaction as his friend headed out of his room. Then he flopped back in the bed and threw his arm over his face.

The next couple of weeks were going to be tough.

And recovering from being shot was going to be the easy part.

Chapter Four

Peyton knew exactlyhow things were going to go down at Scott’s.

She threw her bag behind the seat of her truck and climbed in. He was going to try to be sweet and romantic and flirty and “couply”. Her only hope was to distract him. As a cop, Scott was not easily distracted. She knew that well. Which meant, she was going to have to blow his mind and keep him constantly sexed up if she was going to survive.

She had fit two weeks of clothing in her smallest duffel. Because it was alltinyclothing. And yes, she fully intended to greet him at the door in her nurse’s costume.

But she needed to swing by the grocery store on her way over to his place, and she didn’t want to risk giving anyone a heart attack by wearing it up and down the aisles at Conrad’s.

She was in and out of the store in ten minutes and on her way to Scott’s. At some point, she would cook for him, of course. But she didn’t really want him getting too comfortable in a “regular couple” routine right away.

This whole situation was about sex.

And okay, him getting better.

But she wasnotmaking him meatloaf.

She was at the stop sign in front of the diner when she happened to glance over. And noticed Reed Walker’s truck parked in front.

Peyton slammed on her brakes, scowling at the black and silver Ford. Looked like she had one more stop to make. She pulled into a spot across the street and then headed for Dottie’s. It was just before eight, so the place was packed. The group of older guys in the middle, with the three tables pulled together and a jillion coffee cups in front of them, would be there for the next couple of hours. And had already been there for a couple. There wasn’t a guy in the group under the age of sixty, and who hadn’t lived in Sapphire Falls for at least fifty of those years. They held court every weekday morning and every other Saturday. And they knew more gossip than the ladies at the Bang and Blow Salon.

But the rest of the place was full of farmers and the people who ran the businesses that sat around the square. Everything opened at eight-thirty in Sapphire Falls, after everyone filled up on pancakes, eggs, and coffee and strolled to their shop doors.

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