Page 83 of After All

Scott glanced at the guy. “Why? Who is he?”

“He came to town with Hannah. They’re even sharing a room over at Ty’s,” Derek said.

Ty Bennett had bought the house right next door to Hailey Conner when he’d moved back to town. He’d figured it was the easiest way to show her that he was all-in on the relationship that he wanted and she didn’t. Now that they were married, they were living in Hailey’s house and they used Ty’s as a sort-of boarding house. As an Olympic medalist in the triathlon, Ty brought athletes to town to train and learn from him, and they stayed there. But there were six rooms in the house, and when they weren’t full of triathletes, other people could rent them. There was a bed-and-breakfast in town, but Ty’s was really for longer-term tenants than the ones who came to town for a weekend here and there and stayed at the Rise and Shine.

So Hannah was staying at Ty’s while she was in town? And sharing her room with this guy? “Why isn’t she staying at her mom and dad’s?” Scott asked.

“Seems that when she didn’t come home as planned, Kyle wasn’t the only one she ticked off,” Derek said.

Yeah, Kyle had been less ticked off and more…heartbroken.

“And she brought this guy with her?” Scott asked. Ouch. “Boyfriend?”

Derek shrugged. “We’re assuming. Right, Kyle?”

“I don’t fucking care.”

Derek gave Scott a look that said “yeah, right”. “But you know who that is, right?” Derek asked.

Scott looked at the guy again. “No, should I?”

“You ever heard of Michael Kade?” Derek asked.

Scott nodded. “Sure. The writer. He does thrillers and stuff, right?”

“Yep. And that’s him.”

Scott looked again. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a photo of Michael Kade, or even read one of his books, but he was one of those guys who was big enough that you’d heard of him, even if you didn’t really follow him. “No shit?”

“No shit. That is Michael Kade, theNew York Timesbestselling author, and he is here in Sapphire Falls with Hannah for as long as she’s here. He calls her his muse.”

Oh, boy, that was…interesting.

But Scott’s brain completely shut down whatever the guys had been saying when he saw Peyton headed his way. She had a huge grin on her face, and he felt his heart rate accelerate in response. That happy, sassy look really did something to him.

Without even looking at Kyle, Peyton looped her bag over the back of Scott’s bar stool, slipped between him and Kyle, and wedged herself next to Scott.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” He swiveled, and she moved between his knees and up against him as if she had every right.

And she did. He was hers. He wasn’t sure she completely realized that yet—or maybe it was that he wasn’t sure she completelybelievedit yet—but he was all hers.

She rested her hands on his thighs and looked up at him, and his whole body tightened. “So I finished my test.”

“Good. How’d it go?”

She shrugged. “Okay, I guess. But that’s not what I’m thinking about right now.”

“No?” He could give her a very short list of things he was thinking about right now. And every one of them involved her being naked.

“I’ve had a fantasy about you and this bar for a long time,” she said.

“Yeah? I’ve had a fantasy about you and several things for a long time now.”

She grinned. “I don’t know how many times I’ve looked across this room at you and wished I could just walk up and kiss you.”

He moved a hand to rest on the back of her neck. “What stopped you?”

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