Page 11 of After Tonight

No, she would definitely disagree.

He stubbornly resisted looking over at the table where she sat, her feet propped on the chair across from her, her laptop open, her headphones on—the universal signal for “I don’t want to talk”. She came in every night to work, just like a number of other people, including local bestselling author Michael Kade.

The Come Again had become an after-hours place for night owls who didn’t have their own offices to work in. It had started because the work to expand the Come Again for the pizza business happened after the bar closed, and the lights had drawn Peyton in when she’d decided to take classes online. Other people had quickly noticed the lights and cars in the lot, and Derek had simply gone with it, keeping the coffeepot going until the wee hours.

Now it was just a routine, and he kind of liked it. His buddy Bryan Murray actually owned the bar, but Derek was going to be the owner of the pizza business, and he loved being a part of the Come Again. It really was the social hub of Sapphire Falls, and it mattered to him that he was a part of a place where people always felt welcome, where celebrations were held and defeats were made a little less painful, where you could come with a group of friends to make memories, or where you could come alone to make friends.

“Hey.”

He focused again on the people in front of him as Hannah slid up onto the stool next to Kyle.

Kyle gave her a sweet kiss on the temple. “How was your day?”

She nodded, leaning in to rest against him. “Okay.”

Kyle’s hand rested on the back of her neck and he rubbed gently. Hannah had chronic neck pain from an accident a few years prior, and Derek wondered if Kyle even realized he was massaging her. It seemed an instinctive, protective action.

“You sound tired,” Kyle said softly.

“I am.”

“Okay, time to go home.” He put his arm around her and started to stand. “Hot bath and then I’m tucking you in.”

“And getting in with me?” she asked, giving him a sexy—if sleepy—smile.

“Just to sleep, Hannah,” Kyle said. His expression was full of affection.

And Derek found himself having to swallow hard. On his right was the couple that had upped the temp in the whole bar just looking at each other, and on his left was the couple in which one was simply taking care of the other. And that was kind of hot…or something…too.

“This,” he announced. Both couples looked at him. He gestured between them. “This is what I’m talking about.”

Hannah, Kyle, Peyton and Scott all looked at one another, then back at Kyle. And Kyle and Scott nodded.

“Yeah, this is pretty great,” Kyle said.

“You definitely want some of this,” Scott added.

Yeah, he thought maybe he did. Vegas and Sapphire Falls all in one beautiful, sweet, naughty, fun package.

Kyle and Hannah said their goodnights and left. Peyton went up on tiptoe and whispered something in Scott’s ear that had him saying goodnight a minute later.

And then Derek was alone.

He started wiping down glasses, lost in thought, until he heard, “Well, hey, I was hoping you were here tonight.”

He looked up to find Ashley Archer leaning on the other side of the bar. “Hey, Ash. What’s up?”

Ashley was a girl he’d “visited Vegas” with a couple of times. Maybe three. Or four.

“I was just wondering what you were up to this weekend?” She gave him a flirty smile.

He thought about it. He studied her lips. He thought about the last time they’d been together. Then he surprised them both and asked, “Have you read any of Michael Kade’s books?”

Ashley frowned. “Um, no. Not really my thing.”

Well, at least she knew who Kade was. He was living here in Sapphire Falls now though, and Derek wondered if she’d known the author before he moved in and started making a big deal about writing a tongue-in-cheek murder mystery set in Aquamarine Ridge, a town that bore an uncanny similarity to Sapphire Falls.

But Derek didn’t ask. Because he didn’t really want to know. He was about to ask a woman on a date, and he didn’t really need to know that it was a dumb idea.

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