Page 17 of Outside The Wire

“I can appreciate your willingness to defend my wife’s honor. It’s very noble of you.”

“Yes, if?—”

“If she were alive,” I finished for her. “It’s okay.”

She nodded slightly, then leaned back in her seat as the food arrived, cutting the tension. After the man dropped off the food, she dug into her burger, trying her best to hide the ketchup that smeared over the corner of her mouth. It was damn cute.

“So, why are you here tonight instead of on a hot date?” I asked.

She chewed, rolling her eyes as she chomped away. “I work too much.”

“Where do you work?”

“I own a shop.” She sighed heavily. “You’re going to laugh at me. Holly Lane Boutique.”

I didn’t get the joke. “Why would I laugh at that?”

“Holly Lane? It’s like the ultimate Christmas-sounding name.”

“And?”

“My parents could have named me anything else in the world. They chose to give me that name.”

“I happen to like it. It has a nice ring to it.” I eyed her onion rings. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had an onion ring. “Are you gonna eat those?”

She snatched them away from me, growling under her breath. “Don’t you dare touch my onion rings.”

I held up my hands, chuckling at her fierce protection of her food. “I wouldn’t dare dream of coming between you and your food.”

“You’d better not.”

“I just haven’t had them in a long time.”

She eyed me warily, then her onion rings. “I might be willing to give up one. But just one.”

“Just one,” I smirked. “I’ll even take a small one.”

“You bet your ass you will.”

She picked out the smallest one she could find and handed it over with a grin. I popped it in my mouth and chewed, relishing in the taste. Damn, I should have ordered those instead.

“So, this shop…what do you sell?”

“House decor, furniture, accents…that sort of stuff.”

I was about to take a bite of my burger, but stopped. “But you were shopping for a rug at that chain store.”

“So?”

“So, couldn’t you have found something you liked in your own shop?”

She shrugged. “The heart wants what the heart wants.”

“How did that work out, anyway?”

She was just taking a sip of Coke and started choking. I got to my feet immediately, slapping her on the back as she gasped for air. She waved me off, coughing a few more times before shaking it off.

“You okay?”

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