Page 26 of Top Shelf

Me either, Linda. Me either.

She walks toward us, leaving the coffee pot on the counter as she does. She takes me in her arms, hugging me tight. She still smells like maple syrup.

“Hi, Linda,” I say.

“Hi, sweetie,” she says. “Oh, it’s so good to see you. Gary!” she calls to her husband. “Look who made her way back to Crooked Creek.”

“Well now,” says Gary, “aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

I smile as I walk toward him and give him a hug too.

“We’re used to seeingthisone around,” Linda says, putting an arm around Tyson. “But you are a welcome surprise. How ya been, honey?”

I smile.

I hate that question.

But I’m so good at faking the answer.

“I’ve been good. I’ve been good,” I say, giving the head nod that usually accompanies the response. “I moved back to town, actually.”

Linda’s eyebrows jump.

She’s a sweet old lady, but she’s also a gossip queen.

“Oh, really? What are you doing here?” she asks.

I swallow.

Shit. Why did I say that?

Just then, I feel Tyson’s arm snake around my waist, pulling me into him.

“She just couldn’t stay away,” he says, bending down to lay a kiss on my cheek. I feel the blood rush to my face as the room suddenly gets hot. My eyes widen as I look up at him, but he’s as cool as the other side of the pillow. Linda’s jaw drops slightly as her eyes jump from him, to me, back to him. He doesn’t offer up anything else. He just winks at her and escorts me toward an open booth.

When we sit down, I bury my face in my hands.

“Oh my God,” I whisper. “You are enjoying this, aren’t you?”

He smiles as he grabs a menu and hands me one.

“Duh,” he says with a chuckle. “The chance to get people talking inthistown? Oh, yeah.”

I laugh and shake my head.

“You’re trouble,” I tell him. He winks.

“But you already knew that,baby,” he says.

And then I feel my stomach flip.

He’s been calling me “baby” a lot. Almost like it’s just natural to him.

And I like it.

Shit.

CHAPTERTWELVE

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