Page 14 of Falling For You

“Marginally.”

I still didn’t like the fact that he wouldn’t just tell me. “So, why are you at my table?”

He stretched back in the booth slightly, his maroon flannel tugging up slightly at the waist.

“I don’t actually know.” Owen scanned the bar and shook his head with a laugh. “I have absolutely no idea. Maybe I just like to torture myself.”

“Okay.” I laughed. “And I thought I could make things awkward.”

“What? Is that awkward? Is this awkward?” He motioned at the table between us.

“Which part? The fact that you’re stealing my cheese curds or that you sat down, mistakenly thinking I was working my fingers to the bones, and then missing the hint that I’d been in the middle of a book?”

“I was thinking more about the fact that I wouldn’t tell you why I was poking around Vern Medowski’s property.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know what to make of you.”

He frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re clearly playing dress up and trying to fit in around here.”

“How do you figure?”

“You look like a suit and tie type.”

His lip curled slightly on the left, and a dimple formed on his right cheek.

These were all things I shouldn’t be noticing.

“You think I just wake up in a suit and tie? Sleep in a suit and tie? Vacation in a suit and tie?”

I tilted my head. “Is that what this is?”

“What?”

“A vacation?” I pressed.

“No. I’m not on vacation.”

“Then why aren’t you wearing a suit?” I sat back in the booth, feeling his gaze on me. My insides warmed, and I suddenly felt glued to the seat. “Am I right?”

“It didn’t seem practical.”

A satisfied smile spread along my mouth as I nodded. “I knew it. Those boots have never seen a day of work in their life.”

“I work every single day.”

I chuckled. “Sorry. I mean manual labor.”

“Do you know what I find fascinating about this whole thing?” he asked.

“Enlighten me.”

“You think you’re better than me.”

I gasped. “I do not. I’m not better than anyone.”

“You don’t like me.”

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