Page 44 of Love You
He got to his feet and paced. “What are we going to do about it?”
“Nothing,” though if not for Nana rattling pots in the kitchen it would’ve been something. She felt a twinge of disappointment. “Haven’t you kissed a million women and walked away?”
He didn’t respond, which was answer enough. “In case you’re interested, there hasn’t been anyone since Britney.”
“Yeah, not that interested.” Except she sort of was. And surprised, if he was actually telling the truth. “Is it okay if I get back to earning a living now?”
“Yep. One more thing before you go.” He walked up to her and put his face an inch away from hers. “I know you liked it so why are you pretending that it was nothing?”
“I told you, I’ve been going through a dry spell. It really doesn’t take much these days.” She backed away, afraid that if she stood there any longer she’d do the unthinkable and kiss him again.
“Keep telling yourself that,” he called to her as she walked out the door.
Chapter Eleven
Win needed to get out of the office to think and find a way to curb his lust. Darcy wasn’t his type but she sure as hell did something to him. It was probably her acid tongue. He liked a woman who called him on his crap.
He walked to the Juicery and got a green smoothie. Doughnuts were his vice but he liked to stay healthy. Main Street swarmed with people, even for a Monday. Paddle and Pedal had a good line of people waiting to rent bikes and inner tubes for the river. It was turning out to be a warm day, perfect for the water.
Good thing because he was taking a group white-water rafting. A family. He usually did the more advanced tours but one of their rafting guides was on vacation. It would be a nice break. Families with kids were the bomb. He loved watching their expressions as they discovered the joy of a great adventure. When they were kids, he and his brothers had lived for getting out on the river, the lake, a black diamond trail, anything outdoors.
He strolled back to the office where his group, the Blake family, waited. The kids were playing on the rock wall while Josh gave them a few pointers. It was high time he and Hannah started pumping out a few children of their own and take the burden off the rest of them, since it was all Mary ever talked about. She wanted to be a grandmother while she was still young enough to chase her grandkids around. Colt and Delaney would probably spit out a baby before too long. And who knows, maybe TJ and Deb wouldn’t even wait until their winter wedding. From the way they’d been looking at each other, Win wouldn’t be surprised if Deb walked down the aisle in a maternity dress.
He gathered the Blakes and gave them a safety spiel. It was their first time out so he planned to stick with Class I rapids. He loaded the gear into one of the shuttle vans and they headed out. Most of the time he met his groups at the river but this worked just as well.
By the time they got back everyone had taken off for the day, including Darcy. He saw the Blakes off and went home to shower off the river. There was a locker room at GA but he wanted to feed the cat. Afterward, he walked the short distance from his apartment to downtown Glory Junction for a pint and a game of darts at Old Glory. Mondays were usually relatively quiet at the bar, filled mostly with locals. On Wednesdays, all the Garner brothers came to take advantage of Boden’s hump day specials.
“Hey, Win.” Candace Kelly gave him a finger wave from the table where she sat with two other women.
They’d gone to high school together and now she was Delaney’s receptionist. Last he’d heard, she and her husband had split up. Despite not having talked to her in a while, everyone’s life in a small town was an open book.
He waved back and took a seat at the bar.
“What’ll you have?” Boden asked.
“Sierra Nevada and a burger. Side salad, instead of the fries.” He’d eaten a sandwich out on the river but was starved.
Boden put in his order and drew him a beer. Win scanned the dining room through the back-bar mirror. He didn’t see any of his regular dart or pool buddies, like Chip. Even though he was a recovering alcoholic, he came to Old Glory after work in the evenings a lot and nursed a cola.
Boden brought his Sierra Nevada. “Don’t look now but Candace is checking you out.”
Win took a surreptitious glance. “Not interested.”
“She’s hot.”
“Then why don’t you date her?” Boden was a lady’s man. Chicks went in for his whole grunge biker look. The flannel shirts, the biker boots, the tattoos, the chains.
“Nah, not my thing. Your brother got the one I wanted.”
“Which one?” Hannah, Delaney, Deb—they were all gorgeous, smart, funny, the whole package.
“TJ.” Boden gave him a hard look.
Everyone in town knew Win and Deb’s history. No secrets in Glory Junction. But there was no bad blood between him and TJ. He loved all his brothers like crazy, even if they liked to micromanage his life.
“TJ has good taste and so does Deb.”
“What about you?” The kitchen bell rang and Boden grabbed Win’s burger and set it down in front of him. “Who you seeing these days?”
