Page 57 of A Lonely Road
“It’s going to be fine,” I said again.
Nora waited while I shifted the truck into park, then she caught my hand and kissed it. “I know it will be,” she whispered, “because I’m in love with you, too.”
The smile that broke across my face brimmed with such joy that it could have lit the interior of the cab. I lifted my other hand to her cheek and slid over along the bench seat to kiss her, the kind of slow, deep kiss that filled my chest with wave after wave of emotion. When we parted, I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against hers.
“Then I can handle anything,” I murmured.
The bliss was short-lived, however, because Nora suddenly gasped and jerked away, muttering, “Shit, shit, shit.”
I turned and saw a tall, broad-shouldered man with the same deep brown eyes as Nora staring at us through the windshield. Captain John Cassidy lifted a single dark brow in our direction as Nora scrambled for her seatbelt. She quickly hopped out of the cab, so I did the same, though I followed more slowly and met the two of them at the front of the truck.
“Hi, Dad!” Nora said brightly, her cheeks beet red.
I’d never seen her blush so deeply, though I was sorely tempted to try to make it happen sometime—in private, of course. She rose on tiptoe to kiss the man’s cheek.
“Hi, Bear. Are you going to introduce me?”
“Ah,” she stumbled slightly. “Dad, this is Jake Lincoln. My neighbor. Boyfriend. I mean, both, I guess. This is Jake.”
Good lord, I’d never seen Nora so tongue-tied—and I was utterly enchanted by it. I forced back the memory of the day she’d accidentally told me I looked hot, smiled politely, and offered my hand to her father.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Cassidy.”
“John will do fine, son,” her father said, shaking my hand.
The older man’s grip was firm and strong. I caught the barest hint of a smile twinkling in his eyes, so like Nora’s, though his expression remained stern. Beside us, Nora still looked completely frazzled, so I took her hand and watched as that simple connection steadied her. When I glanced back at her father, I was dead certain he’d seen it, too.
“This is Jake’s restaurant,” she told her father as we walked toward the doors.
“It’s a family business, technically. My father started it when I was in high school, but my twin sister and I are the current owners,” I added with a smile.
Nora’s earlier jokes about me being perfect boyfriend material—polite, friendly, charming—would only help if it made up for the fact that her father had caught us making out in the parking lot. Christ, she said she’d never so much as held hands with anyone in her father’s presence. I wondered if she felt like she was back in middle school again, floundering under Captain Cassidy’s stern gaze, because I sure as hell did. I would help her in whatever way I could, but her fluttering nervousness was throwing off my focus.
“The strawberry shortcake is to die for,” Nora added when she realized the conversation had stalled.
I caught sight of her father’s amused expression over Nora’s head and squeezed her hand reassuringly. Joanna, one of Nora’s favorite servers, greeted us with a megawatt smile and led us to a booth on the opposite side of the restaurant from Nora’s usual spot.
“This is a very nice place, Jake,” John said as we sat. “You must do good business here.”
Though it wasn’t posed as a question, I understood that I was under review. “Yes, sir, we do. My sister and I took over for my father three years ago when he retired and business has continued to improve steadily. My sister does our marketing, I deal with the finances.”
“And tend bar on the side?” John asked. With a small smile, he added, “Word gets around in a small town like this, even to a visitor like myself.”
I grinned, though Nora shot her father a quick glare. “Yes, sir. I started bartending after I graduated from college, so it’s a good way to keep an eye on things here. Even when my full-time bartender is working, I generally help out a few times a week.”
“That seems a bit unusual,” he said, looking unimpressed.
“I enjoy it, and it gives me a break from staring at ledgers all day long. I like to be present, stay involved. It helps when we need to make adjustments, see how things are working out, assess business decisions. And it’s fun.”
John leaned forward and stared straight into my eyes. “Fun,” he repeated harshly. “Were you having fun the night my daughter was attacked?”
Every trace of good humor left my expression. “No, sir.”
“And instead of reporting the crime, you let him walk out of here?”
“My primary concern was Nora—”
“Well, my concern is this asshole continuing to harass my daughter.”
