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“You remember your cover story?” I reminded her.
“I do. I’m Hanna from Long Island just in town with my friends for the weekend.”
“Good.” I gave a curt nod.
“We walk in with the guys,” Savannah quietly explained to Nicole as they approached me, “and we leave with them. It sets the precedent that we’re all together. Just follow Paul’s lead.”
“Understood.” She nodded in agreement and smiled at Savannah and looked excited.
“Good, we’ll meet you in there.” Savannah rushed to Cole’s side and slipped her hand through his.
Nicole folded her arms and shivered. She didn’t have a sweater, and the air was cool. Her shirt barely covered her stomach, and I couldn’t help but notice her breasts reacted to the drop in temperature. “So, we just walk in next to each other?”
“Yeah.” I motioned for her to walk, but she stopped me.
“Paul.” Her eyes softened, and I saw her guard slip. She looked around, and I wondered if she was nervous. When she saw me look down at her, she shook it off. “Never mind.”
We stepped inside, and I felt her stop and pull back. Zack’s was busy. The restaurant closed earlier in the evening, and the place had more of a western club vibe. Live music blared from the speakers. The dance floor was full of people line dancing. Over the years, the town of Redstone had grown, and there were more tourists than ever before.
I bent and lowered my lips to her ear. “You good?”
“Yeah,” she tried to smile, “it’s just been a minute since I’ve gone out at all, and it’s such a busy spot.”
I felt slightly bad, knowing exactly how she felt. I put my hand on her hip. “It’s a lot, but it’s safe here.” I moved her in front of me.
SEVEN
NICOLE
We joined the others in the far corner near the bar. Pool tables and dartboards seemed to have been reserved for us. That’s pretty cool.
“Hello, all.” A friendly looking man set a tray of beer pitchers on the high-top table. “I see we have a newbie.” He whipped his hand out and extended it toward me. “I’m Adam, one of the managers here at Zack’s and a friend of everyone.” His grin went from ear to ear.
“Nicole. Nice to meet you.” I shook his hand. “This is a pretty nice place.”
He looked around. “I think so, too.”
“Hey, Adam,” Savannah smiled, “let’s see what fancy girlie drinks the ladies want.” She pulled him away as Mark held up the pitcher of beer. I shook my head, and he shrugged and poured one for himself.
Savannah called me over to where the girls had gathered around a separate long table. Adam was taking their drink orders as fast as he could.
“What’s your poison, Nicole?” Sloane, John’s wife, called from the far end. “We always like to try something new. I’m having a Sour Puss, and Savannah’s having a Blue Walrus.” She laughed and clapped her hands.
“I think I’ll stick with a pinot.” I grinned. “I might get wild and crazy on those.”
“That’s the whole idea.” Savannah patted the chair next to her, and I sat. “You need to let your hair down a little.”
“Yeah, we’d like to see that,” Mark called from where he stood with the guys. He held up a beer and wiggled his brows at us.
“I just bet you would.” I allowed myself to get into the fun. “Okay, Adam,” I glanced quickly down the drink list, “I’ll have a Random Ruckus.”
“One Random Ruckus for the lady.” Adam wrote it down and laughed as he headed for the bar.
“Make them all doubles,” Mark called, and all the guys but Paul whistled and clapped.
I saw Paul watching me, but when he caught my glance, he turned to say something to John. I hated that we had something between us. He and John went to the pool table, and the other guys followed. They began to joke with each other as Ty handed out pool cues.
“He likes you, I can tell.” Savannah patted my arm. “You just need to give him time to see that he’s wrong about you. He is wrong about you, I know. I’ve seen you with that child, and it’s obvious you care a lot for him. So has Abigail, and she always gets a good read on people.”
