Page 84 of No One Wants That (Blitzen Bay)

“Stop,” Butch says, pulling me to him. “You’re going to embarrass Mason.”

“I doubt that very much,” I say, laughing as Mason holds the door open for us.

When we walk in, I see Millie and Elle at a table.

“Hey! How was the hike?” Millie asks.

“It was good,” Butch says, looking around the room for a table.

“We’ll make room for you at our table.” Millie looks up at him. “Unless you want to be alone.”

“Stop digging, Mills,” Butch says.

Elle looks up at me. “I’m going to eat with them to give Sam and the guys time to talk to the attorney. Join us.”

“Do you want to join them?” I say, looking up at Butch.

“Sure. Whatever you want.”

Mason grabs a few chairs from the next table and pulls them over. “Tell us about the hike. Where’d you go?”

“That little domed peak over closest to Route 18,” Butch says. “You know the one? Nash was talking about it the other day.”

“Yep,” Mason says. “Did you make it all of the way up? He said it was a pretty steep climb at the end.”

“Yeah,” Butch says, putting his arm around my shoulders and looking down at me proudly. “We even made up there before sunrise.”

“Okay, first,” Elle says, grabbing my hand across the table. “Just the fact that Kit went hiking is alarming. Then add in that she went before sunrise and she climbed up something steep. This is all very hard to believe. Butch, did you hypnotize her?”

“I thought I was going to need to,” he says as he kisses the top of my head. “But it ends up she just needed a lot of encouragement. She did great.”

“Okay, everyone stop.” Millie holds up her hands. “Are we ignoring the hugging and kissing that’s happening between them right now?”

“I’m trying really hard to,” Mason says, sliding his arm around Millie’s shoulders. “Leave it alone, babe.”

“Not a chance,” Millie says. “If we were in a larger town, I could maybe ignore it, but this town is a breeding ground for gossip. I’d like to hear it firsthand, so I don’t have to grill Izzy for the information later. Are you two together now or what?”

“Mind your business,” Butch says, pointing at Millie.

“No,” Millie says, crossing her arms. “You’re the nosiest person I know. You deserve all of this. Speak.”

I look at Elle. “Do you want to step up and save us here?”

“Sorry, sweetie,” Elle says. “I’m on Millie’s side. Speak.”

Butch looks down at me. “Should we take our food back to the room?”

“The room?” Millie’s eyebrows shoot up. “Are you sharing a room now?”

“Babe,” Mason says. “Stop. Give them a little space.”

“Really?” She whips her head around to look at him. “Do you remember how badly Butch dogged us when we were starting up?”

Gabi walks over with her order pad and looks down at Butch.

“Thank God,” Butch says. “Good timing, Gabi. Are you ready for our order?”

“Hell no,” she says. “I’m not taking any orders until you talk. Claire told Izzy this morning that you two were all snuggly when you left the inn.”

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