Page 54 of It'll Always Be Her

“Fire chief. Coming off a breakup, so Destiny is on the prowl.”

Adam remembered Destiny’s instant dislike of him. “She set them up?”

“She sets everyone up. Everyone who will let her, at least. Thetragically single, she calls those who are unattached. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.”

Adam pointed his chin toward the bartender. “Did her matchmaking work for you?”

“Not even close.” Rory smiled and shook her head. “Sometimes the stars align on their own with no help from Destiny at all.”

She winked at him, then headed back to the bar. Adam continued glowering at Bee and Scott, downing half the pint before finally turning his attention to his food. He ate the steak and potatoes, not tasting either one, while casting glances at the couple by the fireplace.

Friends.

Yeah, they were friends. But his friendly feelings toward her were also tangled up with all kinds of other emotions he didn’t know what to do with and couldn’t explain. All he knew was that wanted to grab fire chief Scott out of his chair and warn him to stay the hell away from Bee.

Then he wanted to haul her close and kiss her in the middle of the restaurant so everyone would know that she belonged with him and not Scott or Todd or any other carbon-based life form.

Adam pushed away from the table and headed to the bar. He tried to tell himself it was for the better that Bee was out with Scott.

Even if Adam wanted to be a lot more than just friends with her, anything between them would be short-term and temporary. Not like the fire chief, who was probably one of those stable, small-town guys who believed in ghosts and was looking forward to readingWhere the Wild Things Areto his future kids.

He asked the bartender for another beer, resting his hands on the bartop as he waited.

“Dr. Powers!” a female voice said in delight.

Adam turned to find a blonde in her early twenties standing beside him—one of the young women who’d asked him for a picture the other day on Mariposa Street. He forced a smile in response to hers.

“Great to see you again,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Clyde says you’re directing this episode, so you’re not going to be on camera. Serious bummer.”

Adam slanted his gaze to Constantine, who was watching him with a tight, disapproving expression. The show’s host hadn’t taken well to Adam’s on-camera role, especially after the producers had asked him to appear as a regular.

Clyde didn’t like sharing the spotlight, and he really didn’t like the implication thatHex or Hoax?needed a “new feature” to keep ratings solid.

“Are you going to start doing the investigations with Clyde?” the girl asked.

“No. I just look at whatever evidence he’s collected.” He took his beer from the bartender with a nod of thanks.

“Yo, Powers!” With a thin smile, Clyde waved like he was the king on a Mardi Gras parade float. “No stealing the pretty girls. Come on over and join us.”

The blonde giggled. Smothering a groan, Adam accompanied her to where Clyde was standing. As the episode’s director, he needed to stay on his star’s good side, which meant heeding a public summons.

“Ladies, Powers here is myright-hand man.” Clyde threw a beefy arm around Adam’s shoulders and beamed at the women circled around him. “I told the producers if he didn’t get an on-camera spot, I might not renew my contract.”

Adam barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. The women gasped at the thought of such a magnanimous gesture.

“He’s directing this episode, so he’s in charge of making me look good,” Clyde continued, tightening his arm around Adam as if to warn him to play along.

“Clyde, you don’t need anyone else to make you look good.” A petite redhead patted his arm and let her hand linger.

“We’re super excited that you’re filming right here in Bliss Cove.” A brunette who couldn’t have been over twenty sidled closer to Adam. “We’ve been trying to get the deets out of Clyde, but he’s like Fort Knox.”

Clyde made a little twisting lock motion beside his mouth, then flicked his hand over his shoulder like he was throwing away the key. The girls laughed as if it was the cleverest thing they’d ever seen.

“There aren’t actually anydeetsyet,” Adam told them. “We just started filming last night.”

“You’ll definitely see the ghost before you leave,” one of the girls said, and the redhead nodded in agreement. “We see him all the time.”

“Hey.” Clyde gave them a mock frown. “I don’t like the idea of any of you seeing another guyall the time.”

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