Page 28 of Save Me

All he could do was nod.

“There’s a new day spa that is absolutely amazing, an art gallery, a coffee shop, a florist, and a quilt shop. They’re all new. And then there’s this place around the corner from the pub that had all kinds of work done on it, but they blacked out the windows and no one knows what it’s going to be!” With a small laugh that was part snort, she shook her head. “Like…why put in months of work on a place and then not put up any signs or even open? It’s crazy!”

“Definitely,” he murmured, even though he felt a little sick to his stomach.

He knew the exact place she was talking about.

Hell, he owned it.

“Maybe they ran out of money,” she reasoned. “I mean…it’s possible they ran into financing issues or even permit issues. All I know is that so many of us are dying of curiosity, and now we may never know.”

“What is one type of business you wish came to Laurel Bay?”

“Ooh…good question. Let me think…” She was quiet for a moment. “A bookstore and a bakery. Preferably in the same store.”

Smiling, he looked over at her. “Interesting idea. Have you talked to Patrick about it? Maybe he could actively search for someone to open one.”

“Oh, definitely not.”

“How come?”

“Um…he’s a little…shall we say…territorial. No, wait…private,” she corrected. “He rarely talks about his business and it’s a little weird.”

“That is a little weird. He didn’t strike me as that kind of guy—you know, private and all that—when I hung out with him.”

“Yeah, well…” Then she sighed. “Listen, would you mind if we didn’t talk about my family? I’m still a little twitchy about the whole dinner thing and if I’m going to relax, I’d rather not discuss them anymore.”

“Consider it done,” he assured her.

The rest of the drive they talked about the sights, and Ryleigh told him more about Beaufort, since he’d only been there a handful of times. By the time they arrived at the restaurant, he felt that things were going well. They overcame a lot of the awkwardness that had always been there and were perhaps transitioning into a whole new phase of their relationship.

Over dinner, he stayed away from any talk of her family, and, shockingly, she didn’t ask anything personal of him.

And he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He was genuinely interested in her life and loved hearing her responses to all his questions. Sure they’d touched on the basic getting-to-know-you stuff—favorite color, favorite food, and all that crap—but she made no attempt to get to know him other than superficially.

Normally that wouldn’t bother him. As it was, his life was already too much of an open book.

One that Ryleigh clearly hadn’t read and didn’t seem overly interested in either.

Okay, yeah, it was a bad thing.

In the last few years, Ryker had started to resent all the prying into his personal life and pulled away from the limelight. But as he sat at a candlelit table with this beautiful woman, he knew if she asked, he’d tell her anything she wanted to know.

Only…she wouldn’t ask, and he had no idea how to broach the subject without looking pathetic and needy.

Or braggy.

They dined on surf and turf, they drank some fantastic wine, and the dessert was a decadent salted caramel cheesecake. And after he paid the check and they were walking out to his car, he almost hated that the night was coming to an end. Glancing around, he noticed there wasn’t any festival or even anything open around them.

“So, when are these festivals?”

“Most are year-round, but they tend to be on Friday and Saturday nights. I wish we did more stuff like that in Laurel Bay.” At the car, he helped her in before joining her. “Once a year we have a Spring Fling, which is probably the closest we get to any kind of festival. And then there’s all the usual stuff like a Fourth of July parade, Christmas parade, blah, blah, blah…” She sighed. “It’s a bit boring, but…it’s home.”

“Ever consider moving anywhere else?”

“Not really. My sister used to practically obsess about living anywhere else but here, but now that she’s with Will, she’s more than happy to stay.” Turning her head, she frowned. “You know, I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned where you’re from.”

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