Page 32 of Don't Call Me Sweetheart

I followed them in, taking a seat next to Eli at the bar while Luke ducked behind the counter. “Where’s the folder?” I asked again.

Luke and Eli exchanged a glance.

“There isn’t a folder. See, this”—Luke gestured at Eli and himself—“is a trap.” He grabbed a bottle of IPA, snapped off the cap, and set it in front of me with a grin. “Beer’s on the house.”

I split a look between Luke and Eli, nonplussed. “What the hell is going on here?”

“About two hours ago, Mrs. Gaither told Emma she overheard you and Kate talking at Hot and Wired,” Luke said. “Apparently you have a date tonight.”

I raised my brows and took a long pull of beer. “And that affects you, how?”

“Emma says so,” Eli said, one hundred percent serious.

The name was familiar. Emma. Kate’s friend. The one she texted a photo of my license that first night at Goat’s Tavern. And, I was guessing, Eli’s girlfriend.

“Seems like that puts you both in a bit of a bind,” I said. “Because, unfortunately, Emma isn’t the boss of me.”

Luke laughed. “Emma is the boss of everyone. She’s the mayor.”

“And just plain bossy,” Eli said. “In a good way.”

I didn’t think there was a good way to be bossy, but to each their own, I supposed.

“Do you do everything your girlfriend tells you?” I asked the officer.

Eli shrugged. “Haven’t found a reason to say no yet.”

“Then I hope she’s careful with what she asks you to do,” I said.

An odd expression flitted across Eli’s face. “I’d say she’s already learned that lesson.”

I didn’t ask for details. That was what friends did, and we weren’t friends. This was an ambush, not drinks with the boys.

But for one brief flash, I wished it were. The two men had an easy camaraderie between them that I had never experienced. I envied it.

“Is this where you give me the standard warning?” I lowered my voice a mocking octave. “You hurt Kate, we hurt you.”

“If we thought you might hurt Kate, you wouldn’t get a warning,” Eli said. What I would get instead went unsaid, but I heard it loud and clear.

And I believed him.

“Here’s the thing.” Luke leaned forward, resting his forearms on the bar top. “Kate is special. She matters to this town. And she’s been through enough. You don’t have to declare your intentions. You don’t have to marry her. But you will not be another thing she has to endure.”

His words stirred up the old feelings of inadequacy. This wasn’t the first time I had been warned off a girl, by parents or friends or even well-meaning teachers. My jaw clenched with the memories. “I don’t plan to be.”

“Yeah. Do better than that. Plan not to be.”

I would have laughed if I weren’t so fucking offended. Of course I wouldn’t hurt Kate. That was the whole point of this. To practice having a relationship, without the risk of getting hurt. But I wasn’t going to tell Luke and Eli that. It wasn’t their business, no matter what they thought otherwise.

“You care about her,” I said. “I appreciate that. Because I care about her, too.” It was the truth.

“Everyone loves Kate.” Luke shrugged. “She’s a sweetheart.”

I studied the bartender through narrowed eyes. This wasn’t the first time Luke had gotten his back up over Kate, and it was on the tip of my tongue to ask if everyone maybe included Luke especially. The question didn’t sit well with me. It came with a strong urge to find Kate, wherever she was, and kiss her until she couldn’t remember Luke’s name.

I shook it off, annoyed with myself. It wasn’t jealousy, because that would be ridiculous. Kate wasn’t mine, except temporarily. I knew that. This was misplaced machismo, that’s all, brought on by unresolved teen angst.

“So, if I’m not here so you can tell me to get lost, why am I here?” I asked. “You didn’t trick me into coming just so you could give me a free beer.”

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