Fools (Licking Thicket 3)

Good Lord, the very idea of her moving into my space was enough to make me feel like I was roasting alive, let alone the thought of her becoming a Johnson. Then again, maybe everyone felt this way before they got serious about someone. Maybe I’d feel different in time.

“I’m not ready for sex,” I blurted, unsure why exactly that was.

She glared at me. “Fine. No sex until you’re ready.”

“I’m not ready for monogamy either. That’s… that’s part of my hesitation,” I clarified.

“Damn it, Dunn. I just want to start being able to rely on you for a Friday night date. Can we at least get to know each other on a more regular basis? I already said no strings for ninety days, jeez.”

I swallowed. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was time for me to get serious. How could I expect Tucker to find his special someone if I wasn’t willing to put in the time doing it for myself too? “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

She leaned in and kissed me full on the lips. She tasted like cherry lip balm and Diet Coke. I noticed a piece of hay had floated into her hair, so I plucked it out.

“You told me when you called the office the other day that you’d take me out tonight,” she said coyly.

“Oh, right. I mean, obviously. I didn’t forget.” I’d totally forgotten.

“Good. Pick me up at seven,” she said, stepping backward. “We’re going to the Steak ’n Bait.”

Steak ’n Bait. Where Tuck was meeting his old friend? This could work out. I could meet someone from Tucker’s old life, maybe ask him questions about what Tucker was like in med school. Maybe see for myself why my dad said his new cardiologist looked like a fashion model.

“Okay,” I said. “It’s a date.”

Luisa laughed at me long after Jenn’s car had crunched its way back down the drive.

7

Tucker

15-Across: An enlightening experience… or a biblical apocalypse (10 letters)

“Okay, I’ve got another one. You remember Char Beck?” Carter Rogers’s familiar blue eyes danced at me over the Steak ’n Bait’s snowy-white tablecloth. “Pretty girl with the dark hair?”

“Of course I remember.” I sipped my sangria—the one alcoholic beverage I was allowing myself on this date-that-wasn’t-a-date—and leaned forward in my seat to catch more hot gossip about people I used to know in another lifetime. “Your neighbor who used to bring you those boozy chocolates at Christmas. My friend Dunn loves those.” I shuddered a little. I hated anything that tasted too much like alcohol.

“That’s the one. She’s about to become country music royalty. She just got engaged to Jack Gray from August Sanctuary, and they’re building a 17,000-square-foot house shaped like a castle complete with pointy turrets and one of those metal thingies over the door.” He mimed a gate going up and down.

“The word you’re looking for is portcullis,” I informed him.

“Of course it is.” He grinned a devastating grin, complete with a pair of dimples guaranteed to make almost any human under the age of ninety-two stammer and blush, and clasped a hand over his heart. “My vocabulary has shrunk exponentially since my crossword-loving boyfriend left me a few years ago. Soon I’ll be reduced to communicating through a series of grunts and rude gestures. Remind me again why we broke up, Tucker Wright?”

“Because I wanted to stay home and do crosswords, and you wanted to go out and save the world,” I said, returning his smile. I sucked down a bit more of my drink and relaxed back into my seat, totally unfazed by the dimples. “Stop trying to distract me. I have questions—”

Kelsey, our server, placed a basket of warm bread in the center of the table and eyed the two empty chairs at our table. “Evening, Doc Wright. Dunn on his way, then?”

“Ah. No.” I frowned. “Friends do go out without each other sometimes, you know, Kels.”

“Oh.” Kelsey looked as confused as if I’d offered her salt without pepper. “Okay, then. So, you gents know what you want?”

“I’m afraid I need to beg you for just a few more minutes.” Carter brushed back his artfully shaggy hair with one long-fingered hand and turned the full force of his smile and his soulful eyes on her. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

Kelsey nearly tripped over her own feet standing stock-still. “S-sure,” she breathed. “You can take all the time you need.”

As she walked away, Carter sighed contentedly. “Thank God. I worried I was broken for a second there.”

I rolled my eyes. “Nope. It’s just that time and distance have made me immune to your charms.”

“Hmm.” He narrowed his gaze. “Is it time and distance, I wonder? Or is it something else?”

“I must be thinking of the wrong Char,” I continued hurriedly. “Because the Char I knew was with dude bro Josh for years. Remember, the guy who used to chant, ‘Keg stand!’ every time anyone asked if he wanted a beer?” I snickered, inviting him to laugh along.