“Sounds interesting,” Eva sang, laughing when the waiter arrived, a blush on his young face. “Tell us everything!”
There was no way I could tell them I slept with Liam. They would accuse me of being on the rebound, or worse, they’d worry about me falling for Liam, which I wouldn’t do. “There’s not mu-,”
“Evenin’ ladies.” Xander chose that exact moment to come up to the table with a friendly grin on his face and it was aimed in my direction. “Liam left a message saying he got you home all right but I wanted to make sure ‘cause sometimes you two are like tuna and pudding.”
“Ew,” Sophie said loud enough for Xander to hear. “Gross but accurate. I’ll allow it.”
He flashed a grin at Sophie but waited for me to answer. “I’m good, thanks for checking. Liam was not too bad. How about that fight?”
His blue eyes rolled towards the heavens. “Drunk tank only because I was feeling charitable. Two brothers fighting over the same married woman.”
“Married to one of the brothers,” Eva asked.
“Nope, someone else entirely.”
“Wow. Too bad it extended your night.” Xander was a good Sheriff and a fair man, but policing a small town meant his time was never truly his own.
“We’d be happy to help you find a woman who won’t want any of your brothers, Sheriff.”
“Thanks Soph, but I’m good. Enjoy your night.”
“You too, and thanks for checking on me.” He flashed a ghost of a smile and I knew then, it was paranoia creeping up my spine.
With the Sheriff gone, all attention was back on me and my drama. “So, you and Liam?” I should have known Eva would zero in on the detail I wanted to talk about least.
“There is no me and Liam. He came over to give me a hard time and, he was actually helpful.” A gross underplaying of the night, but a girl was entitled to some secrets. Wasn’t she?
Sophie and Eva shared a worried look that I pretended to ignore in favor of refreshing my margarita glass. “Does this mean that all hope is lost with Wyatt?”
I appreciated Sophie’s attempt at sugarcoating things and I nodded. “I couldn’t forgive him for the things he said or the way he said them, even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.” After Liam had gone this morning, I spent a lot of time thinking about him and Wyatt and the differences between them. “You guys were right about him but I was too blinded by love to see it, or maybe it wasn’t even love but the desire to get married.”
“That’s not true,” Eva insisted. “Is that what you think?”
I nodded, getting angry with myself all over again. “If not that, then I’m just a moron.” I shook my head. “How can anyone who ever loved someone speak so callously to them? So cruel?”
“He’s an asshole,” Eva said as if it were a cold hard fact, which I was inclined to agree with today. “And you were too good for him anyway.”
That didn’t feel true, not today and probably not for a long time, but it was nice to hear anyway. “Thanks Eva.”
“Anytime,” she said with a sly smile. “Now tell us, what really happened with that gorgeous hunk of a SEAL?”
I groaned loudly and rather than answer, I filled my mouth with icy good mango deliciousness. That was a memory for me and me alone.LiamOne Month Later
“I hate these kidnapping gigs man, we’re always holed up in some shithole. At least with the corporate gigs we get luxury suites and ribeye.” Palmer was the mouthiest guy in the bunch but he was good people and a hell of a shot. He was exactly the guy you always wanted on your team. Unless you needed a moment of peace and quiet.
“Kidnappers don’t usually keep their victims in five star hotels. But the money is good enough you can go anywhere you want once the kid and his wife are safe.” We’d been hired by some billionaire to retrieve his do-gooder kid and his wife, who thought negotiating with warlords without security was a good idea. “Which should be just a few more hours.”
We were going on our third week on this job, the first week was spent doing recon and learning what we could about the kidnappers, the second week we gathered the necessary tools and equipment and started our trek through the jungle. After four days of hiking and two of surveillance, this job was just about done.
Not a moment too soon.
“Yeah, but luxury always feels better on someone else’s dime.” Palmer’s laugh was usually loud and booming but we’d been set up in a small dirt hut in the jungle and sound carried a long way, so his little snickers sounded like a kid and sent the rest of the team into a fit of giggles.