Guy Hater (Fisher Brothers 2)

“Is she remarried now?”

“She is. And he’s great. Bradley raised me like I was his own daughter. I’m thankful for all he’s done for us.”

I couldn’t help but smile as she talked about her stepfather. It made me happy that she seemed happy. “Have you been back to Colombia since you left?”

She shook her head sharply. “Not once.”

That shocked me. “Do you want to?”

“More than anything. I want to see where I came from, where I used to live, you know? I don’t really remember any of it.”

The conversation halted for a while, neither of us pressing the other to speak. There was a comfort in the silence, an easiness, that I couldn’t remember ever feeling with anyone before. I wasn’t the kind of guy to fill the air with noise that wasn’t necessary, but I always sensed when people wanted to drown it out. Claudia seemed content in the silence between us.

What she’d said about Colombia sank in, and I rolled that around in my head as I waited. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I refused to interrupt her thoughts. I waited for her to come back to me, for her mind to return to where we were, but I didn’t press. I could have stayed quiet for hours, if that was what she needed.

A few moments later, her gaze lifted from the table and found mine. “What about you? Are you from here?”

I nodded. “I am. We grew up in Laguna Beach.”

“Fancy.”

“It wasn’t when Ryan and I were kids, but it is now. My dad’s loaded,” I admitted with a sheepish grin. The last thing I wanted was to throw my family’s money in anyone’s face. We might all be successful business owners, but I hated arrogance, and I knew she did too from what she told me the other night when those guys were hitting on her.

“What’s your dad do?”

“He owns a marketing firm.”

Her mouth dropped open like the gears spinning in her head had all connected together. “That makes so much sense.”

“What does?”

“The marketing, and Nick being so good at it.” She gave me a sheepish look. “I might know way more than I should about you and your brothers. That’s a little weird, right? You can tell me it’s weird.”

I laughed, wanting to reassure her. “Used to it, honestly.”

“Stop it. Now you’re just being nice.”

“I’m never nice if I don’t mean it,” I said, meaning every word, and she smiled.

“I like that.”

“Oh, you do, do you?” I teased, and she looked away, her naturally olive-skinned cheeks turning pink. “What else do you know about me and my brothers?”

She shrugged. “Not much, I swear. Just that Nick does all the marketing, and he’s a genius. Your own Snapchat filters? A wall just for Instagram pictures? Pretty brilliant.”

I agreed, even though I didn’t use either app. I had a Facebook page that I never checked, and that was it as far as social media was concerned. Everyone I cared about knew how to reach me if they needed me, and it damn well wasn’t through a computer.

“What else do you know?” I pushed her for more. It embarrassed her, based on how my interest made her fidget, but I found it endearing.

“Ryan’s a god at making drinks, and every woman who steps foot in the bar apparently falls in love with him,” she said with a nonchalant shrug.

“Not you, though?”

“Not me, what?”

“You didn’t fall in love with Ryan?” I asked with a cocky grin.

Claudia looked toward him working the bar. “Eh, I guess I could be persuaded,” she said with a small smile, then cut a teasing glance back at me.