Upstairs Downstairs Baby (Sweet Tea And Scandal 1)

“They’re not paying me all those millions so I can let a failed romance distract me,” he pointed out.

“I suppose not.” She pushed her glass around the weathered table. “But you didn’t have a failed romance,” she countered, unsure where the compulsion to stick up for him was coming from. “You decided things weren’t working. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Sometimes love dies.”

His gaze sharpened. “Are you speaking from experience?”

“Sure.” Claire pondered her relationship with Jasper.

“So you were in love with someone before you met your husband?”

Recognizing her mistake, Claire said, “I guess I thought I was.”

She hated lying to Linc about being married to Jasper but couldn’t change her story a year into her deception. If only she’d thought the whole thing through before deciding life would be less complicated if everyone thought she was still grieving her hero husband. And the truth was, she had moments when she missed Jasper. Or at least the Jasper she’d fallen in love with. The one who’d been a gentle lover and romantic boyfriend.

“You guess?” Linc echoed, his expression curious.

“Sure. I mean, how much does anyone know about being in love when they’re still in their teens?”

“How old were you when you met your husband?”

“I’d just turned twenty. It was Mother’s Day. He’d come into the florist where I started working after high school, looking for a gift for his mom.” She’d thought it was sweet the way he’d considered her opinion on the perfect bouquet.

“Did he sweep you off your feet?”

“No. I was dating someone. And Jasper was almost eight years older than me. That, combined with his military experience, made him seem too mature.” Plus, at the time, he’d just gone through a horrendous divorce and wasn’t in a place where he was interested in dating. He was more interested in getting Stephanie out of his system with a string of hookups.

“So, what changed?”

“My boyfriend at the time was an immature idiot.” She smiled faintly, remembering the day she’d woken up to the fact that she wanted to date someone whose idea of fun went beyond partying and playing video games. “I realized that a man who knew what he wanted and went after it was way more appealing.”

“And Jasper wanted you?”

Claire nodded. “He’d made it pretty clear from the start.”

“So you fell in love.”

Linc made it sound so simple, but Claire couldn’t look back on that time without remembering how Jasper had grown edgier each time he came back from an overseas tour. The way he behaved had made her a little afraid to tell him she was pregnant. But once he learned he was going to become a father, he’d gone back to the man she’d first met and had given her hope that he would be able to overcome his PTSD.

“I did.” And she had. At least, she’d been in love in the beginning. “It happened pretty fast. Sometimes I think that was due to the fact that he was going to Fort Benning for training in a few months.”

“Did you get married before he left?”

“No, we hadn’t been together that long and I was in culinary school.” Nor had Claire been convinced that she wanted to be a military wife, traveling to wherever her husband was posted, worrying whenever he was deployed.

Suddenly Claire didn’t want to talk about Jasper or spin any more half-truths about their relationship. She was overcome by relief as the waiter brought their appetizers and she focused on breaking up a hush puppy so it would cool down enough for Honey to be able to eat it. Several minutes went by before Claire shifted her attention back to Linc.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable with my questions about your husband,” he said, squeezing lemon onto several of the oysters.

“You didn’t.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

His ability to read her made Claire wary. At least he didn’t know why she was uncomfortable. “It must seem like I can’t move on...”

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose someone you love like that.” Linc doctored one of the oysters with horseradish and cocktail sauce before lifting the shell to his lips and letting it slide into his mouth. When he set the empty shell down, his eyes glinted with pleasure.

Claire followed his example and sighed in delight as the sharp bite of horseradish mingling with the richness of the oyster lingered on her tongue. “This is exactly what I imagined when I decided to move to Charleston. Dining on fresh seafood by the water.”

“California