Bayou’s wife, Phoebe.
It had to be.
“What would I laugh about?” I questioned, my eyes scanning the menu.
“The fact that they paired Sam and Dean together,” she expounded.
I frowned and glanced back up at her.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand why that would be funny,” I admitted.
She frowned, her eyes studying my face.
“You’ve never watched Supernatural?” she asked in surprise.
I shrugged. “I’ve been in prison for the better part of ten years. If it’s come on any time since then, then I wouldn’t have had a chance to watch it.”
She blew out a breath. “Oh.”
“You should watch it,” Pru piped in. “It’s funny. Though, at the time we didn’t name our children after the show’s two main characters. We named them after my father and Hoax’s father.”
I nodded as I flipped the page of the menu.
“Got it.”
“Slate,” Harleigh called, making my head jerk up. “What are you getting?”
I blinked. “I don’t know yet. I was leaning toward the fajitas.”
Her grin was wicked when she said, “Can we get the fajitas for two? I don’t eat that much, and my family already ordered their food. I have no one to pair up with.”
I shrugged. “That’s fine with me.”
“I want the trio, shrimp, chicken, and beef,” she said. “Is that okay?”
“I’m allergic to shrimp,” I admitted. “That won’t work for me.”
She frowned. “Okay, then chicken and beef.”
I nodded once.
And when the waitress finally made her way back to us, getting not only our drink order but our food as well, I ordered for the two of us. And since Harleigh was once again in conversation with her brother, I’d done it out of habit. I’d gotten her drink choices earlier in the evening thanks to being forced to spend time there waiting to be released from the crime scene.
“Wow, y’all act like y’all have been married for years,” Phoebe teased.
I glanced at her as I was handing the menus to the waitress.
“We had a lot of time together to learn each other’s likes and dislikes this afternoon,” I admitted.
Phoebe’s lips twitched. “That’s nice.”
I snorted. “If you say so. I would’ve much rather spent it at the bakery or at home. Murder’s not my favorite thing in the world.”
Phoebe’s eyes went soft. “No, I imagine it’s not. You used to be a cop?”
I nodded.
“What did you used to do? Were you specialized? A detective or anything?” she asked as she reached for a chip.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hoax reach for a chip, too.
I waited until he’d grabbed his before reaching for my own.
“Yes, a detective,” I answered. “At least for about a year before I was sent to prison.”
“Did you hear that there was an almost riot today?” Bayou asked.
My brows went up.
“No shit?” I asked.
“The junior warden dealt fairly well with it, but let’s just say he’s changed for life.” Bayou snickered.
My curiosity was officially caught.
“What happened?” I questioned, reaching for another chip.
When I looked up, it was to find Harleigh staring at me.
My brows went up, and I looked at her questioningly.
She shrugged and looked away, but not before a slight blush stained her cheeks red.
“…thought he would be smart and go ahead and bring them in. Only, when he did, he turned his back on…” Bayou was saying.
Except, I was no longer interested. I was staring at Harleigh who was trying extremely hard not to return her stare to me.
And that was exactly how it went for the rest of dinner.
I mainly stayed to myself, listening to everyone around me talk, and tried to keep my gaze off of Harleigh. Though, mainly I did that because each time I looked at her, her brother would catch me looking and narrow his eyes.
I caught her looking at me quite a few times, grinning each time that she did.
She’d turn her cute glare on me, and I’d go back to whatever imaginary conversation I was having.
And by the end of the night, I was even more unsure of what I should or shouldn’t be doing when it came to Harleigh Belle Tremaine.
I did know one thing, though, and that was that a starving man could only hold out for so long. Place something like Harleigh, who was a feast, in front of him and well, let’s just say that there would come a time when even the most well behaved of men would break.
And I wasn’t well behaved.Chapter 9If you unplug the wi-fi box for one second, the whole house acts like they are about to die.
-Harleigh to her mother
Harleigh
It was hours later, I was dead asleep in the hammock when I felt something light touch me on my cheek.
My heart went from soothing and relaxed to ‘I’m about to die’ in about two seconds flat.
But before I could totally freak out and fall on my face seeing as I was in a hammock, strong arms caught me before I could so much as make a face dive for the grass underneath me.