Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
She tucked her hand into my elbow. “Come on, bear-bear.”
I scanned the crowd as we crossed to a booth in the back left corner of the restaurant. Mostly families at this hour. A few groups of friends. As instructed, Kelly slid into the side facing the back wall, and I took the side facing the room. “Thanks,” I told the hostess.
“Sure,” she said, handing us two menus. “Your server will be right over.”
“So is this where you bring all your dates?” Kelly asked as I pulled out my phone and entered the info about the car I’d seen on the side of the road.
“I don’t date much.”
“Why not?”
I put my phone away. “I’ve been busy with the bar, and with my family—my dad had some health issues this summer.”
“I hope he’s okay,” she said seriously.
“He’s fine. I also spend a lot of time with my niece and nephew.”
“That’s right. You’re an uncle.” She tipped up her beer again. “Tell me about them.”
“My niece is Adelaide—the one I told you about—and she has a twin brother, Owen. They’re a lot of fun.”
The waitress came by—a twenty-something blonde with flushed cheeks and a tired smile from all the running around she was doing tonight. But she welcomed us warmly and took our orders, apologizing that our burgers might take longer than usual. Her eyes lingered so long on Kelly, I thought for sure she was going to ask if she was Pixie Hart.
When we were alone again, I said, “Listen, if you don’t want to be recognized tonight, keep your head down. And if someone does ask, my advice is to say you’re not her, but you hear that a lot.”
She studied me. “You’re very serious about this security thing, huh?”
“You should be glad about that.”
“Do you have a gun?”
“Not on me.”
“But what if something happens?” she persisted with a grin. “What if some kind of bar fight breaks out?”
“If something happens, my job is to get you out of here as quickly as possible. If I have to pull a gun or throw punches, I have not done my job.”
Her expression turned coy. “But would you take a bullet for me?”
“Yes. If that’s what I had to do to protect you.”
“Seriously?” She seemed genuinely shocked. “You don’t even like me. And you’re not even being paid for this gig.”
“How I feel about you is irrelevant. And this isn’t about money for me. I gave your brother my word I’d keep you safe, and I will.” I paused, my beer halfway to my mouth. “I never said I didn’t like you.”
Her cheeks grew slightly pink. “Tell me about your little sister.”
“She’s twenty-three and crazy smart. She’s in grad school at William and Mary.”
“And you said your brother Austin is the oldest?”
I nodded. “He’s thirty-two. One year older than me. Then comes Devlin, he’s twenty-eight and works in Boston, but he’s got a birthday coming up. He’ll actually be home for a visit next week. And Dash is twenty-six. He’s an actor.”
“Like in Hollywood?”
“Yeah. Ever seen that show Malibu Splash?”
Her eyes went wide. “I binged all three seasons while I was on tour! He’s on that show?”
“Yeah. He plays a lifeguard named Bulge.”
She flapped her hands. “Oh my god—Dashiel Buckley is your brother?”
“That’s him.”
“You guys don’t look alike at all! I never would have put it together.”
“He looks like our mom. I look like my dad.”
“Ever go out to Hollywood to visit him?”
“Once or twice when I was in the Navy. I was stationed in San Diego for a while.”
“Okay, so those are all your siblings. What about Austin’s wife?”
“He’s not married. The mother of his kids lives in California, and they visit her once a year. He’s raising them on his own, although he does have a new girlfriend. They just met earlier this summer, but honestly, I think she’s the one.”
Kelly perked up. “Really? Why?”
I told her the story of how Veronica had shown up on my brother’s doorstep in a wedding gown, stranded and broke, fresh from walking out on her wedding to a cheating bastard, desperate to convince him she’d make the perfect nanny.
Kelly listened with rapt attention. “This sounds like a song! And he fell in love with her right then?”
“Hell no. He thought she was nuts. I had to talk him into giving her a chance.” I tipped up my beer. “As usual, he was wrong and I was right.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course you were.”
Our food arrived, and Kelly picked up her burger and took a giant bite. “God, this is good. It’s exactly what I wanted. This whole night is exactly what I wanted.”
My chest swelled as I reached for the ketchup bottle and offered it to her. “Want some?”
She shook her head. “I can’t eat ketchup anymore. When I first moved to Nashville, there were nights all I ate were ketchup packets for dinner.”