I didn’t look at him. I also stopped looking at Eli. Instead, I decided to study the food on the table. This was me being awkward. I was good at awkward. I was a pro.
“Those potato skins are delicious,” Bliss said with pleasure in her voice. “I’m so happy you two met last night. Nate and I will get the rest of the food in here. Y’all get comfortable. We will be right back.”
Bliss was a little too happy about this. I realized that this might have been a setup after all and her reaction made it clear she thinks we made it easier by meeting last night. Once they were out of the room, I chanced a glance at Eli. He was still studying me.
“My memory was correct. I’m a little surprised. I thought for sure it was the alcohol vision making you appear as perfect and prim as you are. I see that it wasn’t.”
I blushed and fidgeted with my hands. That was nice of him to say. I think?
“If I’d known you were exactly what I thought I was seeing I’d have figured out a way to get you to leave with me. But I’d had too many whiskeys to make any smooth moves. I regret that now.”
There was a friendly tease to his voice. But that wasn’t what made me pause. It was what he’d said. He would “have figured out a way to get me to leave with” him. As in, I didn’t leave with him. Surely he was just saying that in case Bliss and Nate could hear us. He wasn’t that drunk. Was he?
“Oh,” I replied needing to say something.
“The dancing was nice. Real nice,” his voice lowered. “I could still smell you on my skin when I woke up this morning.”
Was he talking figuratively or in code? I glanced back at the door, and neither Bliss or Nate were anywhere in sight. This was confusing.
Before I had to think of something to say to him Nate appeared with a fruit tray. “If you two aren’t planning on hooking up, just tell her. She’ll drive us all crazy with the matchmaking if you don’t get to the point.”
Nate was blunt. I’d always liked that about him until now. Right now, it was not the time. He didn’t know that though. Thank goodness he didn’t know what had happened.
“Although you look like shit and this one got in late looking a little messy. So, I have my suspicions, but I won’t pry. Just keep it to yourselves,” Nate said with finality. Then he waved his hands at the table. “Y’all sit. I’m starving.”
I took the chair closest to me. Nate sat at the end near the door that led toward the kitchen. Eli sat across from me. His gaze was serious at times while he looked at me like he was trying to remember something. I was afraid that something was what happened after we left the bar. The more he stared with that confused frown the more convinced I was he didn’t remember the beach at all. Sex with me had been that forgettable. My happy thoughts this morning were gone.
“I did savory and sweet. Eli, I have some healthy for you,” Bliss looked at me. “He may have talked you into the potato skins last night, but normally he eats like a health nut. It can be annoying.”
I forced a smile as if I cared.
Eli Hardy
SHE HADN’T BEEN a dream. But the flirty girl from last night with the shy smiles and gazes was gone. This one was tense and obviously uncomfortable with the situation. She even seemed upset. I for one thought I was still dreaming when I walked in and saw her there. All fresh faced with hair damp from the shower looking as damn perfect as I remembered.
I tried to get her to look at me, but she kept focusing on her food that she barely touched and only looked up to speak if asked a question by Nate or Bliss. It was becoming obvious to everyone that she didn’t want to be at this table with me. Bliss had even begun giving me questioning looks like I’d done something wrong. Hell, I was drunk last night. I just remember her eating the potato skins with a fork and how good she felt in my arms while we danced, and then things went black. The one time my never drinking much has kicked me in the ass. I decided to get drunk, and my low tolerance knocked me out.
I needed to call Larissa when I got home. Ask her about it. She’d know. She knew it all working behind that bar.
“Where are you headed next, Lila Kate?” Bliss asked too cheerfully. I also noticed they were calling her Lila Kate. Not just Lila. She’d introduced herself as Lila. That I was sure of. Lila Kate was cute but sounded childish. Was that annoying her? Because it was bugging me. I was ready to correct Bliss.
“I’m not positive. I was going to study a map today. Make a decision. I have a few ideas. Friends I’d like to visit.”
So, this adventure she’d spoken of hadn’t been something I dreamed up.
“You’re traveling alone?” I asked. I still didn’t think that was a good idea.
She barely glanced at me and gave a tight nod. “Yes.”
“Is that safe?” I asked.
She went very stiff. Her shoulders went back, and her head tilted suddenly in a very regal pose. Interesting. She looked like a Kennedy as she answered, “Yes.”
“Lila Kate can pull a pistol and not miss under pressure. She’s unassuming but lethal,” Nate said with a crooked grin.
“You carry a gun?” I asked incredulously. I didn’t even carry a gun, and I was a male in Alabama.
She gave a dainty lift of her left shoulder. “Of course.”
“You must have brothers like Bliss,” I offered thinking that had to be the only excuse.
“No. I’m the only child.”
“My mother gave her lessons. Harlow, Lila’s mother, was nervous when Lila Kate started driving. So my mom offered to teach her how to handle a gun,” Nate added.
I looked at Nate. “Your mom carries a gun too?”
Nate chuckled. “Oh, yes. My mother is feminine, beautiful, and a complete badass.”
Bliss laughed with him. “Yes, she is,” she agreed.
“Story goes, my mom’s first night in Rosemary Beach she pulled her gun on Lila Kate’s dad. Scared the shit out of him,” Nate was smiling as he said it.
That brought a small tug at the corners of Lila’s mouth. She liked the story too. I watched hoping she’d smile that bright smile from last night where her eyes lit up. But it never came.
Bliss and Nate began laughing over his first meal at her parents’ house when one of her brothers brought a gun out to threaten Nate. I listened to them talk, but my attention stayed on Lila. Once she finished her meal, she told Bliss how delicious it was and that she would clean the kitchen. She then excused herself to make a couple of phone calls. One was an important call to her mother.
After she’d left the room, Bliss glared at me. “What did you do to her?” she whispered.
I shrugged innocently. “I didn’t do anything. I swear. We ate, drank and danced a couple of dances. That was it.”
Bliss didn’t look convinced. “She was quiet and nervous. Very uncomfortable.”
“That’s just Lila Kate. She’s not a big talker. She doesn’t draw attention to herself. She listens but rarely joins in. You’ll get used to it,” Nate explained. But I disagreed with him. The girl from last night hadn’t been like that. Something had been wrong this morning. I just didn’t know what.