“Once or twice.” I said, allowing him to link his hand with mine. “They have the best T-bone in the state, or so they claim.”
“Mmm," he said, gripping the iron bar handle and swinging the large glass door open. “Surf and turf sounds good.”
“Well, that’s a splurge.” I smiled over my shoulder as he walked inside behind me.
“I’m on a date with you. That is the time to splurge.”
I didn’t get a chance to answer, because he smiled wide at the hostess, a pretty older woman who immediately returned Luke’s smile with one of her own. “Welcome to Ironside. How are you today?”
She didn’t even look at me, seemingly enraptured by Luke’s grin. I wasn’t even jealous, because I knew the feeling.
“We’re great. Table for two, please.”
It was then her gaze shifted to me. “Of course.” She grabbed two menus, which were fancy with a sheet of paper attached to a wooden plank of some sort. “Right this way.” I’d never thought of the Ironside as romantic, but there with Luke, it was different. Now I noticed the small, intimate tables and the candle centerpieces. The colors were rustic and muted, and the lighting dim. The restaurant was made up of a series of rooms, rather than one large floor, and she led us to a two-person table in a room near the kitchen. She seated us in the corner, by a window, and the view was of a setting sun over the pond in a local park. In short, I was smitten. With all of it.
“By the way,” I placed my napkin on my lap. “You look nice too.”
“Yeah? I’m glad you think so because I actually braved Dillard’s for this shit. I moved down here with like two pairs of jeans, some boxers, and a handful of T-shirts.”
“Did you move in a hurry, or was it more of a money thing?” His truck was beautiful and brand new. How could he afford that and not clothes.
“Not a money thing. I got money now.” He picked up the menu. “So what’re you going to get?”
I wasn’t stupid. I knew he was avoiding questions about himself, but I didn’t take it that he wasn’t being truthful. I believed he would tell me about himself in his own time. So I let it go and perused the menu. “Probably a steak. Not sure why you’d come to Ironside and order anything other than a steak.”
Our waiter came, poured us water, and took our drink orders. Luke ordered some a beer, and I decided on a Chardonnay. When the waiter returned, we ordered our dinners—both of us got the special which was a Delmonico with onions and mushrooms.
I took a sip of my wine. “So did you date a lot? Back in New Jersey?”
His head jerked up, like he didn’t expect the question. I waited for him to brush it off, but instead he gave me a small smile. “Nah.”
“Why not?”
He inhaled deeply and blew out a breath while leaning back in his chair. He drummed the white tablecloth with his fingers. “There are a lot of reasons I didn’t date. Did I see women? Yes. Did I date them? No. I wasn’t in the position to offer anything long-term to anyone. I was working and…” he shook his head and stared out the window. “I didn’t really want to spend time with myself. Why the hell would I make someone else be with me?”
“Why didn’t you like yourself?” I expected this date to be all charming smiles, but it was like we couldn’t stop diving deep into each other.
“I wasn’t a good person.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m trying to start over.” He still wasn’t looking at me. “And be a better person.”
“Do you like yourself now?”
It was then he turned his head and a grin flared across his face like a flash fire. “I like myself when I’m with you.”
I squirmed underneath his attention. “You’re just full of charming one-liners.”
“Uh, huh,” he chided, more serious now. “I’m not spouting one-liners at you, Sam. I need you to know that. I tell you something, then I mean it. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He took a long pull of his beer, and then began to pick at the label when he set it back on the table. “I want to hear about you. Tell me why you decided to be a librarian.”
I didn’t always love talking about myself, but I did love talking about my job. So I talked about how I worked my butt off in school and received a scholarship to a local state college. How I took out loans to cover the rest. Our steaks arrived, and we ate, and Luke continued to ask me questions about my job and my home and my sister. Then he told me stories about all the shenanigans he’d gotten into as a kid. By the time the check arrived, my face was flushed from the wine, and my stomach hurt from laughing. At least I’d burned some calories.
As we walked out of the restaurant, it felt like all eyes were on us, and I guessed that was a side effect to being on Luke’s arm. He drew attention effortlessly, but yet his attention remained solely on me.
I loved it, but the practical part of me wouldn’t stop tapping my shoulder and whispering, Is this too good to be true?
Eight
“Can’t even tell you the last time I saw a movie in a theater,” Luke said as we entered the theater. “You know what? I think the last time I did, I bought tickets at the counter. Like it was 1999 or some shit. When you had to get in line first to get the good seats. Now you order online and pick your seat? Takes all the fun out of it.”
“We probably didn’t have to order online. This movie has been out awhile,” I said as we walked out of the theater. “But you still pick your seat at the counter.”
“No shit?” He looked incredulous.”
“Has it really been that long?”
“Fuck yeah.”
“Was there a reason?”
He opened up the door to the lobby for me. “Not really. It just wasn’t a thing I did. I feel like I’m in high school again, taking a pretty girl to the theater. Except I’m not trying to stick my hand up your shirt during the movie. Only because Dwayne Johnson deserves respect.” He squeezed my hand as we walked toward the concession stand. “I’ll wait until we’re home to stick my hand up your shirt.”
“There are kids here, you know.”
He waved a hand. “They’ve heard worse.”
We got in line, and he perused the menu above the counter with squinted eyes. “What do you want?”
“I’m not really hungry after that dinner.”
“Well, too bad. You’re at least eating popcorn because that’s just what you do at movies.”
I laughed. “Okay, fine. A water too, then.”
“Ten dollar water coming up,” he muttered.
“I can ask for an empty cup and fill it up at the sink in the bathroom.”
He cackled so loudly, head thrown back, that he startled the couple in front of us. They turned around to stare and he didn’t even bother to cover his mouth or lower his voice as he turned his full smile on me. I needed shades for how bright it was. “Peaches, you know you’re funny without trying.”
“I was actually serious.”
He leaned in and touched his lips to mine. “I know, baby. I know you were. That’s what’s so funny.”
“Can I help you, sir?” said the teenager at the counter.
Luke stepped up and ordered a large popcorn with two waters. The price was almost twenty dollars which nearly made me choke on my own tongue. Luke paid and collected his purchase. He was already shoving a handful in his mouth as we made our way to our theater.
“Are you actually that hungry?” I screwed off the cap of my water.
“Nah, just getting in the movie mood.” He sauntered as he walked, and now that I was out in public with him, I realized he drew attention no matter what he did. Teenagers, little kids, men, women, and others glanced up as he passed. He didn’t seem to notice, only continued his swagger down the hall, reading the signs over the doors for each movie playing inside and commenting on them to me.
I saw some familiar faces. This was the theater people in Gentry traveled to, after all. I didn’t necessarily like the attention of others, but I did love that
I had his attention. I saw several women smile at him, and he’d maybe dip his head or offer a lip twitch back, but it was never with his entire focus like I’d seen him give me.
I gripped his arm, feeling the hardness of his bicep underneath, and leaned into him a bit. Maybe it was a slight possessiveness in me. Was that so bad? If he was willing to claim me in public…well then I could claim him right back. So I let a smile break through on my face and sauntered along with him. Yeah, maybe I let my hips sway a little more than normal. It felt damn good.
In the theater we took our seats. Luke reclined his immediately and crossed his hands behind his head. He grinned at me. “Damn, okay. I’ll take the new-fangled ordering system if this is the kinda comfort we get. Reclining seats? Foot rest? Sign me the fuck up.” He patted my seat. “Lean back, Peaches. Promise not to feel you up.”
“Luke!” I whisper-shouted.
He laughed. “Come on, get settled. Previews will start soon.”
They did, then the movie started, and I wasn’t sure which was more delightful, watching the movie or Luke. He lost himself in it. He didn’t take his eyes off the screen as he laughed at the jokes, and cheered during the action scenes, and groaned when the Big Bad almost won. He was so into it, like a kid. He looked ten years younger enjoying a movie. When the credits rolled and the lights came on, he turned to me with flushed cheeks and wiped under his eyes. “I love me a good action movie. Fuck that was fun. You liked it?”
“I loved it,” I said honestly. Because I did. I loved everything about being here with Luke. The movie was pretty great too.
He grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. “Great, now we get to go be alone. Goddamn, this is the best night ever.”
He was nearly giddy as he tossed our trash in the bin and then looped his arm around my shoulders, clasping his hand in mine near my chest as we walked. “Got one more place I want to take you before we got back to your house.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
I turned my head so our faces were inches away. “Are you going to tell me where?”
He beamed at me. “Nah. It’ll be a surprise.”
I smiled back, my belly warming. If someone told me I was floating, I wouldn’t have been surprised. I was still smiling as I looked straight ahead, but my smile didn’t last long. Standing in our path, blue eyes narrowed on our clasped hands, was Tim. My ex.
He didn’t look annoyed. He looked downright furious. Anyone who didn’t know him wouldn’t be able to tell his mood. But I knew him. And so I knew.
“Hi, Tim.” I said his name. I said it before I could hold myself back. Before I could direct Luke to keep on walking. I said his name because maybe part of me wanted to test Luke. Or test Tim. Or maybe most of all, I wanted to test myself.
Luke’s fingers flexed, and he stopped walking, but other than that, he didn’t react to the sound of my ex-husband’s name.
“Hello, Samantha.” Tim’s eyes shifted only slightly to take in the man at my side. He didn’t speak.
“I’m Luke.” Luke offered, hand out to shake Tim’s
“Oh,” I said, flustered. “I’m sorry for not introducing—”
“I know who he is.” Tim cut me off. He didn’t extend his hand.
Luke smirked at me as he lowered his back to his side. “You hear that? He’s heard of me.”
I caught sight of a woman who’d just left the restroom. She stood frozen near the water fountain, her purse clutched to her chest, eyes on Tim. I took a wild guess she was Tim’s date. I wanted to warn her to run.
“I heard,” Tim said, without a care that we were in public, and people were watching tension swirl between the three of us. Without a care that his date was witnessing everything. “That no one knows much about you, but yet you swooped into town and didn’t waste time preying on a woman in desperate need of a man—”
Luke started laughing so loudly that Tim’s words were drowned out. More people were staring now. Tim’s words didn’t have a chance to slice into me, to cut deep the way they had in the past, because Luke was still beside me, clutching me, his promises in my ear.
When he stopped laughing and leveled his gaze on Tim, the smile on his face chilled me to the bone. I’d never in my life seen someone smile like that. “My man, I know exactly what you’re doing.” He took a step toward Tim, but hadn’t let go of me, so I was forced to take the step with him. “You’re trying to bait me, right? You’d love nothing more than to see me lose my temper here in public. Even better if I took a swing at you. You’d love that, wouldn’t you?”
Tim was grinding his teeth so hard, I thought his jaw would crack. Meanwhile, Luke’s body next to mine was relaxed. His icy smile was all the threat he needed.
“Well, since you don’t know me, I’ll throw you a bone. You can’t bait me. You might be used to people in Gentry feeling threatened by you.” Luke chuckled darkly, an eerie sound that made Tim’s gaze dart to me. “Well, sorry to tell you, but that’s not going to happen with me. And if you think I’m going to take one more minute to talk to you when I have a whole night ahead of me, alone, with Samantha. Well, then you’re a fucking moron.” Luke nodded and pulled me to the side, away from Tim, toward the doors. “You have a good night.”
I waited for Tim’s voice to call us back. I waited for the insults, the words that would make my ears bleed. Luke opened the door and ushered me through with a softer smile.
The door closed behind us. We were outside in the warm night. No words from Tim. Nothing. Just Luke grabbing my hand and pulling me toward his truck. I followed, unsure what to say, or do. He hadn’t threatened Tim, there’d been no violence. He’d done exactly what I asked, and he’d done it in a way that would humiliate Tim. Word would get back to Gentry, I knew it would. Tim would retaliate. But for once in my life, I wasn’t scared. Luke could handle anything.
He beeped the locks and opened my door without a word. It wasn’t until he was in the driver’s seat and had turned the key in the ignition that he sat back, elbow on the door, fingers rubbing his lips, staring straight out of the windshield. “Shoulda told me your ex was a cop, Peaches.”
God, he fucking called it. And I wasn’t even surprised this time. Tim oozed small-town law enforcement from his pores. I closed my eyes and dropped my head forward. He was right. After the conversation about Verne, I should have told him. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
I stole a peek at him. “Are you mad?”
He reached for my hand and kissed my knuckles. “Not mad.”
“I should have told you, though.”
“Yeah, but it’s okay. Clocked him right away. No worries, just would have liked a heads up.”
“I don’t understand your thing with cops.” I bit my lip. “Are you an ex-con? In Witness Protection? Former mafia?” He started laughing, and I pulled my hand back, then smacked his arm. “It’s not funny!”
His eyes twinkled. “It’s a little bit funny.”
I rolled my eyes, but it was hard to be any sort of mad at him when he laughed. “Well? It’s okay if you’ve been to jail. I won’t judge you—”
“I’ve never been to jail, Peaches. I’m not an ex-con. I’m not in the fucking mafia. I’m not in Witness Protection. But I think you can tell by now that I’ve done some things in the past. Life was rough growing up and I had to survive. In doing that, I made some choices that some would say were not good ones. So yeah, I’ve had run-ins with cops. They don’t like me, and I don’t like them. That’s all.”
“Can…can Tim do anything to you? Like if he looks into your life?”
Luke’s smile faded slightly. “You worried about me?”
“Well, yes.”
The smile returned. “He can’t do anything to me, baby. Don’t worry, okay?”
“Okay.” I wasn’t convinced.
He put the truck in reverse. “Enough talk about that. Now for your surprise.”
I leaned back into my seat and tried to forg
et about Tim, and Luke’s past, and instead enjoying his rough voice as he sang along to the car radio and drove us to wherever my surprise was.
Nine
We drove back to Gentry, but not toward my house. He took a back road to the south end of town, where the Big Muddy River split our town from the next over. I sat up as we turned down a dirt road into the park surrounding Big Muddy River. The truck rocked back and forth over the uneven path.
“Uh, what exactly are we doing? Hiking?”
“In the dark?” Luke laughed.
“Well I don’t know! Why else are we back here?”
He made a turn and then applied the brakes so suddenly, I pitched forward against my seatbelt. I turned to glare at him as he grinned. “We’re back here because it’s quiet, and it’s a clear night, and I want to look at the stars.”
Just that. Matter of fact. I nearly melted into my seat. “I-I love that.”
“Where I’m from, I could barely see the stars. And if I could, I sure as hell didn’t have the time to sit and look at them. I was driving around the other day, came across this area and knew I wanted to bring you here.”
“Are we allowed here?”
“Not really. Signs say park closes at dusk, but I like to live dangerously.” He winked at me, then held out his hand. “Come on, we can sit in the bed.”
I hadn’t noticed before, but as he hauled me up into the bed, I found a bunch of blankets. Music played softly from the radio in the truck cabin, and he opened the back windows, then sat with his back to them. He beckoned me to sit between his legs, and I did, slipping off my heels and enjoying the air on my cramped toes.
He bent his knees on either side of me and rested his wrists on them. The heat of his body warmed my back, and I sank into him deeper, leaning my head back on his chest so I could look up at the stars he so badly wanted to see.
“They are gorgeous,” I said softly.
“See?”
His right hand left his knee, then he brushed my hair to the side and dropped a kiss on my shoulder. “You, fresh air, the stars,” his voice turned husky. “All I need.”
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