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Shane shifted into park “I’ll walk you to the door”
“You don’t have to It’s right there I’m not—”
But he turned the engine off, and swung the door open and stepped out, ignoring whatever else she was going to say
Jet frowned as his door sla her door open, not about to sit and wait She didn’t do helpless She hadn’t been raised to be dependent “Thank you for dinner,” she said crisply, reat time”
“Thank you for joiningher formal tone before his hard jaw eased and he flashed a crooked smile He walked with her towards the porch “I just hope it won’t get you into too much trouble with the Sheenans”
The sideas narrow and her shoulder brushed his chest as they walked “It’s fine Don’t worry” She was so conscious of hi for the key “Good luck with your book I can’t wait to read it”
“Is that it?” he asked, his voice husky, as if aoodbye?”
“Well, you never knoe’re both busy I ain”
“Marietta has a population of eleven thousand—if that It’s kind of hard not to bump into people here”
She flushed and hoped it was dark enough that he couldn’t see “That’s true Our paths will probably pass Again Sometime”
“Or, we don’t wait for our paths to cross, and we make a plan Set a date Say for brunch on Sunday? I’ve been told the Graff does a very nice Sunday brunch”
Her pulse ju the Graff Hotel, also known as Troy Sheenan’s hotel He’d bought the abandoned turn-of-the-century hotel and spent a decade restoring it Today it was the finest four-star hotel between Three Forks and Yellowstone but it was also a place that she probably shouldn’t go with Shane “I usually go to church with Harley and the kids on Sunday It’s kind of our tradition”
“Brock doesn’t go?”
“The Sheenans aren’t big on attending services, but they say a blessing at dinner, and prayers with the kids” She looked up at him “Do you attend church?”
“No”
“I guess you fit right in then”
“Except that I’m not a Sheenan,” he retorted
“Obviously I didn’t ht words, and then shrugged “Never mind Doesn’t matter”
“So no to brunch,” he said
“If we care about what others think,” she said
“I don’t care, but I know you do, and I respect that” He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew his car keys “I’ll see you when I see you If not at the diner then maybe at Java Cafe”
Disappointment flooded her His tone was kind His words had been kind He’d said nothing offensive and yet her heart just fell, toppling all the way down She didn’t want to wait days, or weeks, to see hi so open ended
She’d loved tonight Even the uncomfortable and aard parts
“I’ve never been to the Graff to eat,” she said hesitantly, feeling her way through this “I’ve had a drink in their lounge, and I understand at Christmas they do this festive holiday tea on weekends, and a Santa Brunch a week or two before Christmas—” She brok
e off, gulped air “Do you think it’s terrible that I want to go to brunch with you?”
“No But I don’t think you’re so her family”
“We’re not gettingbrunch”
“This is true”
She looked away, frowned as she reht If he didn’t like her having dinner with Shane in Livingston, he definitely wouldn’t like herShane for brunch at the Graff But Cormac wasn’t her brother or her father, and he wasn’t the easiest ofand tended to do what he wanted to do…regardless
“The hotel’s history is fascinating,” she said after a moment She turned her attention back to Shane “Do you know it?”
“A little I stayed there for a few days when I first arrived in town Met Dillon Sheenan in the hotel bar for lunch to discuss leasing the Sheenan place The bar was nice It looked like a pub, very masculine but stylish”
“The entire hotel was recently renovated”
“I understand it stood empty for years before the renovation”
She nodded “Troy bought it because it was his mom’s favorite place His mother used to take her little boys there for special events, back before the hotel went out of business”
“I didn’t know that”
“Harley told e multi-million dollar renovation but Troy believed in the hotel and I think it’s out of the red now I hope it’s out of the red”
“You’re full of information”