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I held my shoulders back and jutted out my chest while looking down.Nope. I was curvy, but nothing I could do would draw a man’s eye the way she did.
I put my phone away as Devlin emerged from the hallway.
“Miss me?” he asked as he sat back down.
Full of yourself much?“You weren’t gone that long,” I replied meekly.
He picked up his water and saluted me with it. “You’re not a girl a guy would want to leave alone for long.”
I smiled back. It was a kind compliment.
Devlin wasn’t ugly, and he wasn’t mean the way Kevin had been. Our conversation was entirely normal. We didn’t have any history between us to overcome. His attention to my cleavage shouldn’t have bothered me, because I’d been the one who’d dressed to attract it.
So, why was it that when he picked up his water glass, I measured his hands against Boone’s? Why hadn’t my gaze traveled down to his butt when I’d followed him to the table? Why had it struck me that Devlin’s shoulders were narrow?
Because I was making Boone comparisons again, that’s why. The manstillinvaded my thoughts. It wasn’t fair. I brought the water glass to my lips.
“I would guess it happens everywhere,” Devlin said. “Don’t you think?”
Boone was fucking with my concentration, and I’d totally missed what Devlin had been saying. I coughed. “Sorry, can you say that again? I didn’t chew that last bite well enough.”
“I was saying small departments like ours tend not to be as organized as bigger cities, and it seems we sometimes lose paperwork.”
I nodded. “I can see how that might happen.” Finally I was getting somewhere. Maybe this dinner would pay off after all.
“Yeah,” he said. “We can’t afford the systems or clerical help the big departments can. But, keeping the citizens safe is what it’s all about, and in that area, we’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Another reason to like living in a small community,” I agreed. He’d been extolling the virtues of small-town life the whole meal.
“The downside is that sometimes you need to travel a bit to find variety.”
I lifted more broccoli to my mouth.
“For instance, I was thinking seafood would be nice for dinner tomorrow night.” His smile widened as he said it. “But we’d have to drive to Peterville for that.”
I forced a smile while I nodded. Somehow I managed to not spit up my food.
Devlin had just upped the ante for me to get the ticket disposed of, and there was no guarantee a second dinner would be all he’d demand.
It was decision time. I’d been here for a week and was stuck here for another three before Grace returned, and with that amount of time, I was sure Kevin would find the ticket if Devlin logged it into the system. “Seafood sounds lovely.” I couldn’t take the risk.
Devlin offered his hand across the table, and I took it. Accepting his date was my path out of here.
He squeezed lightly. “I look forward to it.”
* * *
Boone
As I tookthe corner toward The Boathouse, Marge’s words haunted me. I’d heard them on repeat in my head at least twenty-seven times so far: “Why would you take the word of a Pollock?” I felt worse each time I thought about her question, because I couldn’t answer it.
With those few words, my aunt had made me doubt everything I’d believed about that day. What if Earl had lied and I’d been wrong this whole time?
I had to know the truth. Had Angela already hinted at it and I’d refused to listen?
When I arrived at the restaurant’s parking lot, I still had no idea what to say to her. All I knew was I would start with being sorry I hadn’t talked to her back then and end with the big question: Had she accused me of stealing that stupid tractor, or had Earl made it up to screw with me and my family?
I shut down the engine and walked to the restaurant’s front door.
