Page 20 of Then Came You

“Yes.”

“Let me guess. She made some dirty comment about being handcuffed and frisked.”

“How’d you know?” Kristina dangled her breadstick in midair, her big brown eyes bugging out.

He chuckled. “Because that’s what women always say until you actually use the handcuffs on them, and then they freak out.”

She laughed loudly, garnering some unwanted attention from nearby diners.

Sam was thankful he hadn’t recognized anybody. He knew a lot of people in Holly and wouldn’t be surprised if he ran into someone he knew, especially on a busy Saturday night.

“You’ve done that—handcuffed some poor woman?”

He shrugged and took a bite of the fully loaded pizza they’d ordered. He always ate too much when he came here, but he vowed to work out extra hard tomorrow.

He swallowed and then took a long drink of soda, hoping his younger sibling would forget where they’d left off. No such luck.

“Anyway, I have a picture of her if you want to see.”

“No thanks.”

“You’re so stubborn.” She frowned at him and picked up her own slice.

“It’s not stubbornness; it’s self-preservation. I prefer to find my own dates, thank you very much.”

“When’s the last time you actually had a date?”

He should have known she wouldn’t give up. She’d been pesky as a child too—same behavior, different topic. For some reason, she’d taken an immense interest in his love life, or lack thereof. She’d often tried to set him up with her friends, and so far, he’d avoided it.

“It wasn’t that long ago.” Honestly, he couldn’t remember when he’d last gone on a date. He found the whole process confusing. There seemed to be so many rules now, and it was easier to just avoid it altogether. Sure, he felt lonely sometimes, but there were other ways of dealing with that.

“Bullcrap,” she repeated.

“You sound like a kid when you say that.”

“I can’t bring myself to swear. Mom and Dad didn’t raise me that way.”

He laughed, but it was true. Their parents had been loving yet strict. As a teenager, he resented all their rules, but as an adult, he’d come to respect and appreciate them for it.

He’d just taken another bite of pizza when a flash of movement at the pick-up counter caught his eye. Her back was to him, but there was no doubt it was her. Gillian’s presence caught him off guard, and for a second, he had trouble swallowing.

Kristina was still rattling on about her friend, but she suddenly paused and stared at him. “What’s wrong?”

Then she followed the direction of his gaze and studied Gillian with interest.

Gillian had just paid for her order and was waiting for someone to bring it out to her.

“Do you know her?” Kristina asked, lowering her voice some.

He nodded, not wanting to take his eyes off Gillian.

“Why don’t you call her over here?”

No way in hell! He wouldn’t subject Gillian to his sister’s interrogation. She was already skittish enough as it was. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Soon an employee came out and handed Gillian a pizza box. They were too far away for Sam to hear what was said, but the female employee smiled at Gillian and acted familiar. He wondered if Gillian came here often and he just hadn’t run into her before. Had she ordered her pizza to go so she wouldn’t have to sit in the restaurant alone? For some reason, the idea of her eating alone saddened him even though he often did too. It just so happened that Kristina had coerced him into going out that night.