Best of My Love (Fool's Gold, #20)(18)

“Is it difficult to learn how to do it?” she asked.

“No. It’s like walking in sand with really big shoes. Level terrain isn’t bad. Uphill is tiring and downhill is the biggest challenge.”

“Gravity,” she said with a smile. “It always gets you in the end. Kipling used to say that.”

As an Olympic champion, he would know. “He had a bad accident a couple of years back, didn’t he?”

She nodded. “In New Zealand. It ended his skiing career. For a while we were scared he wouldn’t walk again, but he was determined. And lucky.” Her expression turned wistful. “Now he’s married to Destiny, with a baby on the way. He has it all.”

Which was what Shelby wanted. A home. Family. Stability. Aidan knew her dreams would be considered normal. He should probably want them for himself. But there was no way. He just wanted to not be a jackass.

“You’re going to be an aunt,” he said to shift the subject to something slightly happier for her.

“My second time around. I consider Starr to be an honorary niece. She’s my sister-in-law’s half sister, and Destiny and Kipling have custody of her. She’s almost sixteen.”

He knew Destiny but wasn’t sure he’d met Starr.

Jo brought a pitcher of margaritas and two glasses. “Nachos are on the way. You both walking?”

“We are,” Shelby told her. “We’re good.”

“Just checking.”

“She always does that,” Shelby said in a low voice, when the other woman had left. “Makes sure we’re not going to drink and drive. It’s nice. People in town look out for each other.”

“Or she doesn’t want to get sued.”

“Don’t be cynical.”

“It comes with the territory.”

“It doesn’t have to.” She poured them each a margarita.

Aidan took his and braced himself for the too-sweet drink. When it was his turn, they were drinking beer. Or scotch.

“To being friends,” Shelby said and touched her glass to his. “Thank you for helping me.”

Her eyes were blue—sort of a medium color. Nice, he thought absently. “You’re the one who’s helping me,” he told her.

They touched glasses again. He took a sip.

“Not bad,” he said. The liquid was more tart than sweet, with a hint of salt. Not his favorite but he could get used to it.

“Wait until you try the nachos. They’re amazing. So what else happened this week?”

“I’m thinking of getting a dog.”

“Interesting. A big one, right?”

He nodded. “One I could take camping and fishing.”

“You could teach it to snowboard. It could wear one of those cute coats and eye goggles.”

“That is not happening. This is a manly dog.”

“It’s a dog that doesn’t yet exist, at least not in your life. Maybe you’ll fall for a poodle.”

“Never.”

“A Yorkie?” She giggled. “You could coordinate your shirt with her hair ribbon. You’d be so sweet together.”

“Why are you emasculating me?”

“It’s fun.” She rested her elbows on the table. “But I can be serious, too. Why a dog? Are you lonely?”

He was about to say no, of course not, when it occurred to him he might be. Work kept him busy and he enjoyed his coworkers, but his relationships with them were mostly casual. Until a couple of years ago, he’d had three of his four brothers in town, but Mathias and Ronan had moved to Happily Inc. and Nick was always off doing something.

He had friends. Guy friends. But everyone was busy with their lives. As for women, as the whole world knew, he’d done his damnedest to make sure those encounters never meant anything.

“I think a dog would be good for me,” he answered, aware he was avoiding the question. “I’d have to be responsible for it. Take care of it. I’d bring it to the office. Fay would like that.”

“Fay is...”

“My office manager. She handles the scheduling and gets the tours ready.” He hesitated. “Her daughter is Kalinda. She was—”

Shelby nodded. “I know Kalinda. She loves peanut butter cookies.” She sighed. “I’m glad she’s healing, but what a difficult road for her and her family.”

“Fay does her best to stay strong,” he said, grateful he didn’t have to explain about Kalinda’s burns. The teen would face more surgeries over the years. He knew for Fay there were good days and bad days, but whatever happened, she loved her daughter unconditionally.

Jo came by with a huge platter of nachos. There were plates for each of them, along with bowls of extra salsa and guacamole. Aidan inhaled the scent of the marinated pork and realized he hadn’t eaten much that day. His stomach growled.

“Me, too,” Shelby said with a laugh as she grabbed a chip. “I was playing around with custom cookie ideas and the day got away from me. Then I didn’t have time to eat or I would be late.”

“Next time, eat,” he told her. “I don’t expect you to be exactly on time.”

“It was our first gender encounter. I wanted to make a good impression.”

He liked her teasing. The fact that she could be so charming and open meant that her father hadn’t broken her as much as she feared. Intense determination filled him. He was going to help Shelby get whatever she wanted, he promised himself. Not only because it would help him, but because it was the right thing to do.