Unforgettable (Cloverleigh Farms #5)(21)

“Follow me.” Giving us a smile, she turned and led us to the back of the candlelit room, where my favorite booth was already set for two. “Here you are. Jacie will be your server, and she’ll be right with you.”

“Thanks, Makenna.” I slid onto the curved leather banquette and smiled at Tyler. “This is much better, isn’t it?”

“Definitely.” He eased in from the other side, meeting me in the middle. “Can’t say I’m much for crowds these days.”

“I don’t blame you. Do strangers often try to give you advice like that?”

“All the damn time. Everybody thinks they’ve got it all figured out. Believe me, if there was a cure, I’d have discovered it by now.”

“Do you still practice throwing?”

“Not on a ballfield. And never in front of anyone.”

Sensing it wasn’t something he wanted to discuss, I opened the menu and scanned both sides. “What are you going to eat? Everything is excellent, and I’m totally not biased.”

That got him to smile again. “Of course not.”

Jacie came over a minute later, greeted me warmly, and told us about the night’s specials. As far as I knew, she hadn’t grown up around here and she was too young to have known about Tyler’s storied high school baseball career anyway, but on the off chance she’d heard his name before, I didn’t introduce him. We decided on a few small plates to share—burrata with fig and balsamic, charcuterie and olives, a smoked whitefish Caesar salad—and placed our order.

Alone again, we sipped our bourbon and continued catching up, although I did most of the talking. Tyler asked about my parents and sisters, some friends from high school, my job, the changes at Cloverleigh Farms, and whether I liked working with my family.

“Honestly, I do,” I told him. “It can be a lot of togetherness, and we’re up in each other’s business all the time, but I’ve always been close to my family. I really missed them when I lived in New York, and I was glad when my parents broached the subject of moving back and building up Cloverleigh Farms as a wedding venue.”

“I’ve heard you’re awesome at what you do.”

I smiled into my glass before taking the last sip. “Thanks. Sadie is such a doll.”

“She really appreciates you working so hard and so fast for her.”

“It’s my pleasure,” I said, setting my empty glass down. Tyler’s had been empty for a few minutes already. “It’s going to be a beautiful wedding. She’s an easy bride to work with, and it makes me happy to see her so excited. Seems like yesterday she was a little kid in pigtails needing a Band-Aid for a scraped knee, or help with her spelling words, or a quarter for the gumball machine.”

“You were so good to her.”

“Well, it was my job.”

“You never treated her like she was a job.”

My cheeks warmed, and I shrugged. “Being a big sister came easy to me. Plus, I loved hanging out with her. And with you too, of course.” It came out a little flirtier than I’d meant it to. Was it the bourbon? Was it how good he smelled? Or was it how close he was sitting, the way he was looking at me like I was the only person in the room, possibly the world?

Something was definitely making me a little lightheaded.

Tyler gave me his old grin. “We had some good times, didn’t we? That is, when you weren’t giving me shit about my massive ego.”

“The only thing bigger than your biceps,” I quipped, poking his upper arm.

“Now you know that’s not true.”

Our eyes met, and my heart hiccupped. I crossed my legs—tight.

“Sorry,” he said. “I couldn’t resist.” But that cocky smile stayed put on his lips, telling me he wasn’t really sorry.

All at once, I remembered how easily I’d fallen into his arms eighteen years ago—and I knew instinctively how easily it could happen again if I wasn’t careful.

Tyler Shaw just did something to me.





Seven





Tyler





Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but I wasn’t sorry.

I’d always loved teasing April. And something about being around her had me feeling like my old self again.

Her expressions were the same, her voice was the same, and those dimples just made me happy to look at them. I could still make her laugh, and when she made her usual crack about my biceps, it was like no time had gone by at all, like everything was right in the world. It was giving me an even better buzz than the bourbon.

The food arrived, and Jacie asked us if we’d like another round.

“I’ll do one more,” I said.

April hesitated, then laughed. “I would, but I’m not sure I should. I’m already a little tipsy.”

“Oh, come on,” I prodded. “I can drive you home.”

She leveled her gaze at me. “I’ve heard that one before.”

Happy that she’d been the one to make a joke about it this time, I held up my hands. “No detours, I promise.”

She sighed and shrugged. “Okay. Why not? Another Brown Eyed Girl bourbon on the rocks. Lots of rocks.”

Jacie smiled. “You got it. Be right back.”