Halfway There (Fool's Gold #9.75)(7)

CHAPTER FOUR

FAYRENE WAS PLEASANT, friendly and distant for the next three days. When she went out for sandwiches, she brought one back to Ryan. She warned him about the warring hair stylists in town when he asked where to get his hair cut, and she explained he would have to alternate his business between House of Bella and Chez Julia unless he wanted to start a boatload of trouble. Even so, she was careful not to spend more than a minute or two in conversation at any given time because it was both smarter and safer.

But on Friday morning she arrived at work to find Ryan being interrogated by two very determined older women. Eddie and Gladys—both long past the age of eligibility for Social Security—stood in his office.

“I heard you’re an engineer,” Eddie was saying. “I have a new all-in-one printer I need help with. You know, hooking it up to my Wi-Fi network. You could come over this afternoon.”

Ryan shifted on his feet, his expression both trapped and desperate. “I’m not a computer engineer, ma’am,” he told her. “I work with wind turbines.”

“Still, you’re young and, from what I can see, very strong. You should be able to figure it out.”

Gladys grinned. “Eddie keeps her place a little warm, so you might want to wear a T-shirt. A tight one. I really like the glasses. They’re kind of sexy.”

Ryan flushed. Fayrene was both impressed and shocked by the older ladies’ determination. She’d heard rumors about their tactics but had never seen them in action before.

She cleared her throat.

Eddie and Gladys both turned toward her. Eddie grinned. “Fayrene. There you are. Tell your friend here that he needs to come help me this afternoon.”

“No.”

Eddie’s smile faded. “Excuse me?”

“I said no. You need to leave Ryan alone. If you don’t, I’m telling Josh you’re bullying Ethan’s favorite engineer.”

Eddie’s expression fell. She’d worked for Josh for years and loved him like a son. She bossed him around, and he looked out for her. But he was also Ethan’s best friend and wouldn’t appreciate Eddie messing with work stuff.

“I wasn’t bullying him,” Eddie said, a whine in her voice.

“I can handle this,” Ryan added, apparently realizing he was getting protection from marauding near octogenarians.

Gladys tugged on her friend’s arm. “We’ll find someone else to help us. Maybe that nice young man on the radio. Gideon. I saw him at the gym the other day. He has a great butt.”

Eddie nodded. “I like a good butt just as much as a good chest.”

The two women left.

When the front door closed, Ryan shook his head. “That was the most surreal experience of my life. When they first came in, I told myself it was all a misunderstanding.”

Fayrene didn’t bother hiding her amusement. “Not if they were talking about seeing you naked and asking if you liked older women in a sexual way. They’re legendary. Mostly they’re harmless, but you have to be willing to stand up to them. I’m going to guess you weren’t raised to talk back to grandmother types.”

“It’s not a skill set I thought I was missing. Anything else I need to know about the town?”

“How much time do you have?”

Something flashed in his eyes. A flash of male admiration with a hint of stalking predator thrown in for fun. But as quickly as it had shown up, it was gone, leaving behind the mild-mannered Ryan she knew and liked.

Fayrene’s breath quickened a little. She’d been avoiding him for very sensible reasons. This proved that. Yet she also found herself wanting to throw caution to the wind and pick up where Eddie and Gladys had left off.

“Thanks for the rescue,” he said, moving back to his desk. “Your arrival was well timed. I’ll do my best to be more surly the next time I run into those two.”

He was backing off because she’d made it clear that was what she wanted. The downside of being sensible, she thought.

But after nearly a week with Ryan, she knew he was both sweet and funny. Polite, smart and possibly interested in her. Did it get better than that?

“You’re arguing with yourself about something,” he said.

She nodded. “You.”

He’d reached for his chair, but now he let his arm fall to his side as his eyebrows rose. “What about me?”

“I’m torn. I have a plan, and I’m clear on my goals. Getting involved would mess up everything.”

“It would.”

She appreciated that he didn’t point out he hadn’t actually said he was interested in her.

“But you’re leaving,” she continued. “In a way, that makes things safer. There’s a time limit, so even if we did get involved, it wouldn’t be for very long.”

“Lessening the distraction factor.”

“Are you making fun of me?” she asked.

One corner of his mouth curved up. “Maybe a little.”

“I suppose I deserve it. You’re right. It doesn’t have to be that complex. There’s an Easter Egg Drop tomorrow. Want to go?”

“An Easter egg what?”

She laughed. “People decorate raw eggs and bring them to city hall. Then we drop them.”

“Raw eggs?”