When We Met (Fool's Gold #13)(52)

Several of the women giggled.

“Nothing you can’t handle,” Denise told him.

Want to bet? But he only thought the question rather than saying it out loud.

“I would suggest you encourage the families to take advantage of the nearby camping area so they can be close if there’s any crisis.” She paused. “With the girls.”

Crisis? Why would there be a crisis?

Denise moved the meeting on to other business. Fifteen minutes later, they were done.

The rest of the group quickly left, but Angel stayed in his seat. Taryn sat next to him. Her violet eyes were bright with amusement.

“You’re happy,” he grumbled.

“I’m amused. There’s a difference. Now I’m not the only one worried about the all-grove camping trip.”

“I don’t want my girls crying.” He couldn’t handle the tears. “Or being upset. Camping is fun. We’ll go on hikes and learn about nature.” He had a few simple survival skills he could teach them.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. Denise was simply offering ways to make sure it all goes well. Having the parents nearby is a good idea.”

He agreed with that, but still. Crying.

She stood. “If it makes you feel better, we have to get through the mother-daughter tea first. That will be fun.”

He rose and put his hand on the small of her back. “That’s your idea of helping?”

“You don’t like tea? There’ll be cookies. Cookies help.”

“I’m not five. You can’t change my mood with a cookie.”

“Good to know.” She paused in the doorway and looked at him. “What would change your mood?”

He thought of what she’d been like by the river. How she’d taken all he had to offer and had left him gasping for air. He thought about their weekend together and no matter how many times he reached for her, she was eager to play the game again.

He thought of her in her damn heels, the way she was both bossy and feminine, how sweet she was with the girls. If he was ever looking to break the rules, it would be with her. But that would never happen.

She leaned in and lightly kissed his mouth. “Good to know,” she murmured in his ear.

“Good to know what?”

“How I can change your mood.”

He was still chuckling as they went downstairs and out onto the street.

“What’s your afternoon like?” he asked.

“I have some work to get done. No meetings.”

“You have time for lunch?”

“Sure.”

He took her hands in his and guided them toward Fifth. “You been to Margaritaville?” he asked. “Great food.”

“Powerful margaritas,” she told him. “Not that I drink at lunch.”

“You could make an exception.”

“I’d never make it back to the office.”

“I know.”

She laughed. “Trying to get me to be bad? It wouldn’t take much.” She pointed to the flower boxes in the storefronts they passed. “They change the flowers constantly. They’re always blooming and completely right for the season. When the guys first dragged me here, I thought I’d fallen into some 1950s sitcom form of hell.”

“You didn’t like the town?” What was there not to like?

“I thought it was small and provincial,” she admitted. “The people were way too friendly. No one needs to be saying hi to me every fifteen seconds. I couldn’t believe I’d been outvoted and this was where we were going to be.”

“And now?”

She looked around. “It’s growing on me.”

“Like fungus?”

She laughed. “Kind of. But good fungus. It’s like truffles. An acquired taste.” She squeezed his hand. “You, of course, liked it from the first.”

“Sure. Ford grew up here and he talked about it all the time. Justice spent a year here as a teenager. What they said reminded me of where I grew up. By the time Justice asked me to join CDS, I was looking for a place to settle in.”

“Roots?” she asked.

“Something like that.”

He understood that accepting Fool’s Gold as home meant letting a part of what he’d had with Marie and Marcus go. They wouldn’t be a part of this. But she would have loved it here. As for his son, well, there was no letting go there. Marcus was with him always.

Taryn drew him to a stop and eased him toward the building so they weren’t standing in the way. Then she touched his cheek. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Her violet eyes met his. “I meant, can I help? You’re getting lost in the past. Thinking about Marie and Marcus?”

He kept his expression neutral, because he could. But inside, he was slack-jawed. How had she guessed?

“It makes sense,” she went on. “You were together a long time. You were a family. She’ll always be a part of you. Like Marcus.” She gave him a soft smile. “I know there are things about the girls that freak you out, but I think it’s probably easier on you to be dealing with little girls. Teenage boys might bring back a lot of memories. That could be hard.”

He touched her hair. “When did you get so smart?”