You Were Mine (Rosemary Beach #9)(41)

“I heard I missed a shopping trip,” Della said, smiling up at me. “I demand a do-over next week.”

“If you hadn’t been off on a secret rendezvous with your hubby, you could have come, too,” Blaire teased.

Della grinned and shot a loving look at Woods.

I glanced around, purposely avoiding Tripp, and realized Harlow wasn’t there.

“Where’s Harlow?” I asked Grant, who looked lost without his wife and kid.

“Lila Kate isn’t sleeping through the night just yet. Harlow naps whenever the baby does, which includes now.” Grant gave a yawn of his own.

Rush chuckled. “Been there.”

Jimmy nudged my side as he walked up beside me. “Wine,” he whispered.

I remembered I wasn’t out here to visit and moved to fill Woods’s glass with red wine. He never drank white.

Jimmy started at the other end, where Rush was seated.

“I just want some sparkling water,” Della said as I moved to her.

I moved on down the table and filled Grant’s glass, then my aunt Darla’s. Blaire already had white wine in her glass, so I moved on. As I poured, Tripp’s voice was the only thing I heard. He was laughing with Woods about something that happened that day on the course. He was happy. Did London make him happy?

London already had a glass of white wine, but Tripp’s glass was still empty. I was going to have to ask him if he wanted red. Crap. Why was this so difficult? I was being ridiculous.

“Red wine?” I asked in a quiet voice so as not to draw attention or interrupt anyone.

Tripp turned his head to look directly at me. My heart picked up its pace like it always did when he was near me. Making eye contact with him seemed like a bad idea, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

It was a brief moment, but in his eyes, I saw a flash of regret before he nodded his head. “Please,” he replied, then looked away to continue his conversation with Woods.

London leaned closer to him, and he put his arm behind her chair. The intimacy between them was obvious. They were comfortable together. They fit. She was tall and gorgeous. Perfect for Tripp. My stomach twisted in knots.

I quickly hurried from the room back to the kitchen, where Jimmy was waiting with a tray of soups. “Cauliflower soup with chanterelle mushrooms and truffle oil. As soon as these are served, we’ll need to get out the cheese plates. I’ll carry them. They weigh a shit ton. You just follow me and take them off the tray and place them on the table.”

“Got it,” I replied.

Jimmy winked and headed for the door to hold it open while I carried my tray out. He was right behind me with an identical one.

Once again, I went to Woods, and Jimmy started with Rush. I moved left so Jimmy would have to go right. One fewer thing I had to serve Tripp and his date. Maybe I could work it that way all night.

“What is this?” Della whispered as I placed the soup in front of her.

“Cauliflower soup with fancy mushrooms and truffle oil,” I replied.

She scrunched her nose, and I had to bite back a smile.

“It’s good. I tried it last week. If you don’t like it, I’ll have them prepare you something else,” Woods promised, and he smiled at her as if she was the most wonderful thing he’d ever seen.

I had to agree with her. I didn’t think anything with cauliflower could be good. Not even truffle oil could fix that. Della took a small taste, and I waited to see if I needed to take it back.

“OK, yes, that’s delicious,” she said, and I moved on to finish placing soups in front of everyone on my side.

This would have been easy if I didn’t feel the heat of Tripp’s gaze on me the entire time. It was making me nervous. My heart wouldn’t slow down, and that stupid knot just got tighter.

Jimmy was waiting for me once again when I got to the door. I opened it and held it so he could walk out with the cheese plates. Once we got to the table, I tried not to make eye contact with anyone while I took the four plates and placed them down the middle of the table. Because Jimmy had stopped on Tripp’s side, I had to lean over beside him to put down the tray that belonged to that part of the table.

His arm brushed my side, and I had to hold my breath to keep from making a noise. Flashes of our night against the palm tree came back to me, and my face heated. This was not the time to remember that. I used those memories at night to keep me company in my lonely bed. In the beginning, I’d felt guilty about getting myself off to Tripp’s dirty words, but I needed it. And now I accepted it.

Tonight he’d be using his dirty words on someone else.

Tripp

London crossed her legs beside me and rubbed her foot against my calf. Last week, I had been walking from the course to my Harley after playing a round with Woods, and London had been stepping out of her Mercedes, which had been parked right next to me. I didn’t notice her at first, but when she’d said my name, I recognized the voice. It was older now, more mature, but it was London.

We had talked, and it had been surprisingly nice. She seemed different now. The spoiled brat I had grown tired of was gone. She had matured and turned into a more confident woman.

And I needed a distraction.

Moving on and letting Bethy go wasn’t easy. I thought about her all the damn time.

London was in Rosemary Beach at her parents’ place for the next month, so I figured why the hell not—I asked her out to dinner. Since then, we’d been out three times. Tonight made our fourth. She was still wrapped up in a world I wanted nothing to do with, but she liked me. She seemed to enjoy being near me. I had spent so much time being pushed away by Bethy that it was refreshing.