What Lovers Do(27)

We order drinks at the clubhouse and find a table with a great view. There isn’t a bad view in Sedona. Again, Shep orders a beer and I ask for a lemonade. While I wait for him to carry our drinks (which he bought) from the bar, a guy with short blond hair slows his pace and stops at my table, taking off his golf glove.

“You took my table.”

I lift my eyebrows. “Oh? I’m sorry. I can move.” I start to scoot my chair backward.

“Don’t. I may have exaggerated a bit.” He grins. “I sat here yesterday, but I was by myself. I wouldn’t mind sitting here today with you if you don’t mind.”

“I mind, Trace.” Shep sets our drinks on the table and sits across from me.

Trace eyes Shep with something that resembles contempt. “Well, doesn’t that just fucking figure.”

Shep sips his beer. “What’s that?”

“Good luck, miss.” Trace shoots me a tight smile before sauntering in the opposite direction.

“Are you cock-blocking me, Shep?”

He pauses his beer mug at his lips. “Cock-blocking implies I blocked you from having sex with that asshole. Is that what you’re implying?”

“I’m implying that if you were a girlfriend of mine, I would still be talking to him, and maybe my girlfriend and I would have invited him to join us for drinks.”

He lifts a brow, beer still paused at his lips. “And then you would have had sex with him?”

I shake my head. “Not my point.”

“What’s your point?” he asks then takes a pull of his beer.

“My point is there are some drawbacks to us being friends, specifically you being a male. People assume we are a couple.”

“Do you routinely ditch your friends for random guys?”

“No. Not my point.”

Setting his beer on the table, he shrugs. “You don’t have a point, Sophie. Unless …” His dark eyes lift to mine.

“Unless?” I stir my lemonade with the straw.

“Unless your point is that you’re in need of cock.”

“What? No! That’s not it at all.”

“You’re the one who accused me of cock-blocking you from a guy who jumps anything that moves. What else am I to deduce from that?”

“I’m joking. Geesh …” I glance out the window with a slight headshake.

“I’m just saying…” he continues “…we’re friends. And you should be looking at the upside to my gender. If … and I’m only saying if … you need a cock, I just so happen to have one you can borrow.” He grins like he borrowed that smile from the devil himself. “That’s what friends are for.”

“No.” I choke on my lemonade and clear my throat several times. “That’s not what friends are for.”

Shep rubs his chin, scratching his scruffy jaw while inspecting me. Amusement clings to his full lips. In equal parts, I want to strangle him and kiss him. This new acquaintance—friend—of mine is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. I think in a good way, but honestly, I’m not sure.

“You could murder me, and no one would know where to look,” I say.

His eyes narrow for a few seconds. “Interesting. Tell me more.”

“I told the people I work with that I needed the weekend off for personal reasons. I’m the boss, so no one questioned me. I think they suspected issues with my ex. My best friend is in Vegas this weekend for a wedding, so I didn’t bother to tell her where I was going. My mom is still upset about me not attending her cat’s funeral, so she doesn’t know. And I only talk with my dad every month or two, so he doesn’t know either. My sister … well, she’d totally lose it. I irresponsibly, recklessly left town with complete abandonment to stay with a guy I’ve known for less than a month.”

“Why would your sister lose it?”

Averting my gaze to a couple walking into the clubhouse, I shrug while thinking about the embryo inside of me. “She’s just a lot more cautious than I am.”

Shep leans back and rests his hand on the table, softly drumming his fingers. “I’ll think about it. The murder. I wasn’t planning on it, and I’ve never done it before. But now that you’ve offered it as an option, I feel obligated to at least consider it. And I’m always game to try new things.”

My grin remains restrained for a moment. “Sure. Take your time. Just let me know what you decide. Or … don’t. I suppose a good homicide requires a certain element of surprise.”

He smirks. “I’d imagine so. But again, I’ve never done it, so I can’t speak from firsthand experience. I would have researched this a bit had I known ahead of time. I guess my head is spinning right now because we somehow jumped from me offering you my cock to you offering to let me murder you. I think…” he rubs the back of his neck “…a lot has changed since the last time I dated—I mean—made a new friend.”

Shep glances over my shoulder and sits up straight. “Shit. Be cool. There’s a couple headed our way. They’re going to try to engage us in conversation. Don’t do it. Don’t say a word. Just let me handle it. Okay?” Shep sounds so serious.

I stiffen, anticipating their approach.

“Hey, how are you?” a man’s voice booms behind me.