“Um, nothing. Thank you for bringing this.” Bianca waited until the elderly lady had left before reading the note again.Lastnight was a one-time thing, and you were a decent fuck but that’s all I want from you. I was just playing this morning and hate conflict. Don’t make me say it in person. Adam.
CHAPTER 12
Adam finished unpacking several bottles of Jack Daniels and set them in a neat line on the glass shelves behind the bar. Morning light filtered through the wide front windows, turning the polished floorboards a warm honey color. The sun had finally come out.
He rolled his neck, easing the stiffness that came from too little sleep and too much activity. Not that he regretted a second, because he didn’t. Bianca had tunneled right under his skin, and he was very much afraid she was going to stay there. Even when she left.
The phone in his pocket rang, and he pulled it out before the second buzz. “Adam’s Bar.”
“Hey, it’s Elbert.”
“Hey,” Adam said, lifting the phone to his ear. “Do you need me to help you get that rental car out of the ditch?”
“No. We took care of it,” Elbert said. “Just brought it to the shop. I’ll take a look to let you know the damage. Do you know if she got the insurance with the rental agreement?”
Adam glanced toward the front window where the street still glistened from the storm. “I doubt it. Most people don’tget rental insurance, but I’ll find out. Just let me know what happened, okay?”
“Well, there was a big storm last night,” Elbert said dryly.
Adam huffed out a laugh. “I know. I just want to make sure she didn’t hit an animal.” He remembered the ditch and the broken fence posts, the rain pounding so hard he could barely see ten feet ahead. “I looked around,” he added, reaching for another bottle of whiskey and sliding it onto the shelf. “Didn’t see much, but I’ll go back out and make sure we don’t have a deer or other animal that needs to be taken care of.”
“I’ll take a look as soon as I have my coffee,” Elbert said.
There was a brief pause, and Adam already knew what was coming.
“I heard you and the movie lady have a new romance.”
Adam rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.
Elbert Collier owned Collier Garage and knew half the people in the county. The other half he heard about eventually. He also gave free oil changes for anyone who couldn’t afford one.
“Where’d you hear about my dating life?” Adam asked.
“It’s Mineral Lake, dude.”
Adam chuckled and reached for a stack of glasses, setting them near the edge of the bar so he could polish them. “Are you serious?”
“I heard she’s real pretty.”
Adam pictured Bianca sitting at his kitchen table in his oversized T-shirt, hair still damp from the shower. Heat stirred low in his chest. “She is real pretty.”
“So while she’s here, she’s taken?” Elbert asked.
Adam stilled. “You’re happily married with three kids. What are you even thinking?”
Elbert exhaled loudly. “Not for me, you dork. My great-uncle Larry is looking to settle down.”
Adam barely bit down a laugh. Larry was around ninety, at least, and loved being a bachelor. “No, he isn’t. Plus, he’s too old for her.”
“He’s loaded, so she’d inherit a bundle someday,” Elbert said reasonably. “I talked to him last week, and he said he wants to leave progeny, so he’d better get started.”
That stopped Adam in place. “Can men reproduce in their nineties?”
“Hell if I know. So, is the woman going to stick around or not?”
A pit dropped into Adam’s gut. “She’s a movie scout who travels the country. Probably the entire world. She’s not going to settle down in Mineral Lake.”
“So? If you like her, maybe it’s time you went on tour with the band,” Elbert suggested.