“Sorry about that,” he says after the latest person leaves but he doesn’t look sorry or even upset that our date keeps getting interrupted.
I think that he likes all of the attention. He lives for it. If he didn’t have people coming up to kiss his ass, he’d probably throw a fit or get pissed off.
“Next time we go out we’ll have to go somewhere more private,” he says with a sleazy, over-exaggerated wink and smirk.
I think I die a little inside when I think about seeing him again in any capacity.
“Uh, I told you that this was just a one-time deal. I’m not looking for a relationship. Remember?”
Chet’s jaw hardens along with his eyes and a nervous tingle runs down my spine. Maybe it’s intuition. Either way, I take the warning seriously.
“Sutton, I thought that we were on the same page here. You don’t feel this connection between us?” he asks, acting wounded.
I’m surprised, taken aback by his shift in attitude.
Is this another trick? Another way to trick me into saying yes like Teller said he would do?
Today has been too long. Too long and filled with way too many emotions. I can’t take it and I don’t want to waste another second of my life with this conceited asshole.
“No, Chet, I don’t,” I snap, my tone hard. “I don’t feel anything toward you except disgust. All you do is talk about yourself. You spent our ‘tour’ yesterday talking about yourself and you’ve done nothing but brag about yourself again tonight. I’m done here. Thanks for dinner,” I say sarcastically as I throw my napkin onto the table and stand up.
I’m pulling up Teller’s number on my cell phone before I have even left the restaurant. The man who has a crush on Lyla, who was watching her that night that I came here and who leaves notes on her car, watches me from the back hallway, giving me an almost proud smile as I head for the door.
Teller answers on the second ring, sounding distracted.
“Hello?”
“Teller? It’s Sutton.”
“Are you alright?” he asks right away and I let out a sigh.
“Yeah, I’m fine, but I could use a ride.”
“Where are you?”
“Prim + Proper,” I tell him, heading down the sidewalk a few feet.
“I’ll be there in ten.”
He hangs up then and I tuck my phone back into my purse. The restaurant is closer to the bridge and I can just make out the water below from all of the lights running across it.
Teller pulls up a few minutes later in his old black truck and I relax, smiling as I hurry to climb into the passenger seat. Chet comes out as I’m buckling up and he glares at us as Teller waves and we drive off.
“So… how was the date?” Teller jokes, trying to lighten the mood in the cab.
“Ugh,” I groan dramatically, resting my head on the back of the seat.
“That sounds promising,” he teases and I roll my eyes at him as I reach over and swat his arm.
“It was just like the tour of the town last night. A lot of information about him and not much else. The food was good though. Or the food that I actually got to eat was good.”
“Well, I can help with that. So, this is Main Street,” Teller starts, switching to the voice that Stan uses with tourists.
“Oh my god,” I groan when Teller tries to go on and starts to point out shops along the road.
“Did I interrupt your evening?” I ask him as we get closer to the cabin.
“Not yet. I’m on call tonight and tomorrow so I’ll be headed to the firehouse after this.”
“You’re a firefighter?” I ask, surprised by the news.
“A volunteer one. This town is too small for a real one, so there are just thirty or so of us guys who all train and volunteer.”
“That’s really cool of you,” I say honestly.
I’m not even surprised. Teller is exactly the type of man who likes to help people. Of course he spends his time volunteering to help out the town.
“Thanks,” he says with a grin. “I like it. I actually did it when I lived back in New York too.”
“You lived in New York?!” I ask because that news does shock me.
“Yep. I was a firefighter and worked fixing up houses there on my off days.”
“Why did you leave?”
“I got tired of it. I was working two jobs and barely making ends meet. I was tired and stressed all of the time and I just didn’t want to live that way anymore.”
“And so you decided to move to Destiny Falls?” I ask, sounding skeptical.
“Yep.”
“But why?”
“Why what?” he asks with a laugh.
“Why give up a great job and civilization to come here? To work at a tourist trap in the middle of nowhere?”
“I like it. Besides, how many people can say that they’ve done that?”
“I mean it’s definitely more than the number of people who actually WANT to be able to say that...”
His laughter is like a shot and it leaves me feeling warmer than the glass of wine that I just downed at dinner.
Teller pulls up outside of the Mystery Cabin and I hesitate, not wanting our conversation to end just yet.
I wish that it was him that I went out with tonight.
That thought hits me out of the blue and I suck in a sharp breath. I need to stop thinking about that. I need to follow my plan and Teller and this tiny town are not part of it.
“Thanks for the ride.”
“Anytime, Sutton. Have a good night,” he says as I climb out and close the door.
I wave, rounding the hood and heading toward the front door when Teller stops me.
“Hey Sutton?”
“Yeah?” I ask, turning around to face him.
“Did Chet tell you that you look beautiful tonight?”
“Um, no,” I say when I realize that he had barely looked at my outfit. “No, he didn’t.”
“Then he must be blind, because you’re gorgeous.”
My whole body warms at his words and I wonder if he can see the blush staining my cheeks.
“Thanks, Teller,” I whisper softly.
“Anytime, Sutton.”
With that, he gives a little wave and shifts into drive and heads back down the road and I’m left staring after him.
11
I’m shocked when I come downstairs for breakfast the next day to find Stan in the kitchen. He’s swearing up a storm, trying to flip over a pancake that isn’t quite ready, and I have to bite back a chuckle when he swears again, even more creatively this time.
The kitchen is messy and I’m guessing that Stan didn’t wash the dishes after dinner last night since the sink is piled high and I doubt those are all from breakfast.
“Uh, do you need help with that?” I ask as I take a tentative step inside the kitchen.
Stan spins around and for a second we both just stare at each other. I wonder if he’s going to bring up yesterday, but after a beat, he just nods and holds out the spatula for me.
I take it from him and it feels like a peace offering of sorts.
We stand side by side at the stove as I flip the pancake over. I don’t know this man that I’m living with, that I’m related to. He’s never going to be the family that I had imagined when I first learned about him. He’s so gruff and standoffish. He’s secretive and a bit of a loner.