“You didn’t come off the mountain much in the beginning. You needed some time,” she replied. “I wish I’d been less naïve. I was lonely, and I let myself get into a bad position because of it. I won’t let that happen again. I didn’t even like him, but I wanted something of my own.”
“And now?”
“Now, I only go out with men I really connect to, as evidenced by what happened in that hallway,” she said, her head tilting up to look at him. “You should know there haven’t been many. Any in the last year or so. You see I like this guy but he’s a weirdo and I have to be patient with him.”
Oh, she made him smile. “I’m glad to hear that.” But he needed to be honest with her. “I still wanted to smash that guy’s face.”
“I can see that was hard for you. Thanks.” She squeezed him and then backed away. “So you said Ty had an emergency?”
He didn’t want to talk about Ty. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to indulge himself for as long as he could, but that wasn’t their bargain. “Yes, and I think it was an actual emergency and not him trying to get out of anything.”
She moved into the kitchen, glancing back his way. “Well, he did have a shift scheduled for today, and he’s an actual emergency medical tech, so I believe him. I also believe that he snuck in here before his shift because he knows I didn’t have any…” She opened the fridge and leaned in, coming back with a bottle. “…wine. Or beer. I think that’s for you because Ty will drink this Moscato with me.”
Ty’s taste in liquor left something to be desired, but Michael couldn’t argue with the fact that the other man was thoughtful. He wasn’t sure he would have remembered what Lucy liked to drink. “He said it wouldn’t take too long and he’s close to the pizza place, so he’ll bring it with him.”
Ty had sounded incredibly peppy for a man who was transporting a guy who’d taken on a hive of bees to the hospital. He’d sounded excited to get the evening going, and he didn’t seem worried at all that he would be sharing his date with a guy who wasn’t known for being nice.
He was known for growling at everyone, for frowning and being generally unpleasant.
He hadn’t always been. He’d been quite charming once.
You’re too nice, Novack. It’s going to bite you in the ass one of these days.
He tried to shake off that voice in his head. Jessie’s voice, the one that reminded him she’d shown him exactly who she was and he’d fooled himself into thinking he could be the one to change her.
Lucy popped the top off his beer and offered it to him. The cabin had a bar that separated the kitchen from the dining area and living space. He sat down on one of the barstools and took the longneck.
Naturally the little bastard had bought his preferred beer.
He didn’t like to think about the fact that it had been a long time since someone gave a damn about what he wanted, made an effort to figure out what he preferred. It was weird that the person being so thoughtful was another man.
A man who was willing to share the woman he wanted but only because he believed Michael would walk away in the end.
While Lucy started to open her wine bottle, Michael glanced around the neatly appointed kitchen. There was a big basket of apples at the end of the bar.
“Did Ty bring you the apples, too?” It was quite a few. At least twenty of them.
“Nope, they’re for a project I’m working on. I’m experimenting. It takes a lot of apples to make the perfect pie, you know,” Lucy replied. “Ty would never just eat an apple. It has to be covered in sugar or fried to an inch of its fruity life for Ty to be interested in it. But he does know his pizza. The pizza place usually gives Ty a big discount so he gets two pizzas because I love mushrooms and he can’t stand them. He won’t even split a pizza with me because he says mushrooms anywhere ruins the thing. If you’d gone you would have been charged full price, but that waitress will give it all to him for half off.”
That didn’t sound right. “So Ty buys two pizzas but only pays for one and one of those pizzas is entirely for you but you don’t have to pay because it’s buy one, get one free?”
“No, I would pay my half, of course” she began and then went silent.
He stared at her for a moment, waiting for her to reach the proper conclusion.
“There’s no buy one, get one free that’s only for Ty, is there?” She poured wine into her glass. “He told me it was because the waitress is sweet on him, but she couldn’t possibly be there every single time we order pizza.”
He had more news for her. “I eat a lot of pizza since I don’t have a working kitchen. They haven’t had a waitress for six months. The owner’s sons took over running the whole place. So unless one of them has a big crush on Ty…”
She growled, a sound he found utterly enchanting. He had to admit, he was more attracted to her because she could protect herself. He’d watched her, and she’d given that shit every opportunity to make the right choice and when he hadn’t she’d taken care of him.
“Why would Ty do that? Why would he lie to me?”
It occurred to Michael that he could undermine Ty if he wanted to. Lucy was looking at this as a deception. All it would take was for him to agree with her and maybe he could turn this into a night just for the two of them. She was already wary of how Ty felt about her. All she needed was a little push.
He glanced down at the beer and realized even as far gone as he was, he couldn’t fuck over Ty. He wouldn’t be sitting here with her if it wasn’t for Ty.
“He worries about you having enough to eat.” She had to get over this pride thing when it came to food. “I believe you do the same with your siblings. It’s food, Lucy. He’s not making sure you have fifteen pairs of designer shoes. He wants to make sure you don’t go hungry.”
“He’s the one who pays it forward by buying me breakfast at Stella’s.” She seemed to be putting all the pieces together. Her mouth firmed in a stubborn line. “And that also explains why his mom looked at me so weird when I told her how delicious all her casseroles are. He’s making them. I knew I recognized that dish from his place. I just thought he never sent it back to her.”
“Yes.” He knew it was Ty’s story to tell, but he wasn’t going to lie to her. “He works hard to make sure you have the food you need. I’m with him on this.”
She frowned and stared down at her drink. “Of course you are. You don’t understand.”
He eased off the barstool because she needed to know how he felt about this. “I don’t understand what?”
She bit her bottom lip as he rounded the bar and got into her space. But she didn’t back up the way she had with that douchebag. She stood her ground, her eyes coming up to meet his. “Don’t understand what it means to be an object of pity.”
He barely managed to not roll his eyes. “Really?”
She gasped as though realizing her mistake. “Michael, you did nothing wrong. You didn’t know she was going to hurt Alexei.”
“Yes, and that’s why they all pitied me. That’s why I couldn’t go back. I was a marshal. I was literally supposed to catch the bad guys, not ask one to marry me, so when I talk to you about pride, I know what I’m talking about. Pride has kept me in a prison for two damn years. Don’t let pride keep you hungry. Don’t let it cost you a lifelong friend. Ask yourself what you would do if he was hungry. If I was hungry.”