“Yikes. What’d he say?”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It was a year ago. But what does matter is that he’ll be working on your bakery. He’s a good guy, and a very hard worker. Fast. I trust him implicitly. We have a few guys working with us, but they’re already on other jobs. My preference is to work with my brother on jobs that are more intricate or personally important to me because we have the same work brain. And for you, I want the best.”
I smiled wide, reached out a hand and placed it on top of his where it sat on the seat. He interlaced our fingers. “That’s sweet. I’ve got no problem with a grumpy construction guy. I can deal with most people.”
He licked his lips and I watched, fascinated. “You’re not my concern. You see, Linc, he’s uh, not into the ladies, if you get my drift.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Yeah, and uh, Jasper is a wildcard.”
I frowned, thinking that he was about to say something hurtful about my best friend, who was admittedly a wildcard as he put it, but he was the best human I knew. I tried to pull my hand out of Kyson’s, instantly feeling my blood heat.
He gripped my hand and shook his head.
“If you’re about to insinuate something about Jasper, we should just end this right here...” I started to defend my best friend.
“Isa, honey, you’ve got it all wrong. What I’m trying to say is that he’s Lincoln’s type. Wild. Forward. A bit feminine.”
“And this is a problem because...?” I was lost. Totally. Had no idea where he planned to go with this line of conversation.
“Linc might hit on him. Repeatedly. Things could get uncomfortable,” he said with a serious sigh.
I stared into his handsome face, noted his worried gaze and burst out laughing. It rolled through me like a tidal wave and sounded exceptionally loud inside the cab of the truck. I laughed so hard I pushed at his chest and then fell forward until my head rested against his neck and even then, I kept right on laughing my butt off until I couldn’t breathe.
He held on to me tentatively at first, then rubbed his hand up and down my back. “Uh, I’m guessing this is not something I should be concerned with?”
Eventually, I pulled my head back, flipped my hair out of my face and dabbed at my watering eyes with my knuckles. “Lincoln making Jasper uncomfortable by hitting on him. That’s rich. I can’t wait to tell my fathers that. It will have them rolling on the floor!” I half laughed, half hiccoughed, trying my best to get myself under wraps and failing miserably.
Finally, I shook my head and pressed my hand once more to his chest. “Don’t worry about Jasper. If he doesn’t want your brother’s attentions, he will let it be known. I am not at all concerned about it. And if they hit it off, rock on. Jasper’s been griping for months about not having a man in his life. If your brother digs him, and Jasper likes his attention, cool. More power to them.”
Kyson grinned. “You’re a pretty easygoing woman, Isabeau. I like it. A lot.” He left it at that and opened the truck door. He came around the front before I even had my purse from the floorboard. He opened my door for me and held out his hand so I could steady myself while getting down from his tall truck.
He led me into the pub, which was hopping for a Thursday night. He must have made a reservation because the hostess led us straight to a more private section in the back that was cordoned off from the buzzing open bar. The main space had sports on the TV and multiple family booths in the large opening. Smart business to have an option for the couples wanting some space from the rowdy crowd or the happy families.
We sat on opposite sides of the booth and scanned the menus. I noted the grill actually sold the beer they made. “I have a quirk,” I announced while pressing the menu to my chest so I could see Kyson. “If I go to a restaurant for the first time, I usually order whatever is the chef’s special and definitely order the local beer, wine, or spirit that they make in-house.”
“I’ve actually tasted the Bryant Brew, and it’s amazing. Porter Bryant is a good guy. Owns the place.”
“Wait... Bryant? Like Camden?”
He smiled. “They’re brothers. Thought it might be nice to take you to one of my favorite places that also has some ties to your family.”
“Awesome!”
When the waiter came back, Kyson asked him to tell Porter that we were here, and then we both ordered the house brew and the chef’s special without even asking what it was. I liked surprises and I liked food. My palate was vast. There was very little I wouldn’t eat or at the very least try, and not many things I didn’t like. Which had worked great for my parents because they were total foodies, too.
“Tell me about your fathers, plural. And why you’re a long-lost sister to Suda Kaye and Evie.”
I went over the main details. That Catori was basically an egg donor and surrogate for my fathers, who were married and deeply in love. I was raised without the knowledge of who Catori was my entire life, at her demand. I also explained that I hadn’t known I had sisters, and that my father Ian was Suda Kaye’s biological father so all three of us, me, Suda Kaye and Evie had the same mother but different fathers.
“It’s as fascinating as it is twisted up. That had to be hard on you, learning about them due to your stepfather’s inheritance.”
“Huh. I never thought of Adam Ross that way, but I guess if I had known him when he was alive, that’s exactly what he’d be.”
“You would have had three dads!”
We both chuckled and it lightened up the heaviness of what I’d just shared.
“And how are you adjusting to your first week in Colorado?”
I shrugged. “So far, so good. I mean, I can’t really complain. I’ve got my best friend in the world with me. We’re opening up our dream bakery. I was given a bucket load of money to do it and I’m getting to know two amazing women who I genuinely like and would be friends with even if we weren’t related.”
“Has to be hard, though, leaving your home and your parents?”
I traced the edge of my beer bottle and flicked at the label until there was an edge I could shred. “Yeah, it is. But I’ve got a lot of support. I miss my dad and papa, but kids grow up and leave. We have to—otherwise we’d be mooching off our parents our entire lives.”
He chuckled. “This is true. I definitely still count on my mom for a lot more than I’d like to.”
“Such as?” I questioned and was surprised to see his expression change from jovial to blank in a second flat.
Before I could ask what that was all about, our food arrived. We both looked at the steaming plates of steak with sides of pasta and huge, juicy-looking prawns in a cream sauce with some grilled asparagus on the side.