“I think Nikki Greene has two sisters, right?” Phoenix pries.
“Yeah.” I do my best to keep my voice level.
“And I think there’s a younger one on Ethel’s side, Chevelle, right?”
“Cool it with the inquisition, you’re sounding like Dori,” Griffin says.
“I’m just curious,” she says and sips her water. “Could a lady be the reason you’re there?”
Never in a million years would I lay my cards out for Phoenix. She’s too close and would probably try to fix me up. Logan already warned me about Ethel and her friend Dori, how manipulating they can be. Said to watch myself if I don’t want to be fixed up with a Greene because they’ll sway me that way. He also doesn’t want me to fuck anything up with him and Nikki. He has good reason to be worried. I’ve never had a real relationship. I tend to keep people at arm’s length.
I need to change this conversation. “You want to know a secret?”
They both lean forward. Is this what small-town life does? You become eager for gossip?
“I’m going to run for mayor,” I say. “Rumor is that the current mayor ran off with his mistress, so the position is up for grabs. I put in my name this morning.”
Their eyebrows shoot up to their hairlines.
“What?” My forehead wrinkles.
“Okay, Arnold Schwarzenegger.” Griffin laughs. “What the hell?”
I shrug because I don’t really have a specific reason why I decided to try to enter politics. It felt right and I want to do anything besides acting in this moment.
Phoenix touches my hand. “Gav, I hate to break it to you, but if you want to keep skeletons in your closet, running to be the mayor of a small town isn’t gonna keep them there. You think LA is ruthless? Just wait. It’ll all come out.”
“You know as well as I do that nothing about my life has ever stayed hidden. Maybe the news hasn’t traveled up here yet, but it’s in print and online. I know that.”
She bites her lower lip, looking as concerned as if I were her naive baby boy who just enlisted in the military—which gives me pause for a second. Maybe I shouldn’t have put my name in for mayor.
“But on another subject,” I say because I don’t want them to talk me out of it. “There is a girl I was too chickenshit to ask out an hour ago.”
Phoenix slaps the counter. “I knew it. Is the mayor thing a joke?”
“No, I’m honestly going out for Sunrise Bay mayor.”
“Who’s the girl?” Griffin asks.
“She’s a Greene. Posey.”
Phoenix grins. “Owns Fringe?”
I nod.
“It looked like you just got a haircut,” Griffin says. “How were you chickenshit?”
I go to run my fingers through my hair before remembering there’s gel in it. For a moment, I remember the feel of her hands through my hair while she leaned over me, her breast brushing against my arm. “I went there to ask her to dinner, but all the other women there were listening to us.”
“That happens,” Phoenix says. “You need to realize two things. In Lake Starlight, we have Buzz Wheel that spreads the gossip around every day, but Sunrise Bay has Scandals of Sunrise Bay, a radio show that airs anything Nikki Greene sniffs out. So, watch yourself.”
The buzzer for the oven goes off and she turns around to attend to it.
“Doesn’t matter. I totally messed it up.”
“Why not go back there when the salon is closing?” Griffin asks.
I look at the clock. Fringe doesn’t close for another two hours. “That’s not a bad idea. I’m not sure she likes me, so I want to do it when no one’s around.”
We chat a while longer, and when I sit at the table to eat with their family, I hear about schools, colleges, and all of Phoenix’s nieces and nephews. I help clean the dishes while Griffin reprimands Maverick for his choice of language at the table.
“Let’s go outside,” Griffin says to me after he’s done his parenting duty. “Phoenix, you got this?”
“Uh-huh,” she says and shakes her head. “Mav will help me.”
He groans but stays at his stepmother’s side, helping her with the dishes.
We go back outside, and Griffin slaps me on the back. “Let me give you one piece of advice when it comes to the women around here.”
“You’re talking as if they’re another species.”
He doesn’t laugh. “There’s a lot of competition in Alaska, numbers being what they are. And your name means jack shit around here.”
I want to call bullshit, because I see the way Posey looks at me. It’s one reason I was going to stay away from her. I don’t want someone who’s into me because of my celebrity status.
At least she used to look at me like I hung the moon. As though she’d been praying for me to come alive off whatever picture she had of me hanging on her wall. But ever since the unfortunate incident of me almost running her over, there’s been an undercurrent of distrust and hatred, and God help me, I like that.
“Meaning?”
“Get your ass in your truck and go ask her out. And do it properly this time.”
I chuckle, but he’s dead serious, so I do exactly that.
“Hot date with Matt tonight?” I ask Malia, locking the front door of Fringe.
“He’s coming over. I told him I would cook.” She sets her purse on the ground and puts on her jacket. “It’s colder than I thought.”
“I hope he treats you better than he does the servers.” I shove my keys in my purse.
“I only agreed because I want to see how he handles himself. This could be the end or a new beginning. It’ll depend on how he treats me.” She looks over my shoulder and purses her lips. “I better get going.”
“Oh. Okay,” I say, swinging my bag over my shoulder.
“See you tomorrow.” She leans to the side of me and lifts her hand in a wave. “Hi, Gavin.”
“Hi, Malia.” That deep voice sends a shiver up my spine.
Malia giggles as though she can tell the effect he has on me and turns around, heading to the parking lot.
Slowly, I circle to come face-to-face with Gavin. He’s still wearing his jeans and cable knit sweater, and his model good looks and smile throw me off-kilter. “Hi.”
He shoves his hands in his pockets and glances around the square that’s busier over by the brewery. What’s his deal? Did he forget something in the salon?
“Hey, Posey.” His eyes find mine and don’t veer away. “I’d wanted to ask you earlier…”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. Fran and her gang take gossiping to a whole other level.” He opens his mouth, but I ramble on. “If you want to schedule something more private next time…” Wait, what am I saying? “What I mean is—”
He chuckles. “Do you want to go out with me?”
My eyes widen and I swear I don’t breathe for a full minute. “What?”
“Dinner? A walk? Coffee? Whatever you’re comfortable with.”
I blink and blink again. Yep. It’s Gavin Price standing in front of me, saying these words.