“More lies,” I whisper into Kira’s ear, and she chuckles as I open the back door for her. I love that the guys took an instant liking to her and seem ready to treat her like a sister. They’d expect me to do the same and probably wouldn’t like the dirty thoughts running around my head.
She steps past me. Once again, I catch her sweet vanilla scent, reminding me of cupcakes. Damn, I might have one for dessert later. Or better yet…
Nope, nope, not going to go there.
I pull out of the driveway. “How long has it been since you’ve been back?” I ask, casting her a fast glance.
She puckers her lips and stares straight out the window. “Eight years. I wanted to come back earlier. I’ve just been busy.” She turns to look out the passenger side window, and I go quiet, sensing she has something on her mind. Something she’d rather not share.
I ease my big truck between two vehicles and kill the ignition. “All set?”
She opens her door, and I circle the vehicle to meet her. I look left and then right and give her a wink. “All clear. No assholes out tonight.”
Wind from the ocean rushes onto the land and swirls around us. A gust catches Kira’s too-big coat and turns it into a parachute. She yelps as it pushes her forward until her feet are practically airborne. I run and catch her, throwing my arm around her and dragging her to me before she blows away.
“I got you,” I say, trying to ignore how nice it is to have her body close to mine.
“Thanks,” she mumbles.
We hurry up the steps to the restaurant, and heat blasts us as I pull open the door. The bell overhead jingles to alert staff to our presence as Kira tugs down the hood and shakes her head, her long hair falling over her shoulders and cheeks.
“It’s freezing out,” she says, blowing the wayward curls from her face. I can’t help but smile. Her hair is all over the place, some curls standing straight up from static electricity, and she’s not dashing to the bathroom to fix it. She looks sweet, not at all like the other women I’ve dated, and she’s definitely a breath of fresh air.
“Once the sun goes down, it cools off quickly,” I inform her as she shrugs out of the coat and puts it over her arm.
The hostess comes and gives us a seat by the window, overlooking the ocean with the golf course off in the distance. Kira smiles as she takes in the view.
“I think this is the best seat in the place,” she says as she glances around the nearly empty establishment. It’s still early, but things will pick up later.
“You were going to buy lobster, so I take it you like seafood.”
“I do. I eat a lot of fish.”
“You know, come to think of it. Gram has a few old winter coats in the hall closet. They might be out-of-date, but I’m sure one would work.”
She gives me a small smile. “I’ll check it out. I actually thought I had a coat with me. We rarely need a heavy one in British Columbia.”
“Nova Scotia is an entirely different story.” I flip open my menu, but already know what I’m ordering. “We had snow last week.”
She crinkles up her nose. “Yuck.”
“It’s not so bad.”
She leans toward me, in an almost conspiratorial way. “I’ve seen lots of snow in other places, but we don’t get a lot of it, and when it does fall, it rarely lasts. It mostly rains where I live.”
“You’ve never visited Gram in the winter?”
She shakes her head, and wisps of hair fall into her eyes. She blows them away and tucks the loose strands behind her ears. “I spent many summers here when I was young. I think Mom and Dad wanted me out from underfoot. When I got older, more independent, they didn’t need to send me away. Then there was work and school.”
She shrugs like it’s nothing, but to me it’s a fucking tragedy. What the hell do I say to that?
“Then you never played in the snow? No snowball fights? No sledding?”
Jenny, the waitress who’s served me a thousand times appears at the table. She pulls out her pen and notebook. “Can I start you guys off with drinks?”
I hand Kira the drink menu, and she gives it a quick scan.
“What would you like?” I ask.
“I’ll have house white wine, please.” She hands the menu back to me, but I just set it aside.
“Sounds good. How about you, Nate?”
“I’ll have a beer, whatever’s on tap.”
She nods and heads off. Kira looks over her food menu, and the dim light catches the speck of green in her dark eyes, giving her an ethereal, innocent quality.
“Wait—you’re old enough to drink, aren’t you?”
Her lips pucker like she’d just sucked on something sour, and she gives a hard eye roll. “I’m twenty-seven. Old enough to do a lot of things.” As soon as the words leave her mouth, she sits up a bit straighter, and a sexy, pink flush crawls up her neck. “I mean…”
“Like rent a car and drive it across the country?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Why not fly?”
“My idea of a good time is not climbing into a soup can and catapulting through space.”
“Well, it’s not exactly catapulting through space.”
She shakes her head like she refuses to hear differently. Honestly, this girl is all kinds of interesting. “What is your idea of a good time?” I ask.
Before she can answer, Jenny comes back with our drinks. “Did you have enough time with the menu?”
“What are you thinking?” I ask Kira.
She closes her menu. “I think I’ll have the seafood chowder.”
“Always a fan favorite,” Jenny says. She glances at me. “The usual?”
“You know it.”
We hand her our menus, and Kira is watching me. “You come here often?”
I nod and turn the conversation back to her. “Are your folks out in British Columbia?”
“Yes.”
“Brothers or sisters?” I ask, but I’m guessing the answer is no.
For a brief second, she draws in her bottom lip and casts her eyes downward. “No, it was just the three of us. We’re not close.” Her head lifts, and she looks off into the distance as she fiddles with the stem of her wineglass.
“But you want to be,” I say, and instantly wish I hadn’t.
The sadness that comes over her hits like a punch. I’m delving into the personal here, and these questions are none of my business.