My eyes refused to stray from Ashley for longer than a few minutes. Even as I listened to the others, I found myself turning back to watch her.
A neon sign flashing over my head would have been more subtle.
There was sadness in her eyes, easily overlooked as she played the perfect hostess. She joked and laughed at the right times and added her own sassy or sarcastic comments often enough that no one seemed to notice.
Except me.
But I couldn’t say anything.I’m part of the problem. I still had a lingering feeling there was more to her sadness, but if I brought it up, it’d cause a scene, piss her off, and ruin the evening.
Chapter 17
Ashley
If not for Gran, the day would’ve been the perfect distraction I needed. But the instant she laid eyes on Nathan, she fell for him.
Him and his gravelly ‘yes, ma’am’. The fact that his voice sent tingles straight to my core pissed me off almost as much as him sitting in his big black truck staring at my house.
The only thing I wasn’t mad at him for was accepting Gran’s invitation. He never stood a chance; Gran always got what she wanted.
He sat with us but didn’t talk except to answer questions.
He accepted a beer but barely drank it.
He stared at me as if he were trying to read my mind or see into my soul.
“So, Nathan,” I said after catching him staring again. “What’d you do before joining SSI? Let me guess.” I tapped my finger on my chin as if I were thinking. “Oh, I know, I bet you were an accountant.”
Irritation flashed across Nathan’s eyes, his lips pressing into a thin line, as I finished.
“I was a Navy SEAL.” His answer was a convenient half-truth, because of course it was. Something I knew, because Maxwell told me that both the new guys starting at SSI this summer were former Navy SEALs.
“Is there a Navy base in Vegas?” I asked, all innocence. Everyone except Gran, who was enthralled with Nathan, looked uncomfortable.
“No.”
It was my turn to squint my eyes at him. “How long have you been out of the Navy?”
“Ashley.” There was a warning in Jamie’s tone.
“What?” I batted my eyelashes, laying my innocence on thick. Not that it fooled anyone. Everyone except Gran knew he was the guy who ghosted me in Vegas. “I’m just curious about your new guy.”
AJ turned to Nathan. “So you’re Casper,” he said, like he’d just put two and two together.
Blake smacked AJ on the arm. Gran tilted her head in confusion.
Nathan’s eyes rounded and his mouth opened before he snapped his lips closed and clenched his teeth.
The rest of my friends hid their laughs behind their hands.
AJ looked at me, saw my shut-the-fuck-up look and said, “My bad, I must have confused you with someone else.”
“Hard to confuse this ugly mug with anyone else.” Defeat, or maybe sadness, crossed Nathan’s eyes. He looked at me and answered, “I’ve been out two years.”
He held my gaze, challenging me to keep playing the game. So far, he’d answered my questions, but how far could I go? How far did I want to go?
Gran watched the back and forth with a wicked grin on her face.Not very far. I didn’t want Gran finding out about Vegas.
“Dear, you’re not ugly.” Gran leaned over and patted his thigh.
