But one man stood out amid it all. And he was looking right back at us.
I smacked her leg, my voice a panicked whisper. “What are you doing?”
She had no shame.
She looked at me as if I were crazy. “Um...trying to figure out which lucky bastard has already snagged my new friend’s eye. That’s my job, you know. I’m head matchmaker, right, Lily Pad?”
She smirked in Lillith’s direction.
Lillith just wagged her ring finger adorned with the huge rock as proof while she took a sip of her wine.
“No one’s caught my eye,” I said.
Honestly, it was a useless defense. Not with the way I couldn’t stop from stealing another glance at the man who was beginning to consume my every thought. I wasn’t one prone to obsessions. Or stalking. Or spying.
But there was something about him that wouldn’t let me go.
Something that fascinated and enthralled.
Maybe it was his adorable daughter.
It had to be. It was the only explanation.
Nikki followed my gaze. She froze for a beat before her head whipped back in my direction. Her mouth hung open in blatant shock. “Oh my God! Tell me Rex Gunner isn’t the one who has you all spun up over there?”
Before I could give her another futile excuse, awareness dawned on her face. “Holy shit. He lives right across from you.” She rapidly snapped her fingers in front of my face as if she were on to something. “Oh, and his company has the contract for the hotel that’s on Fairview...right across from Pepper’s Pies.”
My shoulder lifted as if I didn’t care at all. As if he didn’t actually have me so spun up I could feel the knots lining my stomach. “I went over and introduced myself to him the other day. That’s it.”
I conveniently left out the part where he’d slammed his door in my face. I figured guilt was found in the small details.
The ironic laughter dripping from Lillith’s tongue sounded like a warning. “You should probably leave it at that. The only women Rex Gunner likes are his daughter and his momma. Otherwise, watch out. That boy is as cynical as they come.”
I glanced his way again, snared by the way his throat was exposed when he tipped back his beer, the way the thick muscles rolled as he swallowed, that short, trimmed beard little more than a five o’clock shadow.
God, he was gorgeous in an earth-shattering way. As if I could feel the vibrations coming from him rippling under my feet.
I edged forward, my voice quieted to a whisper, way too eager for my own good. “What happened to him?”
Lillith and Nikki shared a look.
Nikki leaned forward, dropping her tone to match mine. “His wife just...disappeared. No one knows for sure what happened to her.”
Was it fear that flashed through my blood? The man screamed danger and peril and risk. But my heart told me for an entirely different reason than the flicker of morbid intrigue that tickled my consciousness. Still, my eyes were round as I leaned even closer to her. “Like...do people think she’s...dead?”
Nikki howled with laughter and sat back, smacking her knee, obviously thrilled I’d followed her into that trap. “Ha! He probably wishes she was. My guess is she’s just a selfish bitch who walked out when taking care of a baby became too much. Not that anyone knows since he doesn’t talk about her, but I was never a fan.”
She shrugged and took a sip of her cosmo.
Case closed.
“Not about her or about anything really,” Lillith added, back to waving a caution flag. “I’ve known him since we were kids. We went to school together on the other side of town with Ollie and Kale. The three of them have had some horrible stuff happen in their lives. It affected them, shaped who they became. But Rex? He changed after his wife left. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great guy. Honest. An incredibly hard worker. He grew his small construction company into the most successful contractor in the area. Loyal to the bone, and there’s no doubt he loves that little girl. But I’m pretty sure his bitterness has seeped all the way to the marrow.”
That sense I’d been feeling grew stronger. The need to look deeper inside the man who’d built a fortress around himself. Needing to protect himself from the pain so clearly etched in his eyes.
Mournful eyes I could feel continually flashing my direction.
Scorching me deeper with each hidden pass.
