The pizza placewas within walking distance of his office, so, after I assured him that my blistered feet could handle it, we left his office on foot. Though the sun was out, the air still held a distinct chill. I breathed deeply, enjoying the bright light and cold air.
“What do you do for work?” Daniel asked me.
I tucked my hands in my pockets and glanced at him. “Why do you want to know?”
He arched a brow at me. “Truce, remember?”
I sighed. I wasn’t sure what kind of game he was playing, but I’d go along with it. For now.
“I’m a dental hygienist.”
“What?” he asked.
“You heard me. You have superhuman hearing or something.”
He stopped next to a red door and opened it. “That’s true, but I wasn’t expecting your answer.”
“What were you expecting?” I asked.
“Lawyer. Lion tamer. Maybe dominatrix.”
“Ha, ha, ha, you’re so funny,” I retorted, walking into the restaurant. I’d given up on stopping him from opening doors for me. After the Devil’s Playground incident, he just ignored me when I said I would get my own doors. And he would stand there and stare at me with an inscrutable expression until I walked through.
It had happened twice since the trip to the resort.
“Though I guess I can see it,” he muttered as he entered the restaurant behind me.
“How’s that?”
“There’s an element of sadism in the job. All those sharp implements and scraping and grinding.”
He grinned as I glared at him.
“You should consider the fact that I know what to do with those sharp implements.”
His grin morphed into a laugh.
“I think your tongue is sharper.”
I turned my back to him as we stopped in front of the hostess stand. There was something about this man that unlocked the snark within me. Somehow, I talked to him more like Sela would than how I usually interacted with men.
A tall, slender man approached the hostess stand. A white apron stained with splashes of red was tied around his skinny waist. “Good to see you, Mayor.”
His eyes turned to me, and I realized they were completely black. There was no white around his iris, just inky darkness. It made his gaze unsettling.
“This must be the guest everyone is talking about.”
“This is Cari Shelton, Bethany’s great-niece. She inherited the store and the cottage.”
As with Marjorie, the man’s face softened. “I’m sorry about your aunt, Ms. Shelton. She was a lovely woman.”
“Thank you, uh…” I trailed off. Though Daniel had introduced me, he hadn’t told me the man’s name.
“I’m Sam,” he said.
“It’s nice to meet you, Sam.” I glanced around the restaurant. “Is this your place?”
“It is.”
