“Mike,” she finally says. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
I can’t help my gaze from sliding to her left hand, searching for a ring or a pale band still lingering there, even though Ari already told me Darcy was divorced.
How long ago?
Who was it?
Is that why she left California? To get a fresh start? Or was there another reason?
Her friend coughs, and Darcy jerks in surprise. But she immediately covers it, turning to the redhead sitting next to her and saying quickly, “Sorry. Allison, this is Mike. Troy. We went to high school together.”
That seems a massive understatement for what we had together, but I nod as I extend my hand. “Hi, Allison. Nice to meet you.”
Allison beams at me. “Nice to meet you, too.” She leans forward, thrusting her breasts and giving a little flip of her hair. “I live in White Plains, so I don’t get to Sleepy Hollow too much. If I had, I’ddefinitelyremember you.”
A tiny muscle ticks at Darcy’s jaw. Then she takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Mike’s a police officer. Here in Sleepy Hollow.” Her gaze jumps to mine. “Right? You haven’t changed jobs, have you?”
Her expression is carefully neutral. But after eight years together, I can still tell when she’s annoyed.
Annoyed that I interrupted her time out with her friend? Or annoyed that said friend is openly hitting on me?
“Nope,” I reply, keeping my attention focused on Darcy. “Still here. Going on fifteen years now.”
Darcy winds the scarf in her hands. “So you’re happy here, then?”
Ithinkher gaze flickers to my ring finger. Possibly.
“I am. I’ve got a house here, friends, and it’s a nice place. Sleepy Hollow, I mean.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Ari and Shea watching me with interest.
“It certainlyseemsnice,” Allison agrees. She eyes me with an almost predatory expression. “I should go out in Sleepy Hollow more often. Is this where you usually go?”
Still wrapped around the thick scarf, Darcy’s knuckles go white.
I’m hit with a surge of irrational pleasure.
She doesn’t like her friend hitting on me.
It shouldn’t matter. But somehow, it does.
“I’m glad,” Darcy says slowly. Her gaze holds mine. “Do you live right in town? Or…”
“Just on the outside of it. Off Irving Road. It was a fixer upper, but I’ve been in it for ten years now, so it’s come together pretty well. Still a few projects, but that’ll probably always be the case. There’s a good sized yard, so my dog?—”
“Franklin?”
The second she says it, Darcy’s face turns bright red. Her gaze dips to the table as she mumbles, “I might have seen a picture online. I wasn’t asking around or anything.”
Warmth blooms in my chest.
It shouldn’t matter that she checked up on me. It might have been a fluke that she saw one of my rare posts. Still. I can’t deny that I like it.
“Yeah, Franklin,” I answer. “I got him from the shelter three years ago. He’s a mix of terrier, lab, collie… and probably more. I keep meaning to do one of the DNA tests for dogs, but I still haven’t gotten around to it.”
Darcy looks back up at me. Her lips curve a bit. “That would be interesting. I was thinking he looked a bit like an Australian Shepherd, but I could see collie.”
For a second, we just stare at each other, something unspoken moving between us.
