It only took a handful of bites for him to demolish the burger and moved on to the mountain of fries he’d doused in too much ketchup. Liam remembered eating like that a lifetime ago. He smiled to himself and then decided to take a chance. He couldn’t bust Jake’s balls for not dealing with his shit if he wasn’t willing to man up himself. Although asking a couple of questions wasn’t on the same planet as what the younger man was going through.
“So, what’s Andy’s story?” he asked, trying to sound casual and, from the expression on Jake’s face, failing.
The younger man paused in the annihilation of his fries to shoot him a cocky grin.
“You meanis she seeing anyone?” he asked, doing the worst imitation of a New Jersey housewife Liam had ever heard.
“Fuck off.” Liam took a swallow of beer, smiling in spite of himself. He ate a couple of fries and gave the other man a chance to work the laughter out of his system while he waited for an answer to the question he hadn’t asked.
“Naw, man, as far as I know, she’s single. Honestly, she never goes anywhere but the feed supply store and into town. I can’t see her hooking up with one of the guys around here.”
Liam bit back his grin. He’d assumed Andy was on her own, although God only knew why a woman like that was alone. But it was nice to have his suspicions confirmed. He glanced up and caught Jake watching him, looking like he was trying to puzzle his way through things.
“What?” he asked, when it was clear the other man wasn’t going to talk.
“Nothing.” He turned his attention back to a fry barely visible under the weight of all the ketchup. “It’s just...”
“Yes?”
Jake took a deep breath as if he was preparing to make some kind of announcement. “Andy’s a good person. She’s one of those people who leave the world better than they found it.”
Liam nodded. People had thanked him for his service and gone on about how soldiers protected everyone’s freedom. All that was true but it was a lot easier to see the tangible evidence of Andy’s work. She hadn’t had to walk a gray line to do what she did. There was no moral ambiguity in her life.
“I’m not trying to get in your way. She could probably use a good time. She sure as hell deserves one.”
Jake took a swallow of his beer and Liam wondered why the idea of being nothing more than Andy’s good time sat so uneasily with him. He wasn’t looking for anything serious. He didn’t have room for it, but he didn’t like the idea of being disposable to the sexy farmer. There was no way in hell he’d put a name on it, but he wanted more than a one-night stand.
“Just make sure you don’t hurt her.” Jake pinned him with a gaze Liam didn’t have any problem meeting.
“Not a problem.” Whatever happened between him and Andy, he’d go out of his way to make sure he didn’t hurt her. Thatheleft things better than he found them.
