Her smile was contagious. He knew she loved her job, working with her clients. He’d occasionally heard her during the day, laughing with Holly and Josh after a client had gone, or sometimes speaking to them quietly. He didn’t listen in, but he couldn't miss her tone, soothing and fitting in with the birds and nature that surrounded them. But seeing her on the horse today had been something else.
“It was. He’s wasted on me. I might only get to ride him like that once a week.” She swirled the last of her cocktail round.
“I’ll take him out. It’ll hardly be a hardship. We should talk soon about sharing resources.” He tried to move on to business.
Lainey gave a brief nod. “We should. Maybe tomorrow.”
A loud laugh crashed through the bar. Both of them turned round to see Dylan talking to one of the women who lived in Severton. He looked to be flirting, or at least trying to. She looked half interested.
Jake hoped it worked out for them.
“Your new foreman.”
Lainey nodded. “Not my choice. The contractor assured me he’d be okay, that he’s a grafter, but he’s very full of himself.”
“That’s one way to put it.” Jake accepted the beer that Scott put in front of him. He was owed a pint.
“Did you know him when he was in Severton before? He said he knew the town.” Lainey pushed her hair out of her eyes.
Jake twitched, wishing he was in a position to move it for her. He didn’t do dates, not really, preferring hook ups or vague arrangement to see someone in a certain bar. He didn’t do booty calls either, because in his experience they got messy. Someone always got more attached or you found out that they had a significant other, and good climbing skills came in handy.
“He worked for my uncle. He’s a good worker, but tends to get involved in crap. He doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.” But Jake knew when to keep his shut. He remembered the night Lainey was stood in pretty much the same spot and he’d intervened to stop McDowell from molesting her. He knew she could look after herself.
“I’ll watch out for that. He asked if I could provide digs…”
“I hope you said no.”
“Of course.” She glared.
He retreated.
“He likes to try to charm rich women.”
“Noted.”
He noticed that she didn’t deny she was rich.
“He thinks he’s a charmer.”
“Also noted.”
Jake swallowed hard. “I don’t like him being around. He brings trouble.”
“Good to know.”
He shook his head. She was stubborn. Miss Independent.
“Seriously. I know you can look after yourself, but…”
“Everyone has a history, Jake. People deserve a second chance. And getting contractors at the moment isn’t easy. He isn’t staying on my property, or yours, and you know the security is probably better than what’s at Buckingham Palace.” There was another glare.
Jake nodded. Looked away. Dylan was still being noisy in a corner. Imogen and Rayah were talking like they’d known each other for decades. Alex was mooning over Abby the bartender as per normal, and Scott was setting up for tonight’s gig. Everything was as it should be, except he was completely off-kilter. An evening like this, he’d usually be the centre of something, and instead he was sitting at the bar with his neighbour, hoping she’d throw a flirty glance his way.
He looked around the bar, catching the eyes of a couple of women he knew well, and then seeing some of the other search and rescue team members, who were here for the music and beer. Tilly Ramsden, one of the team was there too, and she started waving at him madly.
“Let me introduce you to some of the mad heads who like abseiling down rock faces.” He slipped off his stool, picked up Imogen’s drink and his own. He managed to keep his mouth closed instead of suggesting she could hook up with one of them, because he knew that was only going to bring him some sort of pain.
She followed him over to them, via dropping off Imogen’s drink, although she was too busy talking to Rayah to acknowledge it. There were a few people who stopped him on the way to where Olly and Will were, with three of the others and Tilly. Clara Hudson, a marketing analyst who Jake had spent a night with before Lainey moved to Severton, threw her arms around him for a hug, whispering a suggestion that he come back to hers after the gig. He managed to untangle himself, his gaze falling on Lainey, who just looked amused and unsurprised.
