I bristled. “That’sprivate.”
“I apologize. It was brash of me. I was simply considering how many more dates I could get with you.” He ran a hand through his silvery hair, then readjusted his glasses and leaned in. “So tell me about yourself,Candy.”
Candy wasn’t Ness. I didn’t want her to be anything like Ness. “I lived in New York until a monthago.”
“What a fabulous city! Did you enjoyit?”
“Yeah. I had a great place on thePiers.”
He frowned a little. “The Piers? You mean,ChelseaPiers?”
Without breaking eye contact, I said, “Yes.”
“And what brought you backhere?”
I’d been about to say college, but I was supposed to be twenty-one. “Family.”
“Ah…family.”
“Do you havefamily?”
“My wife’s gone, my father’s dead, and my mother has Alzheimer’s. So no. No family. I have a dog though.” He handed me his phone, where he’d prepped a slideshow of images showcasing hispet.
I liked animals—after all, I was one—but Aidan’s love for his dog was somethingelse.
“Do you like hunting?” heasked.
I sucked in a breath. “Hunting?” I took a bread roll from the basket and chomped on the chewy crust. Hunting reminded me of my father. I swallowed the lump of masticated dough. “Notespecially.”
“You’re not a Greenpeace advocate, areyou?”
“No. I’m just…I don’t like guns.”Act normal, Ness,I chastised myself. “What do youhunt?”
“Bears, cougars, deer…wolves. Have you noticed how many of them we have in ourforests?”
I forced myself to look him straight in the eyes. “I never noticed,” I said, just as the waiter came back to take ourorder.
My appetite had vanished, so I ordered a salad, which led Aidan to ask if I was watching my weight, because if I was, it was silly. I answered that I wasn’t, and he went on to tell me about all the diets he had to go on when he was married because his wife was a terrificcook.
“Only damn thing she was good at.” A smirk ghosted over his reedy lips. “I take it back. She was good at keepingsecrets.”
I stiffened. The man had serious baggage. What he needed was a shrink, not a date. But I supposed, for three thousand dollars, I could provide him with a dinner’s-worth oftherapy.
Chapter Twelve
After the main course,I excused myself to go to the bathroom, even though what I really wanted was to bolt. Before each bite of food, Aidan would wipe his fork down on his napkin. And then, every couple seconds, he’d rub hisearlobe.
I felt his heavy gaze on me as I crossed the crowded restaurant. I eyed the exit with longing, but I’d sat through most of the meal. Only dessert remained—I wouldn’t order any and hopefully he wouldn’t either—and then I’d getpaid.
I asked a waiter where I could find the bathroom, and the man pointed me toward the bar. As I walked past it, a pulse erupted in my temples. There, aligned on the cowhide barstools, sat Liam, Lucas, Matt, and Cole, Matt’s older brother, another massive blond with a buzzcut.
I crossed my arms. “Did they run out of beers at theinn?”
Lucas spun on his barstool. “How’s your date? Looks mighty cozy.” He twirled the neck of his beer bottle between his longfingers.
“Is it a coincidence you’re all here?” Iasked.
Cole cocked one of his honeyed eyebrows up. “Aidan Michaels is as sleazy as they come,Ness.”
