“No more of that,” I said firmly. “We work together.”
She held my gaze, then nodded once. “We work together.”
“How about we get back into the loop and have breakfast at the diner,” I suggested.
Amy chuckled. “Are you sure you want to be seen in public?”
“It’s not me I have to worry about,” I said.
And we both smiled and said, “Poor Ian.”
CHAPTER 20
The bell above the Star Diner door jingled the moment Amy and I stepped inside.
And the room went silent.
Not the soft, natural lull of a conversation ending. The sharp, collective inhale kind of silence.
Forks paused halfway to mouths. Coffee cups hovered midair. Cell phones started clicking.
I stopped just inside the doorway and offered a pleasant smile.
“Well,” I murmured under my breath. “That didn’t take long.”
Amy leaned closer. “You look like you went twelve rounds.”
“Gravity,” I said lightly. “Still undefeated.”
Lara emerged from behind the counter before anyone else could move. She’d been serving at the Star Diner since before I was tall enough to see over a booth. Older, yes—but you’d never know it by the way she carried herself. Sharp eyes. Sharp mind. Zero nonsense.
She didn’t comment on the silence.
She simply walked straight toward us and said, “This way.”
She guided us to a booth along the far wall, half shielded by a decorative wooden partition that Zelda insisted was “vintage charm” and not “privacy control.”
As soon as we slid into the booth, the buzz began.
Not loud, but building.
Lara placed menus in front of us without looking at them. Her gaze lifted to my face.
“What happened?” she asked, directly, not a bit of fluff to it.
“An accident,” I said, realizing it sounded like the excuse most battered women gave, for any number of reasons, and yet thankfully for me it was the truth.
Her brows rose just enough to say that required elaboration.
“I tripped over the corner of a rug,” I continued. “Ian attempted a rescue. It went poorly.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“With enthusiasm,” I added. “Not malice.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “So, you were being your usual chaotic self?”
I grinned. “You know me well, Lara.”
