“Ethan’s going to come help us paint after he goes to the bar.”
Polly spun. “The bar? Um, why aren’t you going?”
“Because I’m helpingyou.”
“Uh-uh, you are not skipping a trip to the bar with Ethan and his friends. I’m fine to get stuff done by myself, oryoucan come paint after.”
“But—”
“No. No buts. Jay will be there, and you can see for yourself that your man is completely besotted with you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. And don’t tell him you’re coming. Surprise him.”
Maggie grinned, because that did sound fun. “Okay.”
“And Maggie?”
“Yeah?”
“Wear something sexy.”
Ethan tappedthe screen of his phone, the bar loud around him. He’d only been here for ten minutes and he was already counting down the seconds until he could go see Maggie.
He was tempted to open her Facebook messages from earlier today, to read her saying that she loved him one more time.
Thinking about Maggie was good. It stopped him from thinking about other stuff. Like Priya Tan and the missing women and, hell, the fact that Ward had never arrested anyone for the fire at their base.
“You look a bit stuck in your head, my friend,” Joel said, as he came to stand beside Ethan.
“I hate that on top of these women going missing, no one was ever arrested for the fire.”
“Yeah, that pisses me off too.” Joel grabbed some nuts from the bowl and threw them into his mouth. “Maggie and Polly know not to go down to the river alone, right?”
“Maggie sure as hell does. I assume Polly would too.” As far as he could tell, most women in town were feeling uneasy about going out there. Another reason to be angry.
Joel dipped his head. “Good. I might check with Polly anyway.”
“Any excuse to talk to her, huh?”
Joel grinned. “I don’t know what it is about her. I’d rather fight with her than do anything else with any other woman.”
“Is that why you haven’t been dating every woman in this town?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because that’s what you do.”
Joel put a hand on his chest like he was wounded. “You make me sound like a man whore.”
“Am I wrong?”
“Nope. You obviously know me well.”
Ethan laughed before turning to the pool table, where Jay played Zac. “Can I ask you something?”
“Depends, is it going to make me question my life choices?”
