I shook my head, letting a small, rueful smile slip. “Nope.”
And because I didn’t want to let last night’s fireworks mess overshadow everything good that had transpired from this morning to now—waking up with Zane, the ridiculous chaos from earlier, and Willy calling with the news about my car—I flipped the teasing back onto Norah.
Setting my coffee off to the side, I leaned on the bar rail, folding my arms over one another as I lowered my voice conspiratorially. “But we may have indulged in lighting a few…sparklers.”
I knew my poker face was shit, but that didn’t stop Norah’s face from twisting in mock horror. “I saiddon’t go sharing details.”
“I didn’t,” I said with all the innocence I could muster and shot her a look that was pure devious as I straightened to a stand and held my hands up in surrender. “Details would’ve been your brother undressing me when we got home?—”
“Ew…”
“And then me undressing him?—”
“Please stop,” she groaned, pressing her palms over her ears.
I dropped my hands back down onto the bar rail, letting my whole body melt into a mock-dreamy slump as I gave a long, theatrical sigh and rolled my eyes heavenward. “And—oh myGod—don’t even get me started on how his hands?—”
That was as far as I got before she lunged across the bar, snatched up a fistful of cocktail straws, and pelted them at me. “Gross, gross,gross!”
I ducked, laughing hard as the straws scattered across the floor and countertop—two of them landing in my coffee as I pressed a hand to my chest and worked to catch my breath between giggles. “What? All I’m saying is that your brother’s…talented.”
Norah threw another straw, this one solo, dead center at my forehead. “Shut up!”
I plucked a straw from the counter and tossed it back at her halfheartedly, fully amused by her horror as I trashed the ones that had landed in my coffee. “All right, fine, I’ll stop scarring you for life.”
“Thank God,” she muttered, but her smirk gave her away as she scooped up the rest of the straws from the counter.
The fun and lightness of the moment lingered between us, softening as I lifted my mug again, swirling what was left of my coffee. “In less life-scarring news…” I sucked in a breath. “My car’s fixed.”
Norah’s hand stilled on a collection of straws as she arranged them back into the container. Her blank stare met me head-on. “Does this mean you’re leaving?”
The question hung there longer than it should have, but I didn’t know how to answer it. I tried to cover up my indecision with a shrug, but my chest tightened all the same. “It means Ican.”
“I’m sensing a ‘but’ here.”
I pushed away from the bar rail, mug in hand, and crossed to the sink. The last of the lukewarm liquid swirled down the drain as I tipped the cup, buying myself a few extra seconds. After washing the cup and resting it upside down on the rack, I bracedmy hands on the counter and drew in a slow breath before turning back to her.
“But…” My shoulders lifted helplessly before dropping. “I don’t know if I want to leave. I mean, what if Heaven isn’t it? What if Tarnation was the destination all along? Everyone here has been…” I drew in a breath and relaxed. “...so good to me. And then there’s your brother.” My voice dipped, going softer. “Zane’s…everything. And I’m not sure I’m ready to give up on the chance to…” I paused, thinking of how to put into words what I was feeling. “See what could be between us.”
Norah’s mouth tugged sideways at that, like she couldn’t decide whether to smile or grimace. “Well…Zane’s a decent guy—for a brother, anyway.” She blew out a breath then, shaking her head. “But forget him for a second because this isn’t about him, it’s about you. If you’re not ready to go, then don’t. Nobody’s kicking you out of town because we weren’t your first choice.”
I huffed a chuckle at that, and her gaze softened, steady on mine.
“And honestly? I’d hate to see you go.”
As nice and comforting as it was to hear her say that, those pesky doubts still pressed in. “Yeah, but Laurel’s going to be back soon and will be wanting her shifts again. Then what? I’ll be jobless.”
Norah rolled her eyes and tamped down the straws in the container, evening them out. “Please. Red isn’t about to let you go. He’ll find a way to keep you.”
“Okay, but I also can’t live in the guest room on your family’s ranch forever, either.” I crossed my arms under my chest, twisting to rest my hip against the counter. “Your mom’s probably wondering now when I’m going to pack up and make myself scarce.”
“You really think my mom would pass up having another woman around to fuss over and tip the scales in the McKadehousehold?” Norah asked and tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “We need all the estrogen we can get to balance out the testosterone my two knucklehead brothers produce.”
I shook my head. “Still…it’s not a permanent solution.”
A slow, pleased look spread across Norah’s face. “Good thing I’ve been looking for one of those, then. Hear me out…” She crossed her arms over the newspaper spread out on the bar and leaned in as she looked at me expectantly. “You and me…we get a place together.”
I blinked, caught off guard. “Like be…roommates?”
