* * *
Lottie was deep into a sexy scene in her romance book when Thomas touched her on the shoulder and startled her so badly that she dropped the book on the floor. “Damn it! Why’d you do that?”
“The washer just buzzed. You need to go transfer your stuff to the dryer so you don’t hold us up,” he replied.
She picked up the book, shoved it back into her bag, and stood up. “You are forgiven.”
“I didn’t have anything to apologize for, so I don’t need forgiveness,” Thomas told her.
“Okay, then, but don’t sneak up on me like that when I have a book in my hands.”
Thomas sat down beside her. “So, according to what Eddie told me, you reallyareseeing Knox.”
“Is that a question or a statement?” she threw over her shoulder as she started toward the laundry room. “The answer is yes, no matter what it is.”
“He’s not your type,” Thomas said.
Lottie stopped and turned around. “What is my type?”
“You ever heard that song that came out a while back by Caylee Hammack?”
“Which one? I listen to a lot of her work, and what does any of it have to do with ‘my type’?” She air-quoted the last two words.
“I was thinking about ‘Small Town Hypocrite,’” Thomas answered with a smile. “You usually go for losers that leave you in tears. I talked to Jack about Knox. He’s a decent guy. Like I said, not your type.”
“So, you’re saying that no good man would be interested in me?” she snapped.
Thomas put up his palms in a defensive gesture. “Hey! I’m just tellin’ it like I see it.”
“Maybe I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to bad boys,” Lottie said.
Eddie carried a brown paper bag full of food into the rec hall. “I’m making spaghetti. Who all is eating with me?”
The aroma of soap that smelled like leather followed Gabe out of the bathroom. “I’m in if it’s not that stuff that comes out of a can.”
“Me too, especially if you are making it with your famous poor-man dinner rolls,” Thomas answered.
Lottie loved Eddie’s spaghetti and the cheesy bread he made from hot dog buns, but there was no way she was turning down shrimp scampi. “I’m having supper with Knox, but you can save me some leftovers for a midnight snack.”
“Are you cooking?” Eddie asked.
“If so, the honeymoon phase might be over,” Thomas teased.
Lottie frowned at the whole bunch of them and muttered the whole way into the laundry room. She might not like to cook, but she could outwork all three of those guys. And she did not always have relationships with deadbeats.
Oh, yes, you do. Remember Danny and Toby and Jimmy?More than one therapist reminded her of the past boyfriends.
“I’ve learned my lesson,” she argued.
The smell of onions frying with hamburger made her stomach growl when she came back to the rec hall kitchen. Waiting for the clothes to dry was going to last forever, especially when Eddie popped those cheese rolls into the oven, and that aroma spread across the room.
Gabe took three beers from the refrigerator, set two on the bar separating the sitting room and kitchen, and twisted the top off the third. “Everybody looking forward to going home for the big Easter weekend?”
“The kids are all too grown up to hunt eggs at my folks’ place, so Mama doesn’t make a big deal out of that holiday. But you can bet we’d all better be there for Christmas Day, or she’ll send us on a guilt trip that will lay on our shoulders for a whole year,” Lottie answered.
Eddie stirred the sauce and added the meat and onion mixture to it. “I hear you, but my kids are still young enough to get all excited about the day. My mother insists that wego to church with her, then have a big family dinner and the traditional Easter egg hunt.”
“So, are you going home with Knox for the weekend?” Gabe asked.
