Page 35 of Breaking All The Rules
Arlo frowned for a beat or two, then Bea watched as realization slowly dawned. He looked taken aback for a moment but recovered gallantly to smile and reach out his hand. “Of course, apologies, ma’am. It’s the lighting in here.”
Bea almost laughed out loud as they shook hands. He was being very polite, but she didn’t blame him for not recognizing her. There were better put-together bag ladies in LA than she’d been the day they’d met.
“I keep telling this dipshit”—Arlo tipped his head at Tucker as he continued—“that people need to be able to see where they’re going in here, but apparently, subdued light flatters his tan.”
Unfazed by the dig, Tucker fluttered his lashes and said, “I think you mean my eyes.”
Arlo sighed dramatically, ignoring Drew’s and Austin’s laughter. “He’s in contravention of about a dozen city bylaws. Someone’s going to sue him one day.”
At the mention of breaking bylaws, Bea slid her gaze to Austin to find his already on her, and her nipples, which had only just decided to thaw in the tropical heat of the bar, suddenly tightened again.
“So arrest me, dickhead, or quit whining about it.”
“You see the respect I get around here?” Arlo asked, turning questioning eyes on Bea, a smile hovering on his mouth.
She hadn’t really gotten a good look at Arlo the other day, but he cut quite the figure. He was more RoboCop with his black buzz cut and spare, angular face than Austin’s laid-back you-catch-more-flies-with-honey charm, but she supposed, as chief of police, the safety of the town rested on his shoulders. Luckily, his shoulders appeared to be up to the job.
If this—Tucker, Arlo, Drew, and Austin—was a typical sample of the Credence men, then maybe she should have put her faith in the throw of a dart a lot earlier.
“What can I get you to drink?” Austin asked, interrupting the smack talk.
“I’ll have a Bud, please.”
“Two,” he said, motioning to Tucker.
The bartender nodded. “Coming right up.”
“So,” Drew said as Bea settled on the empty stool beside him and Austin settled on the stool on her other side. She was hyperaware of Austin’s scent and the warmth of his thigh that was almost touching hers, and she shifted slightly so their legs touched because…well, just because. “Are you…passing through or…?”
“No, I’ve just moved here. From LA.”
A frown flitted across Drew’s brow, then his eyes slowly widened. “Ohhh.” He pointed at her. “You’re the cat lady.”
Bea laughed. “Apparently, yes. Although I can assure you, I don’t have any cats.”
Tucker put the beer bottle down on the bar in front of her. “I heard you were a spy from the department of agriculture.”
What the hell? “The department of agriculture has spies?”
Bea took a mouthful of her beer. She may be looking at and talking to the very dazzling Drew, but he was not who was overheating her system. She was only really aware of Austin, of the feel of their thighs pressed together. Things were running hot inside her right now, and a cold beer was just what she needed.
“According to Don, the mayor. Something about corn rebates.”
“I wouldn’t know one end of an ear of corn from the other. I’m an ex–advertising executive taking a break from LALA land.”
“Really.” Drew sat a little straighter in his chair and eyed her speculatively. “You might be just the person I need for my business.”
Now, if Austin had said something like that, Bea would have slid right off her stool, but Drew saying it did nothing but pique her curiosity. Why, she had no idea. He was her age, he was her type—professional, obviously a business owner—he was very easy on the eyes, and he was flirting. Yet…nothing.
Austin, on the other hand, was revving her engines just from his nearness.
“Oh?” She took another sip of her beer. “Why’s that?”
“I run a funeral home here in Credence and, well, as you can imagine…that’s not a particularly sexy profession…”
Drew was in the funeral business? Honestly, if Drew had said he was a garbage man, she’d have been less surprised.
Arlo and Tucker groaned. “Not this again,” Tucker complained.
