“Could I have a quick word?” Mia asked him.
For a moment he looked at her, surprised. There was no flash of recognition in his eyes. No soft appraisal of her, like he’d done last week. “Um yeah, sure. You okay, sweetheart?” he asked the woman with the baby.
She smiled at Mia. “Sure.”
Sweetheart? So he had a girlfriend and a baby. And she’d sworn he’d been ogling her when she was changing the tire on her car. What an asshole.
Now she was glad there was no attraction. Ugh.
“I wanted to say thank you for the tire,” she said quickly, because she wanted to get home and forget about all this. “You didn’t need to do it, though. I had it covered.”
“The tire?” His brows pulled together. “What tire?”
“The tire you helped me change on the side of the road. You must remember?” Why was he being so weird?
“I didn’t change a tire. I’m afraid I don’t know who you are.” He swallowed, his voice full of politeness.
“You don’t remember my sons throwing a football against your car?” She tried to keep her voice civil, but it was getting tough.
He laughed, recognition finally washing over his face. “You’ve got me mixed up with my twin. You’re talking about Cam, right? I’m Logan Hartson.” He held his hand out. “And you must be Mia. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She shook his hand quickly, then closed her eyes, her face flaming with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were twins. I never would have…” She trailed off, looking for a rock to hide under.
Logan shrugged. “It’s fine. It happens all the time. Most people around here know we’re twins, but you’re new so you wouldn’t.” He smiled again, as though trying to put her at ease. “Why don’t you come meet my family?” He inclined his head at the woman he was talking to. “Courtney, come say hi to Mia.”
“Mia, the car denter?” Courtney grinned and rushed over, passing the baby to Logan. “I’ve heard all about you. Welcome to town.” Instead of offering her hand, she hugged Mia, who despite her surprise, hugged her back.
“Thank you.”
“How are you settling in?” Courtney asked. “You’re living with Sam, right?”
This was how Mia had thought small towns would be, everybody knowing everyone. And for some reason it made her feel warm.
“We’re getting there,” she told the pretty woman. “The boys are in school, and I got a job, which is a huge relief. I start next Monday.”
“Where are you going to work?” Courtney asked her.
“At the G. Scott Carter Distillery. Do you know it?”
“Of course I do. Logan’s sister works there. You need to meet her. Becca!” Courtney shouted out, and a familiar head turned around. Mia remembered seeing her in the offices. “Come meet Mia Devlin. She’s going to work at the distillery.”
“Hi.” Becca smiled widely. “I heard all about you from Nathan.” With her dark hair and hazel eyes she bore more than a passing resemblance to her brothers. But where they were tall and masculine, Becca was petite. She held her hand out and Mia shook it. “I’m Becca Hartson. I’m one of the junior distillers at G. Scott Carter. When do you start?”
“Next Monday, if everything is finalized on time.” Mia had already signed her contract and sent it back. The sooner she started the sooner she’d get paid.
Becca gave her a wide smile. “That’s wonderful. We need some new ideas. I swear Eliana is stuck in the dark ages sometimes. I mentioned how gin was having a resurgence and that we could take some tips from that industry and she almost bit my head off.”
Mia grimaced. “I said the same thing.”
“Well hopefully she’ll listen to you. You should meet my other brothers. Mind if I steal her?” Becca asked Courtney.
“Be my guest.” Courtney smiled at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. We should have coffee some time. Becca, make sure you get Mia’s number.”
“Oh, I will.” Becca’s eyes sparkled. “Did I hear something about you having children?”
“I have two boys,” Mia told her. “That’s Josh playing in the square.” She pointed at a group of children running around the bandstand. “And Michael’s over there.” He was leaning against the rail of the church steps, his arms folded stubbornly across his chest.
“He’s huge. He must be head and shoulders above you,” Becca said, sliding her arm through Mia’s and leading her over to a circle of people. “Everybody, this is Mia. She’s starting work at my place next week.”
About ten heads turned, interested eyes taking her in as smiles welcomed her. Her eyes locked with green-flecked hazel ones, and she felt that familiar rush of blood through her veins. Okay, so the attraction hadn’t gone. But she could ignore it. Pretend that she didn’t get all fluttery inside when she locked gazes with Cam Hartson.
Weird how she didn’t get that way when she looked at his twin. Maybe it was the difference in the way he wore his hair, or the fact Cam was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt that did nothing to hide his defined pectorals.
She tried really hard not to look at the ripple of muscle from his waistband to his ribcage. And those shoulders, damn, they looked almost as big without shoulder pads as they did when he was playing a game.
Not that she’d Googled him. No sir. Not her.
It was impossible to remember everybodys’ names as she was introduced to them. There was Gray, the rock singer, and his fiancée Maddie, plus their two boys. Then a younger version of Gray, who was introduced as Tanner, along with his wife Van, who was a gorgeous blonde. Then there was Becca’s aunt, and an even older man who was Becca’s father. And more people who were either friends or relatives, but Mia couldn’t work out which.
As she talked
