Of course, he had quickly discovered that his new routine wouldn’t guarantee him much privacy. Karen and Grady had a lot of friends, and most of them turned up at one restaurant or another every night of the week, especially since Karen’s pal Gina had taken over the kitchen at Tony’s.
He’d also discovered that he could count on bumping into Grady and Karen themselves on meat-loaf night at Stella’s. Unfortunately, the food was too good to sacrifice just so he could avoid spending time with the newlyweds.
What he hadn’t expected when he’d walked through the door tonight was to find Lauren sitting in a booth with the Blackhawks. Grady promptly beckoned him over.
“Have a seat,” Grady said. He seemed oblivious to the satisfied smirk on his wife’s face.
Wade hesitated, his gaze on Lauren. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sakes, sit down,” she grumbled ungraciously. “I’m sure we can manage to be civil for an hour or so.” She turned a sour look on Karen and added, “If we can’t, we’ll never hear the end of it.”
Wade grinned. “If it gets to be too much of a trial, I’ll eat fast.”
Karen chuckled, then quickly covered her grin.
“What?” Grady said, looking from his wife to Wade, and then at Lauren. “Did I miss something?”
“No, my darling man, you are as astute as ever,” Lauren assured him. “Your wife’s just being an annoying meddler.”
Wade slid into the booth next to Lauren just as the words crossed her lips. When his thigh brushed against hers, color flamed in her cheeks and her mouth snapped shut. Satisfied with her telling reaction, he regarded her innocently. “Anything wrong?”
“Not a thing,” she said, her jaw clenched tight.
He patted her hand. “Good. Now stop picking on Karen.”
Grady was still regarding them all with confusion, but his wife looked as if she was about to burst into laughter at any second. Given Lauren’s obviously unpredictable mood, Wade decided he’d better try to forestall that by getting their waitress over and their order placed.
As luck would have it, Cassie was working tonight. Her eyes widened, then turned speculative when she spotted Wade crowded into the booth next to Lauren.
“What’s this?” she asked, clearly fascinated.
“Everybody having the meat loaf?” Wade inquired, ignoring Cassie’s curious glance.
“I certainly am,” Grady said.
“Me, too,” Karen agreed.
“That makes three, then,” Wade said. “Lauren, how about you?”
“I’ll have a small green salad,” she said.
He stared at her. “And?”
“That’s it, just a small salad, please, Cassie. Dressing on the side.”
“You’ve got it,” Cassie said, and hurried away.
Wade didn’t miss the way she immediately huddled with Stella by the kitchen door, or the way the owner’s gaze promptly shifted in their direction. He grinned at Lauren, who was wearing an especially stormy expression.
“Looks like we’re causing a stir,” he noted, more amused by that than he would have been under other circumstances. The fact that Lauren was clearly irritated gave him a perverse sense of satisfaction.
“Yes, well, some people ought to mind their own damn business,” she retorted.
Grady’s eyes widened as he finally caught on to the sparks flying between Wade and Lauren. “Uh-oh. Karen, maybe you and I should move to that booth over there.”
“Good idea,” she said, abandoning them so fast it made Wade’s head spin. Grady was right on her heels.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Lauren said, scowling at him.
“Me? All I did was point out the obvious. Besides, it’s your friends who are talking, not mine.”
“Well, they wouldn’t have anything to talk about if you’d just…”
“Just what? Ignored Grady’s invitation and sat by myself?”
Flashing eyes met his. “Yes. As a matter of fact, that would have been just perfect.”
“Really? Don’t you think he would have wanted to know why? And since he has insisted we both make an effort to get along, do you think I should take the blame because you’re being a spoiled brat?”
“Me? A spoiled brat?” Indignation turned her eyes an amazing shade of deep sparkling green.
Wade leaned back. “That’s how it seems to me. You’ve ruined a perfectly pleasant evening for everyone by making your disdain for me plain.”
For an instant she seemed genuinely taken aback by his assessment. “But I don’t…” Her voice trailed off and her expression turned miserable. “I’m sorry.”
“For?”
“Behaving like a spoiled brat, what else? It’s just that you and I parted on a lousy note after a halfway-decent day. Then, after that, Karen ticked me off with a lot of nonsense about you and me. And now here you are, crowding me, and Cassie’s looking as if she’s just discovered the best-kept secret in Winding River, and I got testy, okay? I’ve already dealt with enough speculation to last me a lifetime. So sue me.”
“That’s what I like,” he said. “A heartfelt apology.”
When she lifted her downcast gaze and met his eyes, there was a jolt to his system. He had a hunch his heart couldn’t take a lot of vulnerable looks like that.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, and this time she sounded as though she meant it.
“So what was that comment about dealing with a lot of speculation all about?”
For a minute she looked so flustered, he was certain he must have hit on something sensitive, but then a cool mask slipped over her face so quickly, he was sure he must have imagined it.
“Did I say that?” she said. “It’s a small town. People talk. You know how it goes.”
Unfortunately, he did, so he let the subject drop. He grinned, then nodded in the direction of Grady and Karen, who were unabashedly watching the entire exchange. “Think we should invite them back over?”
“In the interest of peace and harmony, by all means,” Lauren agreed at once. “Besides, it will keep them from falling off their seats trying to hear what we’re saying.”
Wade glanced across the aisle and noted that Grady and Karen were, indeed, on the edge of the booth’s benches, clearly trying to look uninterested in his conversation
