My eyebrows shot up. “Really? Lay it on me. It can’t be worse than my confession.” Feeling relieved and unburdened, I shoved a heaping spoonful of ice cream into my mouth.
“I’m in love with your sister.”
I choked on my rocky road, unprepared for the whammy. “Excuse me?” I rasped.
“Here,” he said, pushing a glass of water toward me. “You can drink it or throw it in my face.”
“Maeve?” I rasped.
He nodded, then swiped his hand over his face. “It started last summer. We met at the end of school assembly, hit it off, then had a summer fling. It was just supposed to be fun. She was busy. I’d just landed a job here. Obviously it was a terrible idea. She’s the mother of one of my students.”
“I can’t believe it,” I said.
“I know. I’m a monster,” he said.
“No! That you two were able to keep a secret like that in Knockemout.”
“You’re not mad?”
I shook my head. “I’m impressed. Keeping secrets in Knockemout is like training an army of cats to do your bidding. It’s just not possible. So why did you let my friends hook us up?”
He looked sheepish. “Part of me—a pathetic part—thought that if Maeve didn’t want to be with me, at least I could stay in her life. The incredibly stupid part of me thought maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Maeve was a little…jealous.”
“Wow.”
“I’m not proud of it. And I was going to tell you tonight that I wasn’t over Maeve, right after I told you I wasn’t going to be able to have sex with you.”
“I wore granny underwear and didn’t shave my legs,” I confessed.
He grinned.
We were still laughing when we entered the parking lot ten minutes later. It was dark, and I’d chosen the café in Lawlerville to avoid another potential run-in with Lucian in Knockemout.
“So what are we going to do?” I asked him.
“Well, the obvious hijinks choice would be to fake date each other until our exes are overcome with jealousy. But seeing as how we’re adults and I’d hate to do any damage to your relationship with your sister, maybe we should go with option B.”
“Friends?”
“Friends,” he agreed. “You know, I really wanted to be there for Maeve when your dad passed. I tried reaching out a couple of times. But she made it clear it was something she wanted to deal with alone.”
“She pushed you away. I’m familiar with that feeling,” I said.
Kurt nudged my shoulder as we approached my Jeep. “For what it’s worth, Lucian is a simpleton if he doesn’t recognize his feelings for you.”
My feet skidded to a halt on the asphalt. “How did you know—”
“Knockemout doesn’t keep secrets. I saw the way he looked at you when we walked into Honky Tonk. That’s not nothing. And it sure isn’t hate.”
The moon was rising behind him. The trees had thousands of buds. Spring was coming. New beginnings. But all I could think about was the most recent ending.
“I had a really good time tonight,” I told Kurt.
“I did too.”
I rose on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
He wrapped me in a warm hug. He was going to make an excellent brother-in-law someday, I decided.
“Maybe we can make one of those pacts where if we’re not married by the time we’re fifty, we’ll take the plunge.”
I grinned. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
I got in my Jeep and watched him cross the parking lot to his car. I waited until he pulled out before grabbing my phone and opening my texts. Maeve and I were in for a very interesting conversation.
I yelped when my door was yanked open. A big, gloved fist gripped my sweater and pinned me to my seat. Another one covered my mouth, muffling my scream.
I couldn’t breathe. My attacker had sealed his hand over my mouth, and one of his fingers covered my nostrils. I immediately felt dizzy with panic as I stared at the black ski mask where a face should be. What did he want? Money? My Jeep? I hoped it wasn’t me.
I flailed against his grip and opened my mouth.
“Stop trying to bite me,” my attacker complained. “I got a message for you.”
Adrenaline dumped into my system. My free hand dove into my tote, feeling around for my pepper spray while I tried to memorize important details. Height? Taller than me. Weight? How the hell should I know? He was dressed all in black, and the dashboard light did nothing to illuminate any details. Was he familiar? Did I recognize his voice? His smell?