A Place with Briar (Harlequin Superromance) (4 page)

“Workaholic?”

“Actually, I’m kind of between jobs.”

“What do you do?”

He hesitated then realized there was no reason to lie, at least about his job. “I was a Huntsville police detective.”

Her brows lifted again. “Seriously?”

“I put ten years on the force.”

“You know, now that I think about it, you look like a cop,” she said with a smug smile.

“Since the wife-beating ex is a cop, too, I’m guessing that isn’t a compliment.”

She smiled. “I’ll trust you and he have little in common other than your chosen careers.”

“And I’ll thank you for that, Ms. Carlton,” he replied.

“Adrian,” she corrected. “Ms. Carlton is my mother, which is why I tend to shudder whenever anyone calls me by that particular name.”

He chuckled again. Yes, he was growing to like Adrian.

“You thinking of transferring south?” she asked. “I’m acquainted with a few of the officers at the local PD. I could introduce you....”

“No, for now I’m just...” He stopped because he saw understanding begin to creep into her eyes. “This seems like a nice enough place to live, I’ll admit. Everyone’s friendly. The weather’s good—not too hot.”

She snorted out a laugh. “Wait until mid-July before you start making weather assumptions. I should give you the grand city tour, introduce you to the right people. You might like it enough to stick.”

No.
It’d be a while before he could stick anywhere. The thought of two weeks in Fairhope already seemed like an eternity. At Hanna’s, anyway—close to Briar and other things too far out of his reach. However, if he couldn’t be around Briar without thinking straight then her friends might be able to tell him more than he could wean out of her. “What are you doing tonight?”

She considered. “I could ask Briar to babysit.”

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t want to put Briar out.” God knew she had enough on her plate already.

“Oh, Kyle loves Briar,” she explained. “He helps her out around the place, gives her a much-needed hand, even if it is with the little things.”

He hesitated, weighing the situation. “Well, okay, then. I’ll meet you at the tavern around seven?”

“Seven it is.” She started to walk off. “I have a customer waiting on these roses. It was nice meeting you, Cole.”

CHAPTER FOUR

“Y
OU
GOT
A
date with the new guy?”

Adrian heaved an aggrieved sigh. “It’s not a date, Liv. I’m just showing him around.”

“I think he might be able to show you a thing or two,” Olivia deduced.

Adrian took a bite out of her tuna sandwich, knowing as well as Briar did that a reply would only egg on Olivia. It was no use trying to budge Olivia once she set her mind to something. Especially if that something was in any way, shape or form promiscuous.

Olivia and Adrian were eating lunch at the inn kitchen table while Briar attempted to fix the leaky pipes under the sink. It didn’t take long for Olivia to notice that she was having difficulty using the socket wrench. “You need a plumber.”

“Plumbers cost money,” Briar said. “Unfortunately, I can’t afford such a luxury.”

“Come on, cuz,” Olivia said. “It’s not that bad.”

Briar frowned as she gave up on the pipes and the wrench, tucking it away with her other tools and cleaning supplies by closing the cabinet doors. She washed her hands then walked to the fridge to pull out the makings for lunch. “I got a call from a county man today. Property taxes are overdue.”

Olivia and Adrian exchanged worrisome glances. “Did you ask for an extension?” Adrian asked.

“I’ve already had two,” Briar explained, pulling open a packet of bacon. Strips sizzled as she laid them one by one on a hot skillet. The smooth, practiced motions of her hands were at odds with the slight quaver of her tone. “He said that if I don’t pay by the middle of July, they’ll seize the property to compensate.”

Olivia choked on her sandwich as Adrian gaped in horror. “They can’t do that.”

The last time Briar had felt this tired, drained, was during her mother’s last days. “With the way business is going, I don’t know if I can raise it. If I don’t nail down one of these potential investors soon, I could lose everything.”

“We’ll fight for it.”

“That’s right,” Adrian assured her, echoing Olivia’s sentiment. “We’ll fight for what’s ours, Briar. We’ll help you.”

She shook her head. “I’m already bleeding the both of you for rent. Adrian, you had to replace your greenhouse after the last hurricane and I know it ate a hole in your house budget—you barely had enough left over to send Kyle to soccer camp. And, Liv, you’re saving up for an addition to the tavern. I have to do this alone.”

“You can’t do
everything
alone,” Olivia protested.

“And that’s why I have potential investors.” She waved her hands in frustration. “Can we not talk about this right now? So, tell me what you think of the new girl.”

Defeated, Adrian lowered to her seat, appetite forgotten. “Roxie Honeycutt. She seems nice, really excited about opening shop.”

“Though Lord knows we don’t need another bridal boutique around here,” Olivia said before taking a big bite out of a banana.

“She also has a license for wedding consultation,” Briar added.

Olivia made a face. “They give out licenses for just about anything nowadays.”

“Anyway,” Briar went on, “she has some interesting ideas—I think she’ll do well. And I bet her gowns are gorgeous.”

Adrian brightened up. “
And
she plans on using me for all the floral arrangements she’ll need.”

“I like her,” Briar concluded, placing the bacon onto a plate. She took a knife from the butcher block to slice a tomato. “Why didn’t you bring her over for lunch, guys?”

“Said she was eating with her hotshot fiancé,” Olivia explained with a dismissing wave of her hand. “Some law professor named Richard Levy.”

“He teaches in Mobile,” Briar blurted. “At South Alabama.”

“You know him?” Adrian asked curiously.

“No,” Briar said, frown returning. “Daddy was talking about him the last time I visited.”

That left another gray cloud hanging over the room—usually any mention of Briar’s father did. Any thought of him, really, had the same effect.

It’s unimaginable—you running the business by yourself....

She closed her eyes because the terrible words he’d spoken to her that day not but a year before still echoed clearly through her head—on a constant loop.

Adrian recovered the conversation. “She’s coming by the tavern tonight to try one of Olivia’s margaritas.”

“I guess that’ll be around the time you skip off on your hot date.”

“It’s not a date, Liv.”

Briar looked up. “What’s this about a date, Adrian?” she asked as she began to shred a head of lettuce.

“Oh, she’s got one hell of a date lined up,” Olivia groused. “With Cole Savitt.”

The lettuce dropped to the floor with a crunch. Briar felt the color drain from her face as she bent to scoop up the mess. “Oh.”

Olivia watched her cousin closely as she ran the lettuce under the sink tap. “Yep. She beat us both to the plate.”

“That’s not true,” Adrian protested, clearly alarmed by Briar’s reaction.

“Did you get the scoop?” Olivia asked.

“About why he has that wounded air about him? Maybe. And it seems to be a recent development.”

“And?”

Taking a sip of her mineral water, Adrian watched Olivia’s expectant face with a shred of glee. “It’s personal.”

Olivia groaned. “Can’t you just give me a hint?”

“Nope.”

“Spoilsport.” Olivia took a hearty bite out of her sandwich, eyeing Adrian with mock loathing before turning her attention to Briar. “Would you just sit down and eat? The man has two hands. He can fix his own lunch.”

“You know that I provide meals when they’re requested,” she reminded Olivia. “He wanted to eat here. I’m going to accommodate him.”

“Like a good hostess,” Olivia said with some disdain. “Personally, I don’t think women should cook for men at all anymore. We’ve progressed too far for that. Let them fend for themselves.”

“It’s not as if we’re married,” Briar said, irritation nipping on her heels. “I’ve never done anything less for any guest.”

“If I were in your shoes, I’d serve him right up in a negligee,” Olivia said with a knowing smile.

Briar’s color was definitely coming back. “You just stepped on your point.”

Olivia met Adrian’s curious gaze and said, “She’s got the hots for him.”

“Olivia—”

The screen door creaked open and Cole walked through. “Good afternoon, ladies.”

“Cole,” Olivia greeted, offering him a Cheshire-cat grin. She patted the cushion of the seat next to hers. “We were just talking about you.” She winked conspiratorially at Adrian.

“Ah, so that’s why my ears are burning.” He settled in the chair. “Something smells good,” he commented, craning his neck toward the stove.

“Briar’s slaving away again,” Olivia informed him. “I hope you like blood, sweat and tears.”

Cole glanced up at Briar who was neatly arranging two BLTs on a plate. “Do you need any help?” he asked.

She turned and met his gaze. She swore she was growing pinker by the second. Lowering her eyes, she set a plate in front of him. “Of course not. What would you like to drink?”

“I’ll get it,” he said, already on his feet. “You don’t have a fixed plate here. Go ahead and make yourself something.”

“But I’m—”

He smiled and effectively melted the rest of her words away. “I can fix myself a drink, Briar.”

“Cole—” Briar began before Olivia cut her off.

“Let the man do what he wants and fix yourself some food. You work to the bone then starve yourself. Soon you’ll be nothing but a scarecrow.”

“Fine,” Briar resigned. “Cups are in the cupboard.” When his back was turned, she sent Olivia a seething look. Her cousin merely lifted a shoulder and finished off her sandwich.

As if Briar didn’t have enough problems already with her guest getting under her skin and the inn potentially going under. Apparently, Olivia had decided to play the Emma Woodhouse game again.

Since she had returned to Fairhope, Briar had managed to fly under Olivia’s matchmaking radar. Adrian, however, hadn’t faired so lucky and had a short list of dating calamities to prove it.

By the helpless look on Adrian’s face, Briar knew there was little the people involved in Olivia’s matchmaking schemes could do but humor her and hope it didn’t all end in complete disaster.

* * *

T
AVERN
OF
THE
Graces was in full swing by seven o’clock. Regulars lined up at the bar, talking to each other overloud. The room was nearly filled to capacity, and the pool table was in use by after-work players. And above the table in the corner where an arm-wrestling match was taking place was a flat-screen television tuned to ESPN and a Braves game.

When Cole walked through the thick wood-paneled doors he was overwhelmed by a blast of Sheryl Crow’s “Winding Road.”

Jubilant shouts echoed from the men surrounding the pool table. Cole followed their attention to the television and saw that Chipper had hit a homer.

One of the pool players stalked to the bar and leaned over it, yelling into an open doorway, “Hey, Liv! Your man just hit one out of the park!”

Olivia walked through, carrying a heavy case of beer bottles and beaming. “That means you owe me twenty bucks, Freddie.”

“Aw, hell, Liv. I got a family to feed.”

“I’ll let this one slide—next time be more careful with your bets. Drinks all around, people!”

Hoots and whistles sounded off around the room as she took bottles out of the case and put them into eager hands. Cole stepped up to the bar to take one. When Olivia’s face lit on his, she smiled wide and said, “Hey there, cutie!”

Cole raised his voice over the intro to Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” “Hey, Olivia. I’m meeting Adrian. Do you know if she’s here yet?”

“Don’t think so,” Olivia shouted. She stretched the thin material of her black tank top over the exposed line of pale skin at her belly. He caught a glimpse of a small, heart-shaped tattoo buried halfway underneath the beltline of her low-rise jeans. “She’s probably closing shop and carting Kyle over to Briar’s. While you’re waiting, though, I’ll give you something more potent than this.”

She snatched the bottle out of his hand and gave it to one of the regulars, instead. Then she went to work pouring, stirring and blending. In two minutes, she handed him a tall hurricane glass. “This is the best margarita south of the Mason-Dixon. Brace yourself.”

As he lifted the glass to his lips, he was aware that several of her patrons watched him closely. He did brace himself and took a sip. The surprising tang of salt and alcohol made a visible shiver worm its way effectively down his spine. “Wow,” he choked.

The nearest regular let out a whooping laugh and clapped a hand over Cole’s back. “Knocks your socks right off, don’t it, man?”

“Yeah,” he muttered, braving another sip. “Sure does.”

Olivia let out a bellowing laugh that made heads around the room swivel. She patted his cheek, leaning over the bar and exposing ample cleavage over the low scoop of her tank. “I knew you’d fit right in.” Shouting over the music, she announced, “Now who wants to buy me my first drink of the night?”

Excited shouts of “Over here, Liv” and “Right here, baby” echoed around him. Men muscled Cole out of the way in their rush to get to the bar. As he walked backward, he almost toppled over the woman standing close behind him.

“Bit overwhelming, isn’t it?” Adrian shouted with a knowing smile.

“Olivia or her customers?”

Adrian laughed and raised herself on tiptoe to brush her lips over his cheek in greeting. “Let’s get you another drink.”

* * *

B
RIAR
STEPPED
INTO
the tavern from the door behind the bar just in time to see Adrian give Cole a smooch. Her stomach plummeted to her toes. Determined not to feel crushed, she went to Olivia’s shoulder and waited until her cousin downed the two shots the rugged gentleman in front of her had bought. She wasn’t at all surprised when Olivia didn’t so much as flinch.

“That’s the way to start the night!” she shouted, leaning forward to give the man a hard kiss on the lips. “Whew!” She stumbled around and spotted Briar. “Oh, hey there, cuz! What’d you do with the little one?”

“He’s napping on the couch in your office,” Briar said, nodding back toward the door she’d closed to block out some of the noise. “Didn’t take him long to pass out.”

“Being a kid’s tough,” Olivia said. “What are you doing here?”

“Figured you could use some help since it’s Monica’s night off.”

“Could, yeah,” Olivia agreed. “Busier than an ant at a picnic.” She looked over Briar’s shoulder. “You could start by taking their orders.”

Briar turned toward the end of the bar and met Cole’s gaze. She hadn’t noticed him and Adrian grabbing two stools. Whirling back to Olivia, she caught sight of the smirk on her face as her own heated. “Liv, I know what you’re doing.”

“What am I doing?” Olivia asked innocently.

“They’re on a date.”

“But notice, his eyes are on you,” Olivia pointed out. “And I’m the boss ’round these here parts.” She gave her cousin a good push in their direction. “Scat.”

Briar walked toward them on uncertain legs. She answered Adrian’s smile of greeting before leaning over the bar and raising her voice. “Kyle’s in the back room sawing logs.”

“I know you wouldn’t leave him anywhere alone.”

“What can I get you two tonight?” Briar asked, putting on her brave face.

“We’re not going to be here long,” Adrian considered. She turned to Cole. “Crown and Coke suit you?”

“Suits me just fine,” he said, his eyes never straying from Briar’s face. He took out his wallet. “Let me get it.”

“No, this is on me,” Adrian protested.

He laid a hand on the one she’d used to open her purse. “You’re nice enough to show me around town. Let me pay for the drinks.”

When she shrugged acquiescence, he turned back to watch Briar mix the drinks behind the bar, pretending she hadn’t heard their exchange. A moment later, she set the glasses on the bar. “That’s three dollars.” She smiled at Adrian. “Olivia says you get the official family discount.”