Fire licked at her insides, but she squashed the flames flat before they could take hold. This wasn’t a romantic thing, for heaven’s sake. This was just…who knew what it was?
“Thanks.” She grabbed her purse from the nearby table. God, he smelled good. “I’m ready to go.”
That smile of his deepened as he turned her toward the stairs. “Always liked that about you, Amanda. None of this make-him-wait stuff.” Taking her hand, he led her down the stairs and then to his car, a big, black SUV he’d left parked on the street.
Saturday night was date night in Royal for young and old alike. A lot of the local ranchers came in to treat the family to dinner out. There were shoppers hitting the stores on Main Street and pedestrians, just out watching other people. And she was sure that most of them were avidly watching her and Nathan.
Nothing could have proven to her more completely that he didn’t give a damn about the gossips any more than picking her up on a Saturday night for the whole town to see.
To her left, the wide front windows of the diner shone with light and she knew that everyone in there, too, would have a perfect view of her leaving with Nathan.
As if he knew just what she was thinking, he squeezed her hand briefly and gave her a conspiratorial wink. Her heart clenched—it was almost as if the two of them were a team again. To underline that sensation, his hand around hers felt warm and strong and…right. She nearly stumbled when that thought zipped through her mind.
Thankfully, she recovered quickly, since an older woman with a crown of gray braids wrapped around her head stopped them on the sidewalk.
“Well, now, what might you two be up to on such a nice summer evening?” Hannah Poole was easily seventy-five. Her eyes—shining with glee—were razor-sharp and her nose was practically twitching with interest. If there was a gossip train in Royal, then Miss Hannah was the engineer. There wasn’t a thing that went on in town that she didn’t know about.
“Hello, Miss Hannah,” Amanda said, tugging at Nathan’s hand to stop him. “It’s nice to see you.”
“I’m sure it is, honey,” she said as her gaze locked briefly on their joined hands. “Going somewhere, are you?”
“Yes, ma’am, we sure are,” Nathan answered, then surprised Amanda by letting go of her hand only long enough to snake one arm around her waist, steering her toward the car. “And if we don’t hurry we’ll be late.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you,” the woman said thoughtfully, eyes gleaming. “I’ve got to get on home, myself. You two young people have fun, now. Good to see the two of you back together again.”
“Oh, we’re not—” Amanda began.
“Thank you, Miss Hannah,” Nathan said over her. “You have a good evening.”
He got Amanda settled, stalked around to the driver’s side and climbed in.
“Of course she had to get home,” Amanda said, watching as Hannah Poole scurried down the sidewalk. Her feet, clad in sensible brown shoes, moved faster than Amanda had ever known them to go.
“What she meant was, she had to get on the phone and tell everyone who wasn’t in town tonight that she saw the two of us together.”
“Yep.”
She turned her head to stare at him. “Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Yep.” He fired up the engine, checked traffic, then pulled out onto Main Street.
“That’s it? Just ‘yep’?” Amanda’s gaze locked on him. In the old days, Nathan would have been rigidly furious to be the center of attention. This Nathan was a stranger. Mysterious. Intriguing. “Who are you and what have you done with Nathan?”
His lips quirked briefly. “What am I supposed to do? Shoot Miss Hannah? Throw her into a jail cell to keep her off the phone?” He shook his head and turned left. “Nope. No way to stop her or anyone else from talking.”
“Did you have a temper transplant?”
Unexpectedly, he glanced at her and grinned. “No, but not a bad idea.”
She was charmed. How could she not be? Not only was this Nathan—the man she’d been in love with since she was fourteen years old—but tonight he was…different. More relaxed. More…approachable.
Which could be risky, her mind warned. Logically, she should pay attention to that warning. Unfortunately, her body was too busy celebrating Nathan’s nearness to worry about possible future problems. And that was a whole different problem. She was supposed to be weaning herself from the allure of Nathan and now he’d made it that much more difficult.
Amanda settled back in the car seat, kept her gaze locked on the street in front of them and tried to stifle the sensations already building inside her.
It wasn’t easy.
“So where are we going?”
“You still like surprises?” he asked.
“Yes …”
“Then sit back. Won’t take but a minute to get there.”
That narrowed down the choices. Even if he was taking her to Claire’s restaurant, it was clear on the other side of town. But he wasn’t headed in that direction, anyway. They’d only driven a mile or so, when Nathan pulled into a familiar parking lot.
“The TCC?” she asked.
“Problem with that?”
“No.” She looked at the building that had been a part of town life since long before she was born. Built in the 1900s, it was a huge, rambling, one-story building constructed of dark stone and wood with a tall, slate roof.
She’d been inside a couple of times before—not as a guest, but as a server when her father had catered meetings. She knew the ceilings were high, the furniture and floors were dark and old-world style and the ambiance was loaded with testosterone. Sure, they were allowing female members now, but not many and not without a battle that had made the Alamo look like a playground tussle.
“I’ve just never—” She caught herself and shrugged. “I’m just…surprised, I guess.”
“Why?” Nathan shut off the engine and looked at her. “The dining room’s been open to women for years.”
“True, but you never took me there before.”
“Yeah,” he said, “there’s a lot of things I didn’t do that maybe I should have.”
She didn’t even know what to say to that. Did he have the same kind of regrets she had for the way things had ended between them? Nathan was a master at hiding what he was feeling so unless he came right out and said so, she might never know for sure.
“Maybe that’s true of both of us.” She offered a truce and was pleased to see his smile in response.
“Could be you’re right. But for now, let’s just say I’m a changed man.” He got out of the car and as he walked around the hood to come to her side, Amanda found herself hoping he hadn’t changed too much.
Over dinner, she realized that she had forgotten just how charming Nathan could be. His gaze fixed on hers, he led their conversation to happier times. To the years before they’d split up in such a crash of emotions.
All around them, the clink of silver against china and the tinkle of crystal became no more than quiet background noise. The people, the servers, seemed to fade away. She had even stopped noticing the hunting trophies on the walls. With Nathan’s full attention on her, it was impossible to be aware of anything else.
The