Page 38

Screw it, I got fried chicken and beer. Some days were just fried-chicken-and-beer days. I took it to the darkest corner in the pub, hunching in the corner where the window was broken so Jeremy just kept the shutters permanently closed, and I shrank into the darkness to disappear, and of course, it was just my luck that that was when Paisley’s sister made a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the pub and made direct eye contact with me the second she stepped inside.

I broke eye contact too hard, too abruptly. Not exactly avoiding attention.Dammit.Aria never came to the pub. She must have been picking up for somebody else. Part of me,distantly, wondered if it was for Paisley and she was also sad and needed to drown her sorrows in fried chicken and beer.

She wasn’t picking up. She got fish and chips and had the nerve to sit down across from me.

“I hear you’re closing,” she said airily, “Pais makes some veiled comments about you two, and then I find you lurking alone in the darkest corner of the pub with fried chicken? Dare I ask what’s going on here?”

Dammit. The shutter was closed, so I couldn’t even escape through the window. Paisley would, though.

Aria was a tall woman with long, brown hair and that picture-perfect dash of freckles over the bridge of her nose that freckles always looked like in photos and on models—she kind of looked like a model, honestly, with her tall, lean figure and almost unnaturally good looks. Macleods were just beautiful people, I guess.

“I think the real question is what areyoudoing here,” I said. “I would have thought greasy pub food is beneath you.”

“I’m unspeakably offended,” she said lightly, relaxing against the table with a comfortable smile. “Nobody is above greasy pub food every now and then. I had kale salad for dinner yesterday and a spinach egg white omelet for breakfast this morning, and my body was crying out for junk come lunch. Fish and chips sounded like the best thing that could ever happen to me.”

“Well, if you share Paisley’s metabolism, you can probably knock back three of those and not even feel bloated…”

She smiled drily. “Paisley gets in a lot more exercise than I do. All that climbing trees and running around jumping headlong through windows…”

“Yeah, touché.” No wonder she’d looked so good in that tight, athletic outfit. She was probably all lean muscle. I felt my face prickle, and I looked away. Aria smiled wider.

“So… now that we’re done with you dodging my question, Harper, do you want to tell me what’s going on with you and Paisley?”

I sighed hard. “It’s really nothing.”

She pursed her lips, studying me, and it got painfully awkward before long, but she wasn’t in any rush. She took a long sip of her iced tea, going through a few bites of her food in careful contemplation, before I broke.

“What?” I blurted. She narrowed her eyes just a fraction, giving me an odd smile.

“Paisley’s really very attached to you. I don’t know what you’ve done to her, but… well, ultimately, she is my sister, and I do care about her.”

“I haven’t done anything.”She’s the one doing things to me.I blushed harder. Dammit. I hoped the low light was hiding it.

“I’m just saying, she’s been in quite a mood lately and seems to have been talking about you all the time…”

“I think she’s in a mood because things have been off between her and Emberlynn.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Her and Emberlynn? How so?”

“Did Emberlynn not tell you?” Maybe I wasn’t supposed to bring it up. Aria leaned forward, folding her arms on the table.

“She didn’t say anything… she’s also been feeling off, but I think that’s more about her newest job.”

I looked away. “I might not have been supposed to say anything. Emberlynn was just telling me earlier about how she’s had a hard time feeling back to how things were with her and Paisley ever since she moved back to Bayview full-time. I’ll tell her I’m sorry for spilling it accidentally.”

Aria chewed her lip, thinking it over. That troubled look in her eyes spoke volumes.

“What’s bothering you?” I said.

She shrugged. “Just… wondering if I’m out of touch with Emberlynn. Does it say something bad if I’m not picking up on these things? Or if she’s not telling me?”

I relaxed. It was easy to forget sometimes that Aria Macleod was human. “I don’t think so. I’m going to intentionally tattle on her now about how she was bemoaning that you’re too cool for her, too good for her, too smart and pretty for her…”

She laughed. “Please. I’ve had impostor syndrome since the day of my big buyout. You don’t need to make it worse.”

“I think she’s just intimidated by you sometimes. Maybe just make a point to check in with her if you’re worried. She probably just gets too intimidated to bring things up to you.”

She relaxed into a smile. “I think I will. Thanks, Harper. You…” Her smile flickered. “Do you think I’m doing all right?”