Stroll?

A short laugh surfaces, though Laura doesn’t look up to meet Nate’s eyes. “Forget it. You weren’t thinking straight, so I can’t hold that against you.”

She keeps silent the rest of the ride downtown, and follows Nate’s lead into the busy restaurant. As he takes her hand, she can’t help the strange feeling welling deep down somewhere. His hand was rough, but gentle…warm, but not overpowering. A little scared, Laura would have withdrawn her hand, but she didn’t want to embarrass Nate further, let alone in public.

Approaching the others, she’s glad for the extra company.

Con looks up from the table, offering a nod to Nate and a smile to his sister. As the others talk, his eyes zero in on Laura and Nate’s hands, and he shifts his gaze to Laura’s face. Though she wouldn’t have said a word about it, her slight tension is multiplied by ten in Con’s eyes, and he lifts an eyebrow skeptically. “Hey, why don’t you two pull that little table up over here and join us?”

Laura knows her brother too well not to see what he’s doing, and she can’t decide if she’s grateful or not. She slips her hand from Nate’s and forces a smile. “If you guys don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Jason intervenes with a laugh. “We’ve already stormed each others’ parties already.”



Carson can’t help a wry grin. “Yeah, well, Ty seems to be on my side, so why not? I think he understands the need to let a caged animal out every once in a while.” He fingers the key. “Seems to me we shouldn’t let his efforts be in vain.”

He looks at Misty out of the corner of his eye, giving her a sly glance. “I wouldn’t want you to get jealous if I paid more attention to another friend. How about we get in that moonlit stroll before the rain starts?” His eyes hold a strange look…one that longs to get out of TJY…one that reflects his inner struggles, despite his efforts to simply appear flirtatious. “But this time we stick to going without a car. I wouldn’t want to get too far that someone checks in here in the meantime and you wind up with your own butt in the holding cell.”