A sharp honk broke through her thoughts. The bewildering pleasure that had been rushing through her body dissolved, replaced with a burst of aggravation. Did he really have to honk at her? Drawing in a calming breath, she headed for the pickup and slid into the passenger seat, turning to Owen with a frown. “What’s the rush?”
“I’d just like to get back to town,” he mumbled. “I’m meeting Nate for lunch.”
She rolled her eyes. “God forbid you keep Nate waiting for one extra minute.”
Owen started the engine and drove away from the Grayson house. He was silent for so long she thought he might have forgotten she was with him, but then he shot her a scowl and, in a gravelly voice, said, “What did Wyatt want?”
She clasped her hands together on her lap. “Nothing really.”
“It didn’t look like nothing.” His eyes narrowed. “What’s the big secret? I can’t know what he said to you?”
She huffed out a breath. “There’s no secret,” she replied in exasperation. “He just asked me to have drinks with him tomorrow night.”
Owen didn’t so much as blink, but the air in the pickup went cold. “And you said yes?”
“Yes, I said yes.” She paused. “Is there a problem with that?”
His eyes turned stormy silver. “Well, you know how I feel about employees fraternizing. It doesn’t make for a healthy working environment.”
A laugh popped out of her mouth. “Are you joking?”
“No, I truly believe in that philosophy,” he insisted.
Since when? She couldn’t remember Owen ever warning her about dating anyone on the crew. And his philosophy apparently didn’t extend to himself, because she clearly remembered him going out on a few dates with that woman whose bathroom they’d remodeled two years ago.
“It’s just drinks and a game of pool, Owen,” she said, laughing again. “I don’t think it’s going to cause any problems for Bishop Contracting. Especially since I don’t even work on the crew.”
He muttered something she couldn’t make out, then shrugged and said, “Fine, whatever. But don’t get your hopes up about this being some magical love connection with Wyatt. You know that guy is a total player.”
She swallowed a lump of offense. “I know he is. But he’s also a fun guy, and there’s no harm in having some fun, is there?”
“I guess not,” he replied, though he sounded like it physically pained him to make the concession.
A silence settled between them, and Maddie spent the quiet time wondering what the heck was up with him. His rigid shoulders and deep frown told her that he was upset, but she highly doubted he meant his whole no-employee-fraternizing crap. If she didn’t know any better, she might think he was jealous that another man had asked her out.
But that was just crazy.
Chapter Four
The next afternoon, Owen strode into Betty’s to meet his older brother for lunch, a daily ritual for them. With Jake and Austin traveling all the time, Owen and Nate were the only Bishops who lived in Paradise full time, and they spent a lot of time together. The two of them were always worrying about their daredevil brothers, especially Jake. Owen was seven minutes older than his twin, but sometimes it felt like they were separated by years. While Owen had been content to stay in town and start his own business, Jake had enlisted in the army at eighteen, and for the last five years he’d been with the Rangers, taking on dangerous assignments and risking his life every other minute. Austin worried them too, though not as much. Their youngest brother was a photographer, constantly flying off to war zones and sometimes disappearing for months at a time. Austin had been AWOL for six months during his last gig, but he’d finally phoned in a couple of weeks ago, much to their relief.
Finding Nate in their usual corner booth, Owen walked over and slid onto the vinyl bench, already reaching for the menu. He hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning. For some reason his stomach had been in knots, and when he’d come to work, those knots had gotten thicker and harder once he’d seen Maddie. She’d worn a dress today, a loose yellow sundress paired with cute little open-toed shoes, and once again, his traitorous body had reacted.
“Hey, everything okay?” Nate asked.
No, I’m freaking out! he wanted to yell, but he clamped his mouth shut. Neither he nor his big brother did the whole mushy, talking-about-their-feelings crap.
“Fine. Just hungry,” he said.
And wildly attracted to my best friend.
He shoved that thought aside too.
They ordered their usual—turkey club for Nate, double-decker BLT for Owen—then settled in the booth and sipped their coffees, while Nate talked about his upcoming wedding, grinning sheepishly the entire time.
“You don’t need to look embarrassed about getting married,” Owen finally said, grinning back. “Charlotte is awesome.”
“I know, it’s just weird. I really don’t want to stand up there in front of everyone, but Charlotte wants a real wedding. I tried to convince her to do it at the courthouse and she freaked.”