He looked perplexed. “Sorry about what?”
“I haven’t been honest with you. Not that I’ve really lied, but I’m not who you thought I was and I’m sorry.”
“Bullshit.” He sat forward in his chair again. “I thought you were a hot redheaded bartender with a sassy mouth who not only manages my bar like a pro, but is one of the best friends I’ve ever had. Isn’t that who you are?”
“It is. It really is.”
His grin was such a relief to see, she couldn’t help but smile back. “Okay then.”
“Okay.”
“So this Logan guy, is he giving you a hard time about the wedding?”
“He’s blackmailing me.”
Kevin jumped to his feet so fast, she sat back in her chair. “He’s a dead man. I’m going to kick his ass so bad he won’t even be able to cry for his mommy. Gonna fold him up like a napkin.”
His loyalty warmed her heart, even as embarrassment warmed her cheeks. “It’s…not what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking by the time I’m done pounding on his face, even dogs will be afraid of him.” He was pacing in a tight pattern, something he only did when he was spectacularly pissed off.
“He’s making me put up with him being here—and I had to go on a date with him—or he’ll tell you who I really am.”
The anger on Kevin’s face didn’t ease. If anything, his hands fisted tighter. “Well now I know so he can get his sorry, blackmailing and soon to be black-and-blue ass on the next bus back to Boston.”
Paulie looked down at her feet. “I don’t want him to know I told you.”
The pacing stopped, with his toes facing her, but she didn’t look up. “I don’t get it.”
“I want him to think I’m still seeing him so he won’t out me.”
“Now I really don’t get it.”
“I loved him.” She looked up again when Kevin plopped back onto his chair, the fight gone out of him. “I didn’t run from him. I ran from…I don’t know. The life I was going to be stuck living until death did we part.”
“Just because you’ve reinvented yourself doesn’t mean he has. When he’s done with the hotel job, he’ll go back to Boston and the country club set.”
She knew that. She thought about it a lot, actually, during the hours she was supposed to be sleeping but wasn’t because of Sam. “I know that. I’m just…”
“Just what? When he’s around you’re so damn nerved up I’m going to have to start serving booze in paper cups, so either you’re scared of him or you’re still in love with him.”
Or maybe it was a little of both. “No in between, huh? Fear or love?”
“Nothing that would make you as jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”
She wasn’t going to admit to either one, so she shook her head and stood up. “He’s leaving, anyway. He’s going back to Boston for the holidays and to finish up some work. He’s making at least one trip to Europe. It’ll be a while before we see him again.”
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
She snorted. She didn’t know about that, though she did know five years hadn’t made the heart any less fond. “I need to get back out there. Bad enough Randy had to clean up my mess, but he should have gone on break two minutes ago.”
“You let me know if you change your mind about Sam Logan needing his ass kicked.”
Paulie nodded on her way out the door, but it wasn’t likely. After five years it seemed her mind hadn’t been changed about Sam. And neither had her heart.
***
Within five minutes of walking through the Kowalskis’ front door, Beth knew her parents would fit right in. They were huggers. Every damn one of them—and there were a lot of Kowalskis. Apparently Kevin hadn’t been exaggerating about how her carrying his child gave her some kind of instant family status and they didn’t hold back on the touchy-feely.
And Kevin was just as bad as the rest of them. He kept draping his arm over her shoulders or taking her arm to guide her or resting his hand on her back. It seemed like the only time he stopped touching her was to let a member of his family hug her.
There was a blur of introductions. She’d already met his father, Leo, who had a voice that commanded the room, and his mother, who gave her a warm hug and a speculative look that made her wonder what Kevin had told them about her appearing at their family dinner.
The rest of the horde she’d only seen from a distance, as the nameless bartender handing out drinks at the wedding. Joe and Keri had been the bride and groom. Then there was his sister, and Joe’s twin, Terry. She and her husband, Evan, had a thirteen-year-old daughter named Stephanie. His brother Mike had four sons with his wife, Lisa. Joey was fifteen, Danny was twelve, Brian nine and Bobby seven.