He turned away, annoyed at his own thoughts. It wasn’t as if he’d become a monk after Serena’s death. He had gone out with women since then. A lot of women. The game had changed since the last time he’d been dating on a regular basis. Some women were looking for a relationship, but plenty of others were only looking for a one-night stand, and those were the ones he liked. He didn’t want to see another face on the pillow next to his when he woke up in the morning. He didn’t want to be friends. He sure as hell didn’t want to fuck a friend.
The women he went out with definitely weren’t friends. They were barely acquaintances.
He turned to see that the bald man was staring at their table. Staring at him.
“Will you excuse me?” he said politely to Matty and his brothers.
“Absolutely,” Matty said with a knowing smile and a tilt of her head in Kendall’s direction.
He didn’t bother to explain that her hopes were in vain. He wasn’t sure himself why he was going over, but it certainly wasn’t because he wanted to ask Kendall out to dinner.
He headed straight for her table. “Hello,” he said, and introduced himself to the man, then offered his hand. The guy was a good-looking son of a bitch, probably her boyfriend. “Miss Montgomery, nice to see you again.”
The bald guy smiled. “So you’re Aidan Flynn. I’m Mason Adler. I work for Kendall. Nice to meet you. Join us?”
Aidan drew out a chair for himself. It was still early by Bourbon Street standards, so the bar wasn’t overly crowded and there was plenty of room.
No, it wasn’t overly crowded. It was just bizarrely full of people with whom he’d had contact during the day.
Kendall was staring at him with her deep green eyes. She appeared neither pleased nor displeased.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked him finally.
He hiked both brows. “Having a beer, listening to the music.”
“But…here?” He almost laughed aloud. Kendall, too, seemed suspicious. Or wary.
“Zach suggested this place, said he likes the band, especially the guitarist.”
“Vinnie is good,” she said, then asked, “How did it go with the bone?”
He shrugged and grimaced. “They think I’m an alarmist.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I found another bone earlier,” Aidan said.
She frowned at that. Mason didn’t hesitate to jump in.
“Wait, you found another bone the same day?” He glanced over at Kendall with reproach, as if she hadn’t shared everything she new. “On the property?”
Aidan shook his head. “By the river.”
“Another…human bone?” Mason asked.
Aidan nodded, leaned back and decided to explain. “I’m a private detective. I was hired to find a runaway. She and a group of kids were living in an old cottage by the river. I saw the bone when I was with the kids, so I went back with the cops and an M.E.”
“And the girl went home?” Kendall asked.
He nodded again. “It all ended well.”
“But it doesn’t always,” Kendall said. It wasn’t a question.
“So what did the M.E. say?”
“That it was an old bone. That it washed up from a grave somewhere. That there are lots of old bones popping up these days.”
“That’s sadly true, you know,” Mason said.
The guy looked like a bouncer, Aidan thought, but he seemed decent enough.
“I’m sure it is,” he agreed.
“You spend a lot of time here?” Mason asked him.
“On and off, over the years,” Aidan said.
Mason shook his head. “It’s amazing. All that time…and you never had any idea you had family here? That you were heir to a plantation?”
“Absolutely none,” Aidan assured him.
A waitress came by and set down three beers. Aidan looked up at her quizzically. “Vinnie sent them over,” she explained, and walked away.
“So Vinnie the great guitarist is a good friend of yours?” Aidan asked Kendall, as if he hadn’t noticed her with the guy a little while ago.
“Since grade school,” she said.
“I’m not sure I get the outfits,” Aidan said. “They’re a little weird.”
Kendall laughed then. “Weird? Come on, this is New Orleans.”
“You never even knew that there was a Flynn plantation?” Mason pressed, ignoring the turn the conversation had taken.
“Mason…” Kendall said softly.
Aidan shook his head. “Never knew a thing about it. And even if I had, Flynn is a pretty common name.”
“I hear your brothers are both good musicians,” Kendall said, clearly trying to get off a difficult topic.
Aidan nodded.
“How did you escape it?” Mason asked.
“Sorry?”
“The music thing?” Mason persisted.
“The United States Navy,” Aidan told him.
“You know, you should come by for a reading,” Mason told him.
“Mason!” That time Kendall didn’t speak softly at all, and the blood actually seemed to drain from her face.
“Come by for a what?” Aidan asked, frowning.
Kendall stood abruptly. “I’m going to ask your brothers if they want to join us. Or maybe I should just go. It’s getting late.”
“Kendall,” Mason protested, “it’s eight o’clock.”
“I know, but I have to open the shop tomorrow.” She seemed agitated, as if she had chosen the wrong excuse.
“Where is your shop?” Aidan asked her. A reading? Just what kind of shop did she run?