Chapter Thirteen
The Tap Room opening was in full swing and exactly as Boyd had predicted. Cade was on fire: a natural entertainer with a gift for putting people at ease and showing them a good time. Their parents were sharing a high-top table with West and Meg, who came up from San Francisco. Boyd was happy to see his youngest brother, previously stifled by photographers and his own fame, finally at a place where the occasional whisper or iPhone didn’t bother him. Meg was part of that, Boyd knew. It was easy to see she loved West, and that seemed to make all the difference in his life.
Patrick was across the room, handing out business cards to a group of men and women in similar casual, expensive cotton and trendy glasses. Aspen joined him, bringing over merchandise from behind the bar. No doubt the next big deal, Boyd thought and found he was smiling. Mason and a couple of his friends were running back and forth between chili cheese fries and the arcade games in the back. No girls had arrived, to his knowledge, and it was nice to see Mase being a kid.
Boyd leaned against the back wall that vibrated to the drums and bass of the band. He was absorbed in watching his world play out before him and didn’t even see Ella walk in, which was a short-lived blessing. Once his eyes found her, he wondered how it was possible he’d missed her. She was still in jeans, a silkier top, and boots—half boots maybe. Whatever they were, she sported an impressive heel. Her hair was pulled off her face and looked like it was damp. That led to wondering if she’d taken a shower. Yeah, he was off to a great start.
He should just give up and stop trying to ignore the overwhelming need to touch her, finally know what it was to be close enough to hear her heartbeat, share breath. Ella joined Vienna, Thad, and two other women at the bar. She acknowledged Cade and Patrick. Boyd finished the last sip of his beer and moved into the crowd. The noise helped stifle his thoughts.
“Son.” His father put a hand on Boyd’s shoulder. “Could you please tell your baby brother here that I never walked around the house in my underwear?”
“You did,” West exclaimed. “Remember when I had a sleepover on Halloween, Boyd? We were watching that movie where the babysitter was freaking out because the guy’s in the house.”
“When a Stranger Calls,” their mother said. “I think I remember this, Rich.”
West’s hands were flailing and Meg was laughing. “Right? It was like one in the morning and you went to the door in your bedroom, circled around to the pool, and started banging on the sliding glass door.”
Boyd laughed. “I remember this.”
“We crapped our pants. It was pitch black and when I aimed the flashlight, there you were in nothing but your tighty-whities, jumping around like Bigfoot.”
Boyd was practically crying at this point, as was the rest of the table, including their father.
Shaking his head, their dad finally caught his breath. “I guess I did do that, but I thought I’d put some clothes on.”
“Nope,” West said. “To this day, I don’t know what scared us more.”
“Hey, your father has a great body.”
“Thanks, honey.” He pulled their mom in for a kiss while Boyd and West both cringed.
“Where’s Trick?” West asked.
Boyd pointed to the corner booth.
“Working a lot, huh?” their dad said.
Boyd shrugged. “Could be a while before he has such a large captive and intoxicated audience again.”
“True,” West said.
“Speaking of beer,” Meg said. “I don’t even like beer, Boyd, and this is amazing.”
He bowed his head. “Thank you.”
West caught his brother’s eyes and raised his glass. “Never had a doubt, man. Why are you without a glass?”
“Let me take care of that,” he said and turned toward the bar. Swerving through the crowd, he came chest to chest with Ella. Her hands flew up as if she was deliberately trying not to touch him. Boyd was grateful because he didn’t how much more of bumping into Ella Walters he could take. The guy at his back, the one who had pushed him closer to the woman he needed to stand clear of, stepped away.
Boyd should have backed up into the now-available space. He should have lifted his gaze from her mouth or the tiny freckle on the right side of her collarbone. He was an expert at doing what he should do, until now. He didn’t back away. He stood there, willing his arms not to encircle her waist but relishing he was finally in the same space. She stayed put too. Was it possible she knew that being close to her was like warming his hands over a fire on a cold night? Their eyes met. What the hell was he going to do with Ella Walters?
The crowd moved again and they were hugged into the edge of the polished wood. They both turned to face the bar as if it was choreographed somehow and settled next to each other in the swirl of music and laughter.
“So, your brother really is Nick Shot,” she said, a mischievous smile playing at the edges of her lips.
“Correction, my brother is Westin McNaughton. Not nearly as dangerous as Nick Shot.”
“He always was the jealous brother,” West said, now standing behind them.
“You wish. He waxes his ass, did I mention that?” Boyd said, not even bothering to turn around. West had an uncanny feelings detector. Boyd wasn’t sure if it was all that time in Hollyweird, but the youngest McNaughton could spot bullshit a mile away, which meant he somehow homed in on genuine feelings. If Boyd turned around, there was no doubt West would see everything coursing through his chest. Yeah, he didn’t need that right now. Boyd glanced at Ella and finally caught Cade’s attention.
West put his arm around Boyd. “You seem awfully obsessed with my ass. You going to introduce me to your… friend?”
Ella laughed.
“You’re an idiot,” Boyd glanced over his shoulder.
“Probably.” He extended his hand. “I’m Westin, the youngest of the clan. They’ll try to tell you I’m the littlest. That rumor is a lie. Just want to put that out there.”
“I’m Ella. Great to meet you, West. Thanks for the laugh.”
“He’s not funny. I’m the funny one.”
“Yeah you are, old-timer. You’re hysterical.”
West pushed between them and ordered another round. Boyd would never admit it to himself or his pretty brother, but he waited for that sigh or recognition that most women oozed when they were around West. He was more in line with Thad the fire chief and while Boyd was not jealous, he was a realist. Women liked men who came across less like a dad and more like the cover of a magazine. It’s not like he was testing her, that would be absurd, he was simply waiting for the inevitable.
No sigh. She craned her neck behind West and met Boyd’s eyes. It was like she was checking on him or checking him out. Christ, he had no idea, but the whole thing made him dizzy. There he was, thirty-seven and dizzy. No wonder poor Mason dropped his burrito. This girl stuff was insane.
“Okay, well you two kids stay out of trouble,” West said, his hands now full of pint glasses. “It was nice meeting you, Ella. And yeah, don’t worry about that bald spot he’s getting in the back here. I’ll bet it’s just a cowlick.”
Boyd moved to bump him out of the way.
“Ah, ah, don’t make me drop the merchandise. I heard a rumor you barely have enough of these glasses. Bad for business.” West laughed and wove back into the throng of celebration.
The night sky above them, what Boyd could see through the wood beams, was dotted with lights, and the air smelled of delicious food and success. They were a hit, at least for tonight. He should finish out the evening in relief… should be reveling in the reward of their months of hard work, but he couldn’t concentrate. A strand of hair blew across Ella’s face and she gently tucked it behind her ear.
How was it possible she’d lived in Petaluma and he’d never seen her, he pondered for the hundredth time, following her gaze to Mason and his friends playing cornhole. She turned to him, laughter dancing across her eyes, and Boyd lost his breath.
“Do we know if ‘she’ is here?” Ella asked, leaning into him, the smell of vanilla and praline flooding his senses. That was the second time she’d done that, defused the surge between them with everyday conversation. Did she know how beautiful she was so she put people at ease before they made assholes out of themselves? Was the way his body reacted to her written all over his face?
He combed the crowd as if that might help remind him that she was there for Mason, that she was his friend, and that it didn’t matter if her mouth tasted like vanilla.
“I don’t think she’s here. But, I’ve only seen her twice. Once from the car when I was dropping him off at school. She was handing out the school newsletter. The other time was at their seventh-grade play last year. She has curly hair. Oh, and I guess I saw her in the yearbook, but I don’t think I’d recognize her from that picture.”
Ella faced him to scan the crowd in the opposite direction at the same time the guy next to her decided to buy the bar a round. In his excitement to give away his money, he bumped Ella and she fell into Boyd. Her hands went to his chest this time and there they were again. Boyd nearly lost his mind. In the next second, as if she’d been shocked, she pulled her hands back.
“Sorry, I was—”
“It’s fine. You’re good. Excuse me.”
How the hell did he own part of a bar now? They should have kept this thing a brewery, a quiet, solitary brewery. Now they’d invited fun and people falling all over each other. Mingling air and glances that felt like invitations. His heart pounded in his chest as he walked out of the crowd looking for a lifeline. For the first time ever, no one needed a damn thing. Figured. Even Patrick had joined their parents, and Aspen was now with Ella’s friends. Boyd didn’t look back. He needed more air.
There had to be something that required tending to. Hell, he sounded like his mom. Maybe Mason needed something. As if on cue, his son’s laughter filled the edges of the space and Boyd noticed him high-fiving his friends over some cornhole victory, laughing in that way boys did when they forgot about girls. Boyd shoved his hands into his pockets, hoping to God he’d soon remember how to forget.
Ella toasted with her friends and watched Vienna hit the dance floor with Thad, all while keeping her eyes on Boyd. He seemed like a trapped animal as he disappeared around the side of one of the buildings. She finished the beer Bri had handed her and followed him. Zigzagging through the mass of people, she hoped she didn’t run out of words because one of them needed to say something. She could go with safe and ask him why he didn’t appear to like her, or she could take a chance and tell him the truth.
“Whoa, sorry.” Boyd almost plowed her over as Ella came around the side of the building. There was no contact this time. Instead, he held her steady by both shoulders, as if she smelled. The guy was harsh on a woman’s ego.
“I understand,” Ella said, not certain that was even an effective opening.
“Understand what?”
“That being with Mason is your job and that the two of you are sort of a team.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“He said you are his best friend. That you never let him call you that, but you are and that it has been the two of you for a long time.” She paused, debating if she should say the next part. “I was trying to figure out why you had an issue with me, and I think maybe that’s it.”
“I don’t have an issue with you. I don’t know what’s going on with Mason. He is suddenly—he seems to need something he didn’t need before. I mean, of course, he needs his mom, I’ve read all the books, but he didn’t appear to be missing anything outside of our family until—”
“Me.” In his expression, she saw all the pieces of a man. He was a father first. That was all over him, but she wondered what that took away. Being a single parent couldn’t be easy and even though he clearly had the love and support of his family, Boyd somehow looked alone.
“Not you. It’s that he’s getting older. He’s not a kid anymore. I’m catching up.”
“Is his mom…”
“She’s not in the picture a lot.”
Ella felt odd bringing it up, and he shut it down so fast she nearly missed the sting of pain.
“I had this thought,” she said before she caught her breath and lost her nerve.
“Okay. I should get back to—”
“It looks as though you can’t stand being around me. Every time Mason and I are having another one of our chats, you are quick to get out.”
He was still holding her shoulders but said nothing.
“But then.” Ella shifted her weight to one leg and settled into the feel of his arms, the heat of his body. She was surprised how easy the connection felt. God, she hoped she was right about this.
“Then?” he said on a breath.
“Then sometimes I catch a glimpse, or I notice you’re looking at me before you have a chance to look away and I just…” Her body leaned into him all on its own like a moth to the energy that slid across his eyes.
“Just?” His hands held her the tiniest bit tighter, and Ella couldn’t tell who was holding who at that point.
“I don’t want to step over some invisible line you’ve drawn around yourself, but I feel things when I’m around you, Boyd. And I think that maybe you do too, that maybe you’d like to—” Slowly, she brought her hand toward his face. She didn’t touch him, she honestly wasn’t sure how to tackle a man like Boyd. His breathing was heavier now.
A loud noise from the Tap House startled them both and whatever was in his eyes slipped down her arms, along with his hands.
“Ella, I’m sorry if you think I don’t want you around Mason. That’s not true. You’re his friend and—”
Another rumble that sounded like someone whacking the side of a metal can, this one followed by laughter.
“I need to get back over there.” His eyes were everywhere but on her. “Are we good?” He nodded as if he were talking to himself. “Good.”
Before she could say a word, he moved past her and she stood wondering why she’d followed him. The guy obviously didn’t—
“Aw, hell.”
She heard his voice, turned to see what was wrong, and found her entire body wrapped in him. His chest pressed to hers, arms holding her as his face dipped and he took her mouth. Her knees gave first, which was strange because she’d never been prone to fainting. Even in medical school. But they most definitely betrayed her now as Boyd’s arm held her waist and drew her closer.
Sweet Jesus. She didn’t even have a minute to process that she hadn’t been wrong after all, that he did have feelings. There were no brain cells left for that thought. His mouth moved over hers as if kissing was something he’d taken the time to master. Pulling, his tongue slid across her lips asking for more and when Ella let him in, she realized she was shaking.
She’d been kissed before, hadn’t she? She could have sworn there were memories of other men holding her like this, but she must have been mistaken. This right here was kissing. This was chest pounding, fists in hair. The man had taken her from irritation, right through confusion, and deep into need in less than a minute. All while standing under the stars with the rest of his world right around the corner. This was kissing, and she was certain she had never done this.
Someone called out a song and the music grew louder. Ella barely noticed until Boyd gently pulled his mouth off hers.
The only word to describe his expression was blissful. He was like a man fully satisfied after an incredibly long drought.
He smiled and she practically fell over.
“Yes, to all the above,” he said.
She swallowed, not bothering to hide the shock. “What were the questions again?”
A laugh rumbled in his chest. With one arm still circling her body, he reached up and ran his thumb across her lips.
Not helping with the knees, Boyd. Go easy on a woman, will you?
“I have no clue what to do with this, but I didn’t want you to think you were alone.”
“And you were loud and clear on that point.”
More laughter and a smile she’d never seen before. The man was potent when trying to avoid her. When he let out the happy, it was near deadly. He gently released her and stepped back, smile still in place until he bowed his head and appeared a bit lost.
“All right, so.”
Ella’s eyes widened. “So is right, beer man. Thank you for… answering my questions. I’ll have to think of some more.”
“Boyd,” a rowdy voice called from somewhere in the night sky, “get out here, man, and tell Cade there’s no limit on my tab, will ya?”
His eyes never left her as he slowly stepped back. “I should probably.”
Ella nodded. “See you around.”
He tipped his head in that way he’d done so many times before. She now understood that a gesture she used to interpret as indifferent dismissal was his way of saying, “There are no words.”
After reaching out to touch her hand one more time, he walked back around the corner. Ella rested against the building and brought her hands to her face. She knew it was absurd, but she had goose bumps. She’d never felt anything so amazing outside the thrill of her job in her entire life. She wasn’t some blushing teenager. She was a physician, a grown woman well past thirty with a heart firmly in the witness protection program.
But, he made her feel things that had her wishing he’d been her first everything. That he’d touched her brand-new heart before it broke and healed differently. There was something so pure and so sexy in the way he touched her. She took in the glorious night sky one more time and rejoined her friends.
Monday, easing out of this weekend, was going to be a tough go, Ella admitted. Not that she’d give Bri the satisfaction of that information.