We’d settled nothing in the two days since Johanna had showed up on my doorstep. And in remaining unsettled, we both tried our best to pretend that everything was fine. But now I knew Scarlett had been seeing a countdown clock in her head when it came to us.

And now I was seeing it, too.

I held the diner door for Scarlett and followed her back to the booth that Clarabell pointed us to. It was early, and she was booked with jobs for the day, so we decided to grab breakfast together instead of dinner.

She slid into the booth and picked up the menu. I noticed that she ordered something different every time. Variety was the spice of Scarlett’s life, which gave us one unforgettable summer together and nothing more. I was hurt that she wasn’t willing to at least try, that she was so ready to write us off.

But she’d made up her mind. And I didn’t know how to convince her otherwise. What would she do in Annapolis? Hang a shingle up and offer her handyman services? I couldn’t expect her to give up everything just to support me and my dreams. If they were still my dreams… It wasn’t a mistake I’d make again, asking a woman to give herself over to my goals.

Scarlett smiled across the table at me, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. We’d both taken to avoiding the “what’s wrong question.” She was dressed in jeans and a tank top. Her work uniform for summer in Bootleg. There was nothing Scarlett could put on that I wouldn’t find sexy. From plaid pajama bottoms to cutoff shorts to paint-splattered tank tops. If it was on her body, I wanted to take it off. Even though we’d labeled ourselves as temporary and both seemed to be carrying baggage from that decision, I still found myself plunging into her every damn night and coming like I was losing part of my soul.

“I think I’m going for an omelet today,” she decided cheerfully.

“Egg whites and turkey bacon for me,” I said with less enthusiasm. Jonah had become my trainer and was guiding me out of weakling phase. I’d already gained a few pounds of muscle back.

Clarabell arrived with the usual beverages we didn’t even need to order. “What’ll it be today, lovebirds?”

I watched Scarlett closely for a wince but didn’t see one. We ordered and then sat back in the awkward silence that was our new norm.

“So—” we both began.

“You first,” she said, deferring to me.

“I was just going to ask how things at your father’s house are going.” I’d offered to go back to help, but she’d insisted that she and her brothers had a handle on it.

Scarlett stirred her ice water with her straw. “Slow going.”

“Are you and Gibson on speaking terms?” I asked her.

She nodded and gave me an honest grin. “Yeah. And thank you for that. We’re all on the same page now.”

“Where you need to be.”

She nodded, but the smile faded, and I saw the shadows in her eyes. “What are you doing today?” she asked.

“I’m wading my way through constituent communications and a couple of drafts for next session,” I said. “We should be able to pass some significant legislation finally.”

“You must love what you do,” she ventured, looking at me with those big sterling eyes.

“I love the idea of it more than the reality of it,” I confessed.

“Really?” she asked.

“There’s a lot that gets in the way of actually doing the job I was elected to do.”

“Do you ever wish you did something else?”

I felt the weight of the question and wondered if that was hope in her eyes. But I’d never once lied to Scarlett. We didn’t do that.

“I’ve never considered doing anything else,” I said.

Her face fell.

Clarabell returned with our breakfast, and we ate in silence until Scarlett threw down her fork. “This is the stupidest thing in the world, Dev. I like you. I want good things for you. Can we please make the most of our time together?”

“I’m still hung up on the fact that you insist we don’t fit together.”

She stood up and rounded the table, sliding into my side of the booth so that we were hip to hip.

“Do you think I’m happy about this? If I thought for one second that I would be good for you, I’d be packing my shit, getting my nails done, learning to lose the accent, and heading to Annapolis. But we both know I’d be a complete disaster as a politician’s… girlfriend. I don’t fit. And I don’t think you’d like the changing I’d have to do to fit.”

She was right. And I hated that. Scarlett leaned into me, her bare arm brushing my forearm.

“This sucks,” I said succinctly.

“But it doesn’t have to,” she insisted. She wrapped a slim hand around my arm and squeezed.

“Just because we don’t make a permanent fit doesn’t mean that we should throw away the rest of our time together. I love being with you, Devlin. And I’m going to treasure these memories for the rest of my life. Also probably become a lesbian because no man is going to live up to you in the sack.”

I laughed even though I didn’t want to. Scarlett had that effect on me, and I wondered how in a few short weeks I’d gone from wondering how I’d ever sweep up the pieces of my life to wishing I could spend the rest of it with a sexy little brunette that could outdrink me.

“I just want to make the most of our time together. Okay?”

How could any man in the world look into the gray depths of those eyes and say no?

“Okay, Scarlett.”

She smiled at me, and some of the ice in my chest melted.

We ate our breakfasts on the same side of the booth, shutting out the rest of the restaurant, and made plans for the rest of the week. I felt lighter than I had when we came in, but the thought of a Scarlett-less life still left me feeling empty.

I walked behind her to the door and waited for her casual ritual with the Missing poster. True to Scarlett’s word, as an adopted Bootlegger, I’d been indoctrinated into the theories, conspiracy and otherwise, every time I stepped foot into town.

I saw the hitch in her stride, the slight pause, before Scarlett bypassed the poster and pushed the front door open looking straight ahead.

Odd.

I’d never seen her walk right out the door before. I stopped and stared at the poster.

“Come on, Dev,” Scarlett said, her voice tight. “I’ll give you a ride back before I go to work.”