He walked inside, calling, “Don’t drink all my beer. I’m going to need it someday when I reopen.”
“Don’t be an asshole,” his brother’s voice wandered back. “I’m taking care of some repairs while things are quiet.” Charlie poked his head around the corner and launched into a litany of projects he had lined up for the tavern. Noah’s mind buzzed as he tried to cool his thoughts, and he registered maybe half.
“If you don’t have a security system on that list, add one.” Noah stood back while Chance climbed the stairs and nudged the door open with his nose.Huh. He must know this is home.
“Roger that.”
“And while we’re talking about projects, did you tell Hailey the Freemans said she could stay at the Moose while you continue working on it?”
“Yep.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
Charlie’s eyebrows disappeared under this hair. “Why would I? Every time I mention her, you practically take my head off. No, thanks.”
Noah stifled the urge to scowl. Damn it, Charlie was right. “I’m gonna run an errand. Can you keep an eye on Chance?”
“Sure. Want me to take him home with me when I’m done so he can have a play date with my dogs?”
“You think he’s ready for that?” Charlie’s dogs were chill like him, so the suggestion didn’t raise any red flags.
“Only one way to find out.”
“Sure. Let’s try.”
Ten minutes later, Noah straightened his frame in front of the Loose Moose, swallowed a gulp of air, and knocked. Hailey whipped open the door, and a frown overtook her pretty features. She held a phone between her shoulder and ear. “Uh, sorry, Kayl. Some pesky salesperson wants to sell me magazine subscriptions.” She gave Noah a pointed look.
I’m not leaving, surfer girl.“Can I come in?” he mouthed.
With an eye-roll and a hand flap, she motioned him in and closed the door. He studied her split lip and surveyed her cheekbone for telltale bruising, though he couldn’t make out any definite marks in the shadows playing over her face. The pleats between her brows made baby pleats. He could hear a tinny voice on the other end, and Hailey nodded as if agreeing with the caller. She turned and trod through the open living slash kitchen area to a rectangular dining table covered by scattered papers in organized chaos. Unsure where to go, he parked himself by the front door to give her a semblance of privacy, though he followed her with his eyes as she paced the perimeter of the table. She wore the same outfit from Amy’s this morning but had removed the boots, and her thick wool socks cushioned her footfalls.
“Yes, I know,” she told the caller, who had to be her sister. “Trust me, I’m working on that, and if you’d let me get off the phone, I can do it as soon as we hang up.” She paused and darted him looks, seeming to grow more flustered as the minutes ticked by. Finally, she covered the bottom of the phone and hissed, “What do you want?”
“I’ll tell you when you’re done,” he hissed back.
This garnered him another eye-roll, which wasn’t the reaction he’d hoped for, but she wasn’t going to get rid of him until he said what he’d come to say.
Hailey bent over to jot something down, the phone still braced between her shoulder and ear, keeping her left wrist tucked against her body. Another vision of her pretty-boy boss striking her ratcheted up a brand of crazy he hadn’t known he was capable of. An urge to rip down a few walls on his way to separating the arrogant asshole’s head from his body flared in his belly.
What kind of man attacks a woman? The same kind who would break a dog’s bones and put out cigarettes on his hide.
Calm down, he told himself. It wasn’t his fight unless she asked him to join it. For now, he needed to put the desire aside and fake a blandness that was nowhere on his emotional spectrum.
Finally, she ended the call and put the phone down. She crossed her arms and cinched her brows at the same time. “What can I do for you?”
He closed the distance between them. “I came to say I’m sorry.”
She drew back, suspicion shining in her frosty blue eyes. “For?”
Jesus, she was gorgeous.
“I thought you were the one responsible for shutting me down. I was pissed.”
“So you’re no longer pissed?”
“Oh, I’m pissed all right, but it’s notalldirected at you anymore.”
Her eyes seemed to grow icier, making her evenmorebeautiful. “And this is your apology?”
