“Huh.” She stared at me. “Is there an interesting story that goes with that tidbit?”
I shrugged. “Abusive husband. She decided burning the house down with both of them inside was better than living.”
Why the hell was I even talking about this? Not really date material.
Fake date.I reminded myself.
“Ouch. Did either survive?”
“He didn’t. She did, but ended up being convicted of manslaughter and arson.”
I still thought about that woman from time to time. The way she cried in relief when her husband was pronounced dead at the scene.
“You guys probably saw a lot of crazy stuff being in a city.”
“Once got called to a car that got wedged between two buildings. It’s hard enough having to cut someone out, but having two large unmovable objects on either side made it near impossible.”
“I can imagine.”
I pulled into a parking space and turned off the engine. Our conversation waned as we made our way to the building, but I instinctively held the door to the diner open and ushered her inside, resting my hand on her lower back. She grabbed my hand, and I stiffened, thinking I’d overstepped. She twined our fingers together, and when I looked down at her, her wide smile made me relax as we waited for the hostess to return.
Luckily there wasn’t a wait and we followed the hostess to an empty table. I wasn’t sure if anyone would notice, or care, but holding her hand definitely had date written all over it.
“See, I told you,” a feminine voice said from a nearby table.
Even though the words registered as I took my seat, I didn’t think they were talking to or about me. Until recently, peoplearound Half Moon Lake had left me alone. For some reason, that damn video made people think I was approachable. I didn’t understand it, nor did I like it.
Violet smiled and waved over my shoulder. I followed her gaze and bit back a groan. Logan and his girlfriend Izzy sat in a booth with Logan’s twin daughters. Shouldn’t they be in school? It was almost the middle of August. Maybe school hadn’t started back yet?
I tipped my chin at Logan and turned back to Violet.
“Do you want to go say hi?” she asked.
I raised a brow. Was she serious? Why did she think I wanted to go say hi? I worked with him and would see him later that night. I didn’t see a reason to interrupt our meals by chatting.
The corners of her lips twitched. “Never mind. Forget I asked that.”
I went back to looking over the menu, and when the waitress came over a few minutes later, we placed our orders.
Logan’s daughters skipped past the table and Izzy slowed down to pause next to us, Logan right behind her. Great. Were they planning to stand here and talk to us?
“You two are dating now, right?” Izzy looked from me to Violet. “Logan doesn’t believe it.”
“Yes,” I blurted out and narrowed my eyes at Logan. After our conversation last week, I’d wondered if the guys would believe we were really dating. “We are.”
Logan’s lips lifted into a smirk. “Come on, sweetheart. Let them get back to theirdate.”
Fucker.
The way he emphasized the last word made it obvious he still wasn’t buying it. And why did I even care? I didn’t need the guys to believe it, just the rest of this crazy-ass town.
Finally, we were alone again.
“You didn’t tell the guys we’re faking?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Why?”
