Pumpkin scowled at her. “What happened to not babying me?” he asked her.
Frankie met his eyes and scowled, all shyness she’d displayed with Dosia gone. “Fine. Fall flat on your face. See if I care. SJ and I are going to have a nice dinner now that you’ve taken care of the Big Bad Banker.”
Dosia realized then that others recognized Bart the Banker. The cop, Danny, had called him ‘Mr. Anderson’. With a town like Mount Grove only having two banks, it made sense that the locals would know him. And it seemed like there were a lot of residents of Mount Grove in the restaurant tonight, even though they were about forty-five minutes outside of town.
Pumpkin groused, “I’m not going to fall on my face.” But when he made to turn around towards the table, he stumbled. Dosia had a hard time keeping her hold on him. Pumpkin was a big guy, even bigger than she remembered.
“Let me get your cane!” Frankie quickly said, moving around the table to the chair closest to the wall.
“I don’t need my fucking cane,” Pumpkin groaned.
As he gritted his teeth and started to walk forward with his arm still around Dosia’s shoulders, it occurred to Dosia that he wasn’tdrunk. He washurt.
“What happened to you?” she asked before she could stop herself.
Pumpkin snorted. “Long story. Short version isHummerversus motorcycle.”
Dosia winced. As they made their way slowly around the table, his body continued to tremble. Frankie stood there with his cane, but he refused to take it, walking right past her. “If you’re hurt, why the hell did you get between me and Bart the Butthole?”
Pumpkin lifted an eyebrow at her nickname before lowering botheyebrows in a glare. “I will be six feet under before I sit back and allow a man to speak to a woman the way he spoke to you, let alone touch you as he did.”
Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck… There went her ovaries again. Somehow her nipples tightened even more, and she hadn’t even known that was possible!
They stared at each other for a long moment, Pumpkin not fully seated yet with his arm still around her shoulders. Dosia had to actively remember how to breathe.
Piper coming over with drink glasses, a bread basket, and salads broke their connection. Pumpkin sat fully in his chair as she set the tray on the corner of their table. “Here. You guys haven’t ordered yet, but I figured this could get you started.”
Dosia quickly stepped away. Noticing the third large glass and salad on the tray, she quickly shook her head. “Oh, I’m not staying.”
“She’s staying,” Pumpkin argued.
Dosia glared down at him. “No, I’m not. I’m going to call an Uber?—”
“And how much is that going to cost you to get back to Mount Grove?” he shot back. “Youaregoing back to Mount Grove, right?”
Her cheeks flushed, wishing she had the disposable income that didn’t make calling an Uber for such a long ride make her have to count pennies the next time she was at the grocery store.
“Look,” he said, his voice softening, “just stay for dinner. I promise to only bite the food.” Dosia’s eyes widened in both horror and arousal. He didnotjust say that! Inpublic,no less. But he continued, either not noticing or ignoring her reaction. “We’ll drive you home. You’ll get a free meal and a free ride. Seems like a win-win to me.”
Her stomach took that inopportune moment to growl like a fucking lion. Dosia cursed as Pumpkin’s dark eyes dropped to it and then he arrogantly smirked up at her. Motherfucker.
Taking a deep breath, and resolving to find some way to get even with her aunt, Dosia pulled out the chair catty corner from Pumpkin and took a seat. He grinned at her, the expression showing off his impeccably straight teeth.
“Thank you for the ride home,” she said in advance, “but you arenotpaying for my dinner.”
Frankie let out a sound that was akin to a snort as she took her own seat across from Dosia. SJ was in a highchair at the corner between his father and nanny.
Pumpkin ignored Frankie and turned to Dosia. “No woman sitting at my table willeverpay for a meal.”
Dosia felt like this was a good time to clarify one point. “I am not your woman.”
She thought he’d get mad at her declaration, but instead he just raised an eyebrow. “I saidnowoman. As inanywoman.” Sitting back, he picked up the water glass that Piper had placed in front of his seat and took a sip. “But interesting that you would jump to that conclusion.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she realized that somehow she’d walked into that one. “Look,” she stumbled, trying to regain control of both herself and the situation, “I just… Ihaveto pay for my own meal. Okay?”
“If you say so,” Pumpkin conceded.
Piper came back with menus. The silence that fell was a bit awkward as the three adults looked over the options quickly, not wanting to wait another minute to place their orders.
