I looked at Nate. “Your mom carries a gun too?”
Nate chuckled. “Oh, yes. My mother is feminine, beautiful, and a complete badass.”
Bliss laughed with him. “Yes, she is,” she agreed.
“Story goes, my mom’s first night in Rosemary Beach she pulled her gun on Lila Kate’s dad. Scared the shit out of him,” Nate was smiling as he said it.
That brought a small tug at the corners of Lila’s mouth. She liked the story too. I watched hoping she’d smile that bright smile from last night where her eyes lit up. But it never came.
Bliss and Nate began laughing over his first meal at her parents’ house when one of her brothers brought a gun out to threaten Nate. I listened to them talk, but my attention stayed on Lila. Once she finished her meal, she told Bliss how delicious it was and that she would clean the kitchen. She then excused herself to make a couple of phone calls. One was an important call to her mother.
After she’d left the room, Bliss glared at me. “What did you do to her?” she whispered.
I shrugged innocently. “I didn’t do anything. I swear. We ate, drank and danced a couple of dances. That was it.”
Bliss didn’t look convinced. “She was quiet and nervous. Very uncomfortable.”
“That’s just Lila Kate. She’s not a big talker. She doesn’t draw attention to herself. She listens but rarely joins in. You’ll get used to it,” Nate explained. But I disagreed with him. The girl from last night hadn’t been like that. Something had been wrong this morning. I just didn’t know what.
“I want her to enjoy her stay here,” Bliss said her voice sounding sad.
“She will, baby. I swear Lila Kate is just quiet. I’ve known her my entire life, and that’s just her.”
Bliss sighed then nodded. “Okay. Well, it’s obvious she doesn’t care for you,” she said looking back at me. “Maybe I could take her shopping and invite Crimson instead. I bet she’d like your sister.”
This was starting to annoy me.
Nate gave Bliss a smile that said he adored her and wished they were alone. Normally, that made me uncomfortable or nauseous, but right now I couldn’t seem to care. I needed to know why I’d pissed off Lila. I didn’t like Bliss being frustrated with me either. Or let down.
“If you’re finished eating you’d better go. So she’ll feel more comfortable coming out here,” Bliss said with an apologetic frown.
I was done. I needed to talk to Larissa anyway.
“Yeah, I’m finished. Thanks for breakfast,” I said although I hadn’t wanted to eat in the first place. So now my stomach felt even worse. “It was delicious.” I stood and looked at Nate. “I didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable. Last night I thought we got along fine.”
“No worries. Seriously, that was typical Lila Kate. Bliss just doesn’t know her yet. She’ll get used to it.”
Again, I disagreed and felt like maybe Nate didn’t know her that well. I’d seen a much different girl last night . . . didn’t I? Was that all an illusion from the drinking? Had I thought she was different because I’d been so sloppy drunk?