"No way. Why?"
He tipped his head. "I felt bad for not telling you that you had the wrong guy."
She had a feeling she'd actually had the right guy, but he was taken.
"Forgive me? You did say the tacos are out of this world."
"And yet you ordered a burger," she couldn't help pointing out.
"Next time I'll get the tacos. I was craving some red meat tonight." He handed her the bag.
"Thank you for the food and for the save. He was a nice guy, but I think it was going to take him another hour to decide what he wanted to eat."
"I hate people who take forever to read a menu," he said lightly.
"Me, too. And I gave him recommendations. I even suggested we share something, but I don't think he's a guy who shares his food."
"Very telling."
"I think so," she said. "If you share, you get to eat two things instead of one."
"You don't have to convince me. I love to share."
She licked her lips, wanting to keep Dante talking, even though she shouldn't. "Do you want to walk down to the park, keep me company while I eat my tacos? There's a nice view of the lake from there."
"That sounds good." He suddenly swore, his gaze darting across the street. "Dammit. Sorry. I gotta go."
Her jaw dropped as he took off running across the parking lot. A van came to a squealing stop not far from her, and a photographer jumped out, racing after Dante, but he had already disappeared around the corner of the building.
What was going on? Who the hell was Dante?
Chapter Two
Keira really shouldn't be chasing down a man who had acted in a shady manner, not just once but twice, but she couldn't stop herself. She'd eaten her tacos in the car, hoping that Dante would come back. When he hadn't, she'd decided to drive across town to the Firefly Inn and talk to her friend Lizzie Cole.
But she was having second thoughts as she entered the inn. It really wasn't her business who he was. Dante had a girlfriend. And she had enough distractions in her life; she didn't need anymore. But she couldn't get him out of her head, and she knew she wasn't going to until she figured out who he was.
"Keira, what are you doing here?" Lizzie asked in surprise. Lizzie was an attractive woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that warmed up a room. "I thought you had a big date tonight."
"That news traveled fast. I only decided to go this afternoon."
"I ran into Hannah earlier. She told me she'd finally convinced you to accept a date."
"Yes. She wants me to work on getting a plus one for her wedding."
"How was he? I'm guessing not so good, since it's?? Lizzie looked at the grandfather clock in the hallway. "Seven forty-five."
"He was very, very boring."
"Then you need some wine. Come into the living room."
"Do you have time?"
"Yes. Most of the guests are out for the evening and those who are in seem to be happy in their rooms. I could use a glass of wine, too. It's been a long week."
"Problems?" she asked, as she followed Lizzie into the living room of the inn, which had two seating areas, one with three couches in front of a large bay window and the other with two couches and two large chairs in front of a fireplace with tall bookshelves on either side. The inn had originally been a private estate and while it had been remodeled extensively over the years by several different owners, it still had a lot of old-fashioned charm.
"No big problems, just a million little ones," Lizzie replied, stepping behind a bar. "Red or white?"
"Red."
"Perfect. Because I still have almost a full bottle from our earlier cocktail hour." Lizzie poured them two glasses of wine, and then they sat down on a couch by the window. "Tell me about your date."
"There's not much to say. Danny seemed interesting enough when we were texting. He was a lawyer, but now he's writing a novel, which is why he moved to Whisper Lake."
"Not the first lawyer turned writer we've met."
"No, it's almost becoming a clich茅. I like creative people who make things, so I thought I'd give it a shot. He was nice enough. A big talker, though."
"One of those who never asks you a question about yourself?"
"Exactly. He chatted on and on about himself. And he was so indecisive. We looked at the menu for like fifteen