left to face him again.
“Come and have one drink,” said Laura.
Smoke gave her a rueful smile. “Go on. You can put up with me for just one.”
Wow. That was the first time he’d joked about the tension between them. Usually he was painfully polite or just stayed silent.
She gave him an inquiring look. “Are you saying you can put up with me?”
He laughed. “Yeah. I think it’s time we buried the hatchet. Especially if you’re going to be moving up here.”
She had to laugh with him. “As long as you’re not planning to bury that hatchet in the back of my head?”
He winked and Laura pushed at his arm. “Nah. My days of wanting to do that are finally behind me.”
“Okay.” She’d still rather not venture down there. But she couldn’t let the chance to finally smooth things over with Smoke pass her by. “I’ll see you down there.”
She ran back inside and freshened her makeup. Then she threw her case open. It was ridiculous, but she didn’t want to go out in the same clothes she’d traveled in. Just in case … Damn. She needed to get over that. What did it matter if he was there? Still, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a pink sweater. It was a more suitable outfit for this place anyway.
She looked around cautiously as she entered the bar. Would he be here? And how should she play it if he were? They hadn’t exactly parted on good terms. She shouldn’t have had a dig at him like that. She just couldn’t help it.
“Leanne!” She grinned as an arm slid around her waist and a very good-looking guy leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Where’ve you been hiding?”
“Nate!” She kissed him back and looked around. “It’s good to see you. Where’s Lily?”
A petite brunette appeared at his side. “Hey, Lee. We’ve been so excited for you to get here. You are going to stay, aren’t you?”
She leaned down to hug Lily. “Maybe. I don’t know yet. But tell me about you guys? Have you finally set a date?”
“We have.” Nate looked thrilled. When she’d first met him, Leanne didn’t believe he’d ever get married. He was too much of a ladies’ man, but he’d changed completely when he met Lily. A heavy weight of sadness settled in her chest. See, some guys were capable of becoming a one-woman man.
Lily grinned at her. “I didn’t want to ask for your address to send your invitation. I wanted to wait until you have a new address—here.”
“I don’t know about that yet. But you’d better get me an invitation one way or another.”
“We will.”
Laura and Smoke had come to join them. Smoke gave Nate a dark look. “Are you going on about your wedding again?”
Lily laughed at the look on Leanne’s face. “Don’t worry. He’s not being an asshole. I asked Smoke to remind Nate that we are allowed to talk about other things occasionally—and that not everyone wants to hear about our wedding plans all the time.”
Leanne smiled. That was a relief to hear.
Smoke laughed. “Come on, Leanne. Let’s get you a drink. I think we need to sit down and talk until we finally get it through each other’s heads that we’re not as bad as we make out.”
She met his gaze and smiled. “You mean you’re finally ready to accept that I might not be a complete bitch?”
He laughed again. “If you’re ready to accept that I might not be a complete asshole.”
She had to laugh with him. “I am.” She slipped her arm through Laura’s. “It looks like your life might finally get a bit easier, girlfriend.”
PART TWO
Chapter Sixteen
Ryan wiped the sweat off his face and slung his towel around his neck while he wiped down the weights and the bench.
“You’re hitting it hard this morning.”
He looked up to see Russ, who owned the gym, watching him. “Yeah.” He was hardly going to explain that he needed to get all his pent-up energy and frustration out and this was the only way he could think of.
“Everything okay?” Russ asked.
He shrugged. “How about you?”
“Yeah. Business is good. Life is quiet. That’s how I like it.”
Ryan smiled. “Me too.”
“Is it turning out to be a bit too quiet for you here?”
“Nah. It’s not that.” Russ was a former Marine. Ryan had talked with him a few times. He hadn’t exactly shared his history with him, but he’d said enough that Russ understood, and there was a bond between them that Ryan valued.