Molly glanced at her. Cora was smiling, then again, smiling was her default.
Still…
Molly shook her head. She was sure she was just being overly sensitive. All because of that jackass Travis. Cora didn’t deserve to be treated poorly because of him either. “Maybe the next time you talk to your aunts, you’ll ask about me? Please.”
“Consider it done.” Cora’s smile widened. “All you had to do was ask.”
For as long as Archer could remember, The Mansion had been a private residence. Some said it was haunted. Others liked to spin tall tales about sleeping beauty or a beauty and the beast situation going on there. All Archer knew was that the family who lived there had a son about his age or a little older, and he never went to the local schools growing up.
Hell, Archer wasn’t sure where he went, but he had gotten a glimpse of the kid back in high school. Out on the lake, sailing with a group of friends that Archer hadn’t known either. Honestly, he wasn’t sure which guy had been Knightley.
Not that any of that mattered right now.
What mattered was the fact that Molly was acting strange, almost as if she were mad at him. That couldn’t be right because he hadn’t done a damn thing to make her mad and if he had, she would have told him.
A cool breeze, unusual for August, but not the mercurial North Carolina weather, weaved around them. Molly shivered. Even he felt a chill.
“You left your shawl in the truck. Do you want me to go back and get it for you?” he asked.
“No.” She shivered again, and he grimaced. “It’s not that chilly.”
“Are you sure?”
She sighed. “Positive. It’ll be warmer inside.”
Okay, then.
They stood in line, waiting their turn to be let inside. Only instead of being directed to the front of the Mansion, people were being directed to a gate off to the right. Just above the stone and brick wall, he could make out the top of a large, white tent.
“What do you think?” he asked after they were checked in by private security. “Is it everything you imagined it would be?”
“Actually, I’m more than a little disappointed we’re not allowed inside,” Molly said as they walked down a well-lit stone pathway to the outdoor tent where the event was being held. “Cora wanted detailed information and pictures. Now it’ll only be of the grounds and the inside of a tent that everyone rents for weddings.”
“Cora hit me up for extra tickets.” He laughed. “She said she’d do anything to get one, except break the law. Not sure why she added that one.”
Molly gave him an odd look. He thought for sure she’d laugh over that. “Because you arrest people for breaking the law.”
“Yeah, but I know the difference between actual law breaking and hyperbole.”
“Maybe she was being extra sure that you did. I don’t know.” She shrugged, bare shoulders a lighter tan in the moonlight. The light blue dress she wore was sleeveless and the skirt of it long, so long that it brushed the ground and made him worry about her tripping over the material. “Why do you care what Cora thinks about you?” she asked sharply.
What the hell?
He tightened his grip on her arm and she looked at him questioningly. “Did I do or say something wrong at any point in the last twenty-four hours?” he asked pointedly. No use in beating around the bush. He wanted their night to be fun.
She stopped suddenly, her cheeks turning as pink as the roses on the grounds. “No. Why would you think that?”
“Because you’re acting…”
“I swear, Archer, if you say weird, I’ll push you into that ornamental pond.”
“Mad,” he finished. “Irritated.”
“No. Just… not everything is about you, okay?” she said and started to walk away, but he still had his hand on her arm.
“Hold up. We are not going anywhere until this is resolved.”
“I’m not a case, Kincaid.”
He lifted a brow. “Didn’t say you were, but if I can help, I want to help.”
“Right here, right now.”
He nodded. “Whatever’s on your mind has already messed with tonight. Let’s fix it. You’d do the same for me.”
She softened, he felt it under the palm of his hand. The muscles and tendons under her silky, soft skin wasn’t pulling tight anymore. “Fine. Cora is interested in you—er, brother, Asher.”
“Huh?”
“Cora thinks Asher is hot.”
He blinked. “That’s… no.”
Pulling away from him, she threw her hand in the air. “Exactly.”
“And my little brother would never go for her.”
Molly