“Just friends. My treat.” He scratched the bottom of his chin. “Except I know most of my friends’ names.” He jutted out his hand. “I’m Jack Hershey, like the candy.”
This made her smile. Reluctantly, she put out her hand as well. “I’m, um, Diana.”
He noticed that she didn’t include a last name in her introduction. “Can you walk to the ATV, Diana, or do you need help?”
“I can walk,” she said. “But I can’t walk and carry my bag. And I’m not leaving my bag,” she said quickly.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it.” Jack jogged over and looped the strap over his shoulder as she watched him closely, almost as if she was worried that he might steal her belongings. He didn’t blame her. If everything she owned was in this one bag, it must be very important to her. He led her back to the vehicle and hesitated. “You’ll have to ride with me. Do you need help climbing on?”
She shook her head. “I can do it.”
“It’s just a short drive. I’ll go slow to minimize the bumps on that leg.” He climbed on first and waited for her to climb behind him, readying himself to catch her if her balance became compromised.
Once she was on the back, Jack looked at Sam and nodded an okay to crank the engine and head back to the office. He’d expected that when he took the illegal camper out of his park, it would be to meet chief of police Alex Baker. After looking into Diana’s eyes—if that was even her real name—he realized that she hadn’t intended any harm. Instead, she seemed to be in need of help.
* * *
Emma loved a good jolt of caffeine first thing in the morning. She loved it so much that she’d built her whole career around that buzz of caffeine. But she also loved drinks of a different variety every now and then.
As she sat with Nina at the Tipsy Tavern, she thought that maybe she should do this more often. This was a good stress reliever. Just as much as the alcohol felt good buzzing through her veins, it also felt good to laugh. The kind of laughter that squeezed tears out of the corners of your eyes and made your belly ache a little. That’s the kind that she and Nina had been having for the last hour.
“So…,” Nina said. She was just as tipsy as Emma, if not more so. “Which guy in here would be the one?”
Emma shook her head while grinning. “Which one?”
“You know…the one you’d pick to go home with. If you could choose any guy, no strings.”
Emma laughed softly. “No, that’s not me.”
“What’s not you?” Nina asked, taking a sip of her lime margarita.
“There’s nothing wrong with casual hookups, but it’s not what I do.” She felt her cheeks burning at just the discussion. “I mean, I never have before.”
“You’ve never had a one-nighter?” Nina asked in mock shock. Or maybe it was real.
Emma narrowed her eyes. “I’m guessing by your reaction that you have.”
“Of course I have. I’m twenty-seven years old, and I’ve never been in any serious relationships. Without the one-night stands, I’d still be a virgin.”
Emma and Nina started laughing hysterically again.
“I’m not a virgin, but it’s been so long that I might as well be,” Emma confessed.
Nina giggled softly. “So, which guy? Just for the sake of pretending.”
Emma groaned and looked around the room. “It’s a definite no to all the guys in here that I already know because that would be weird. And I know every guy in here,” she clarified, returning her gaze to Nina. “So none.”
“Aw, you’re no fun at all.”
“But you have to admit meaningless sex with guys you know could be awkward the next day when you’re serving them coffee.”
Nina shrugged, and if Emma wasn’t mistaken, her cheeks were now turning red.
“Wait. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve done the casual thing with a guy in here and seen him the next day at the café. Who?”
Nina shook her head, her body shaking as she giggled. “Sorry, I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Now you’re the one who’s no fun.” Emma harrumphed. She looked around the tavern again, this time her breath catching.
“Aha. So Jack is the one,” Nina said with a wide grin. “I knew it.”
“No, I know him too, and that would definitely be awkward.”
“Not really. He’s already your boyfriend,” Nina pointed out.
“Fake boyfriend and that whole scenario is just silly. I’m not sure