Brady took a turn that led them right to Main Street. He could see that the communal parking lot across from Town Hall was already filled with people heading into the café or to the Basket Case restaurant for lunch. In two weeks, the entire street would be crawling with locals, out-of-towners, and parade floats ranging from total crap to top-dollar designs. Cassidy’s Place hadn’t had a float in the parade in ten years. Before that, it hadn’t been a pretty sight. The Knox men were good at a lot of things. They were shit at papier-mâché.

Brady gave the customary lifted-hand wave to a few of the pedestrians who looked up as they moved across the sidewalk. Sloane paid them absolutely no mind. Her dark eyes were burrowing deeper and deeper into the side of his face.

It was unnerving.

“Hey, I know some things about you.”

Her scoff said she didn’t believe him.

“Like what? That my name is Sloane De Carlo and I make poor life choices?”

“Well, yeah. Those two, and I know that you are a lightweight when it comes to fruity drinks, you live in Nashville but are here visiting your brother—the same brother whose name is Callum and who hates to lie—and you don’t really seem to be a fan of Carol, despite having some intense feelings for her twin.”

Sloane groaned. “That’s it. We’re doomed.”

Brady laughed. “Hey, let’s just keep it simple, and we should be fine. Carol will only ask so many questions, and half of those I can joke my way out of. It’s a skill we bartenders hone—getting people to talk to themselves while we stand there looking pretty.” He sent a wink Sloane’s way. Then he realized there were some things not even his jokes could sidestep. “Or, wait. Did you ever post about the first time you met Guy? If so, give me a rundown.”

“I didn’t, thank goodness. The first time I mentioned him at all, I didn’t say anything about how we met. I didn’t really say much other than how I felt. That and that he was a friend.”

Brady made a mental note to read that post when he got another break. In fact, he needed to sit down and at least go through the most popular posts from The Girl Who Said Nothing. He had no doubt Carol had at least done that much, especially given all the attention Sloane was getting.

Attention was a zero-sum game for the Robertson woman. Any attention on someone else was attention not on her. Which meant she’d either have to outshine that other person or learn everything there was to know so she could dismantle them.

Honestly, Brady still didn’t think Sloane stood a chance.