I shook my head, grinning. We kept talking, to each other, to Vi, trading funny little anecdotes about our past week or two. We never ventured into anything too serious, as if both of us were still testing the waters. But the warmth of the afternoon sun, the excellent food, laughter, and simply being together took root in my chest, clearing all the pressure that had made a home there. It was the first time in over a decade that the vise was totally gone.

Nothing but peace remained.

18

BELL

“Girl, those guys at table six are giving you the business.”

I chuckled as I set a series of pint glasses down on Darlene’s tray. “You know my rule about customers.”

She waved a hand in front of her face as if shooing away a bug. “Yeah, yeah. If you need to get you some, go somewhere else.”

“It’s always worked out well for me.” But now that I thought about it, it had been far too long since I’d come close to getting myself even a hint of anything. No dates, no kisses that made me long for more, and certainly no sex. I’d been too caught up in the bar, my restoration projects, and helping Caelyn with her siblings. Maybe it was time to take a night off and convince the girls to go out on the town. Perhaps even in Seattle.

“Heeeelloooo, Earth to Bell. You thinkin’ about gettin’ yourself some?”

I winked at Darlene. “Maybe I am.”

She picked up her tray. “Good for you. Those guys at table six are hot.”

“I’ll take it under advisement.” I turned and almost crashed into Ford. “Whoa.”

He reached out a hand to steady me, his palm seeming to sear the skin at my elbow. “What was that all about?”

My brows pulled together. “What? Darlene?”

“Yeah.”

I sidestepped Ford and began fixing a Jack and Coke. “Oh, nothing. She’s just trying to get me to break my rule.”

Ford stepped in closer, the heat of his body seeping into my back. “Your rule?”

I shot the Coke into the rocks glass. “Yeah. I don’t sleep with customers.” Ford let out some sort of strangled sound, and I glanced over my shoulder to see redness creeping up his neck. I clenched the glass tighter. “You know, I am a grown woman, Ford. I do have sex.”

He cleared his throat. “I know you’re not a kid, Bell.”

“Good. Now, if that’s settled, you have some customers waiting on you.” I inclined my head towards his end of the bar. Ford opened his mouth as if to say something and then closed it again, heading for the patrons flagging him down. Ford might know that I was an adult woman in theory, but I was pretty sure he’d always see me as that gangly fifteen-year-old in his mind. And didn’t that just burn?