Page 79 of Hottie on Her Shelf
Chapter Sixteen
Fitz raised an eyebrow as he realized Hallie was trailing behind him. “I thought it was only women that went to the bathroom in pairs. You know you can’t go in there with me, right?”
“Did you actually expect me to stay at the table with your parents by myself?” she said in a stage whisper. “That’s just cruel, Fitz.”
“I’m not abandoning you to bolt out the door. Nature calls. It’s a standard and universally accepted excuse for leaving the table.”
“Actually, speaking of doors, can you, well, hold it for another few minutes?”
“Sure.”
Hallie peeked around the corner, then led him out the glass door to the patio and nipped them away from the patrons to the delivery entrance. A row of bushes hid it from view. She put a hand to his cheek. “Are you okay?”
Weird question. Fitz turned to kiss her palm. “I’m young, I’ve got enough to live on, and a beautiful, intelligent woman sharing my bed every night. I’m damn okay.”
“I mean…you seemed pretty argumentative in there with your parents. Almost like you were already mad at them, didn’t want to tell them, but took it out on them anyway.”
Very perceptive. If only his parents could read him as well… “After how poorly they treated you tonight, you’re actually trying to protect them?”
“Oh, no. Your parents have not endeared themselves to me one iota. I’m trying to protect you from lashing out and saying something you might regret.”
There it was. He all but heard the squeak as the lock on his heart unlatched.
Nobody had ever stood up to the Montgomerys, let alone to defend their son. The way Hallie cared about, well, the people and things she cared about, the passion and loyalty—it was amazing. Her friends. Her parents. Her adopted town—running for a job she didn’t even want because she thought the town deserved better.
And now him.
Fitz had tried to resist falling for Hallie. It’d complicate their easy little fling. It’d make it harder to walk away when it inevitably had to end. Turned out it was impossible not to fall for her.
“That’s… Thank you. For looking out for me.”
“Of course. We’re not opponents right now. This is a Fitz and Hallie moment, out here. What’s wrong?”
He couldn’t tell her. Could he?
No. All he had was one person’s story. No corroborating evidence. No admission from anyone actually involved. Fitz didn’t want to spare his uncle or his father the blowback, the humiliation, if it was true, but he didn’t want the town distracted this close to the election by something that happened years ago and had zero relevance to the current campaign.
“You’re right. I am pissed at my dad. I heard a rumor that, if it’s true, is pretty damning. Can’t ask him about it, though, until I get my ducks in a row. If I accuse him without having the facts to back it up, he’ll deny it. There’ll be a huge fight. I won’t get the chance to bring it up again. I lose the element of surprise.”
“Talking to your father requires a whole strategy?”
“Yes.”
“But you’re sure he’s in the wrong?”
That was a tricky one to answer. On the one hand, he’d repaid the stolen money to the town. Technically, doing what was the mission statement of the Montgomery family—protecting Swan Cove.
On the other hand, the fact Preston actively worked to hush up the incident sure made it look like his dad had been protecting his brother, Jeremiah, far more than Swan Cove.
Slowly, Fitz said, “I think he did the right thing, ultimately, but for the wrong reasons, and that’s a big problem.”
“That’s admirable, Fitz. Plenty of people wouldn’t worry about the why, they’d just move along.”
He looked down at her, at the way the moon made a nimbus around her hair. The new cut and highlights she’d put in still looked like Hallie, but turned up a notch. A soft breeze carried the scent of some blooming tree, and a few petals fell on their shoulders.
“I’m not so admirable, because all I want to do right now is kiss you. Doesn’t matter that there are thirty people on the other side of those bushes, and a hundred people inside. My parents waiting for us.”
“Well, if none of that matters, then why aren’t you kissing me already?” Her tone was pure sass and challenge.
