“You’ve got yourself a deal.” Her smile was a little weak but it was there.

Chapter Five

Royal had come to town pretty much daily since he’d seen Caroline in the grocery store. He hoped he managed to bump into her soon or daily trips to town might be seen as more stalkery and less hey I hope I can bump into Caroline today.

He’d tried the courthouse and some of the restaurants near her office. A girl had to eat. He knew she was around. Petal was Petal after all and the gossip machine was in full swing. Word was all over the place about her return.

She was beautiful so that was mentioned a lot in positive and negative terms. A lawyer, also mentioned a lot. Frowned on, though less so, because she’d started with Edward Chase’s firm. Whispers about her father had made him uncomfortable on many levels.

So he’d come to town. First to grab his aunt’s prescription and to drop off some invoices, and now to stroll by the offices of Chase and Chase to see if he could engineer bumping into a fun-sized brunette with big brown eyes and a fantastic rack.

It was after six, but he figured she wasn’t one for leaving right at five.

And like he’d dreamed her up, she pushed out of the doors and settled the strap of her bag on a very well-dressed shoulder.

Damn her mouth was gorgeous. She wore the ghost of a smile as she turned on the sidewalk and headed in his direction.

Royal raised his hand and waved, and when she noticed him, her attention settled like a physical thing.

“Hey now, it’s Caroline Mendoza.”

That ghost of a smile bloomed into a genuine one. An expression that told him how happy she was to see him.

“Why hello, Royal.”

He tipped his chin in her direction. “You’re even better than Friday.”

One of her brows went up. “You’re pretty good with the flattery.”

He hadn’t been entirely sure about the Friday line so he was glad she’d liked it. “I do believe you said if I bumped into you around town you’d have a drink with me.”

“I think I said I’d probably give you my number if you bumped into me around town. However I’m thirsty and it’s been a long week, so let’s pretend I totally did.” She held up a coat and some files. “I need to drop this all off and to change. Because nothing about stockings says relaxation.”

He gulped. “Stockings, huh? Well I don’t know if it says relaxation, but it sure does say all sorts of positive things to me.”

She grinned.

“Did you drive?”

“I only live four blocks away so I walked.”

He took her files and coat. “I’ll carry them for you. How about we do dinner and a beer? I’m starving.”

She shrugged and took up walking next to him. “All righty.”

For a short person, she moved surprisingly fast. Sort of headfirst. She seemed so very sure about everything she did, right down to walking.

She led him up a set of back stairs to her apartment, and he barked a laugh. “One of my friends used to live here. A bachelor pad of sorts.”

She unlocked and waved him in, but he held the door for her. “Really? I guess I should be glad the walls can’t talk.”

Considering the life Marc Chase had lived before he’d ended up with his wife, probably not. Unless Caroline liked dirty-talking walls.

She looked back at him as she hung her coat up. “You can drop those files on the table. Where are we going to dinner?”

“Huh?” He’d been staring at her ass and only caught a word or two.

“Dinner? Jeans okay or do I need to dress up?”

He panicked for a moment. He’d planned on the Pumphouse. They had a great menu and plenty of beers on tap, but should he take her somewhere nicer?

“That wasn’t a trick question, Royal.”

“Go on, laugh at my confusion.”

“I would if I knew what you were confused about. How about this? I would very much like to relax. A pitcher of beer, a burger, tacos, pizza, you know, casual stuff.”

“Sounds perfect. The Pumphouse then. So jeans are just fine.”

“I’ll be out in a few.”

He cruised around her apartment, looking at the pictures on the walls. He paused at the wedding photograph. Her mother and father so very young. Hell, younger than he was right then.

Love was stamped all over them. He knew at that moment, without a single doubt, that Caroline saw them just like this. Her memories of her parents were of these two people. And he understood it. These two people could not have ended the way they had with Bianca Mendoza’s broken body in her husband’s arms. Not with Enrique as the man who killed her.

Royal didn’t know the truth of it, but he knew what she saw, what Caroline believed.

“They were eighteen. She was pregnant with me but you can’t even tell.”

She’d come out and he hadn’t even heard.

“You ready?”

He turned and the breath was knocked from his lungs at the sight of her. “Good Lord above you’re beautiful.”

She smiled and there was shyness in it. He hadn’t seen even a hint of shyness about her, and it sent a wave of tenderness through his gut.

He tipped his head toward the picture of her parents. “I recognize the church. My parents were married there too. She was pregnant as well.” He winked and Caroline swallowed hard and the smile she gave him this time was different. Not flirty or sweet, there was…gratitude maybe? He wasn’t sure what it was, but for a brief moment she was vulnerable.