have taken one second or ten minutes. All she could feel was Nate...and fear.
His touch ignited a flash fire of memory. The years disappeared and once more she was standing between his arms, her back against his truck, feeling his heartbeat and his heat, inhaling the amazing, perfect scent of his skin as he pressed against her, his whisper warm in her ear: “Do you know what the feel of you does to me?” He’d been the only person who’d ever made her feel truly special. More than a decade later, parts of her body that had been in hibernation a long, long time suddenly woke up. That was not good.
To regain her composure, she tore her gaze from his. She needed time to think. Even after all the years of looking for him, of fearing she might run into him somewhere, he’d still managed to catch her completely off guard now that it had actually happened.
And then, the worst...
Big Ken, the affectionately named clock tower in front of City Hall, struck two. Boom...boom...
Oh, dear Lord. She didn’t have much time at all. Seven minutes if she was lucky.
Her heart galloped as one thought rose above all others: Get rid of him!
“Nice to see you, Nate. I have to get back to work. Meal’s on the house.”
Izzy considered that a nice touch...friendly, but Nate’s blue eyes narrowed. “We haven’t eaten yet.”
“Oh. Not a problem. We’ll get you a sandwich to go.”
Nate’s frown deepened.
“You know what I’d like?” Jack, the jerk Izzy had seen groping Willa, stepped forward. “An apology for ruining my boots. Maybe even a reimbursement.”
Izzy stared at the man. She’d caught him fondling her employee, a woman so buttoned-up and proper that Izzy never told a blue joke in front of her.
Nate’s friend was a big hulk of a guy. Izzy didn’t recognize him, but she knew his type. Her mother had dated men like him: big, arrogant and dumb as rocks. Convinced you were as impressed with them as they were with themselves. Forget the jerk. Get rid of Nate, her brain counseled wisely. Her temper, however, which tended to get the best of her under stress, kindled.
“A reimbursement. Sure.” She nodded. “Check’s in the mail.”
“All right. That’s more like it.”
“I was being facetious.” Forgetting that from the neck down she was still dressed as a dill, she waddled up to the man to take him down a peg. “You know what I think? I think you need to apologize to Willa.”
“To Willa?” Derek was beside her in a flash. “What happened?”
“Nothing!” Twisting a ring on her right hand, Willa shook her head. “It was all just a misunderstanding. It won’t happen again.”
“What won’t happen again?” Derek squared off, ready for a showdown, which made Izzy realize instantly she should have kept her big mouth shut. Derek’s history was dotted with confrontation, and he tended to be even more mulish than she.
“The lady said it was a misunderstanding.” Nate stepped in. Unintimidated by Derek’s badge, his stature or his expression, Nate spoke in a tone at once mildly appeasing and strongly cautionary. “Let’s take her word for it. Jack, apologize to Willa.”
Jack spoke up from safely behind his friend. “Why should I apologize?”
“To save your life.” Nate tossed the wry reply over his shoulder while maintaining eye contact with Derek, who now directed his glower toward Nate.
“Who are you again?” Derek demanded, his hands on his hips. “And how do you know Izzy?”
Izzy’s heart began to pound. She and Nate had kept their personal business private. Because of her home life, Izzy had not socialized much, and because she and Nate had both had jobs, they’d reserved their limited time together strictly for each other. With the exception of Henry and Sam, who owned the deli and knew almost everything about her, most people had assumed she and Nate were just a fleeting high school crush. Here today, gone tomorrow. Which was exactly what she wanted them to assume.
I should use Gorilla Glue instead of lip gloss. If she’d kept her mouth shut, Nate and his friend might be out of here by now.
His gaze fell on her as he answered Derek. “Izzy and I are...old friends.”
Was it her imagination, or had Nate hesitated a hair too long before he said “old friends”? In addition to Derek, half her crew had rushed over to help when she fell. She did not want to court their curiosity.
Addressing herself to Jack, she said, “Never mind. You know what? Check is in the mail.”
“No, it’s not.” Nate turned toward her, his expression uncompromising. “He owes Willa—and you—an apology.” The steadiness of his gaze made her skin prickle inside the hot costume.
“Whose side are you on?” Jack complained. “She got water on you, too, man.”
Nate didn’t glance his friend’s way. His attention and low, intense words were all for Izzy. “Stand your ground, Isabelle. Don’t let some jackass push you around.”
“Hey!” Jack protested behind them.
Locked in a battle of gazes with Nate, anger blazed through Izzy like a brush fire.
Fifteen years ago, she would have given almost anything to have Nate Thayer on her side. To hear him stand up for her, stand up for them. But his supportive words were a decade and a half too late.
“You’re giving me advice, Nate? No, thank you. What I want is for you to take your friend and go.” She wasn’t a weak, starry-eyed girl any longer. “I want you to go right now.” The last words were so choked, so intense, Nate may have been the only one to hear them.
The surprise on Nate’s face offered a modicum of satisfaction. He seemed to be on the brink of saying something more before his expression shuttered, concealing his thoughts.
Slowly, he turned to his loudmouthed friend. “Apologize, and let’s go.”
“Apologize? For being friendly?”
“Do it,” Nate said. “I’m sure the sheriff would like to kick your ass, Jack, and if he doesn’t, I might. Stop arguing and start apologizing.”
“Fine. Who do I have to apologize to? The cucumber or the waitress?”
Hands resting just above his gun belt, Derek got in Jack’s face. “She’s a pickle.”
Nate shook his head. “Apologize to both of them,” he ordered.
Face reddening, Jack turned first to Willa. “Okay. Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He raised his hand to show off the gold band. “I’m married.” A resounding “ugh” circled through the small group of onlookers. Redder still, he looked at Izzy. “I apologize for making a big deal about the Wallabees. But they are new, and—”
Nate’s hand clamped down firmly on Jake’s
