Ethan’s gaze turned cold again. “You want to tell me the details?”
“Uh, no. You’re right.”
Ethan slugged him in the arm. “I trusted you.”
“I know.”
“You let me down.”
Guilt crawled all over Tucker. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.” Bad enough that Ethan knew about that night. Worse if he knew the circumstances.
“My mom thinks it was her first time.”
Anyone who said words could cut like a knife was wrong. Words were a hammer to the gut. Tucker sucked in a breath as the potential truth of that statement hit him upside the head.
A virgin? No. She couldn’t have been. He groaned, knowing that would make what had happened a thousand times worse. Bad enough to take her while he was skunk drunk, but to have fumbled and called out Cat’s name to a virgin…
“Kill me now,” he muttered, putting his elbows on the bar and resting his head in his hands. “Wait.” He straightened. “Your mother knows?”
“She’s close to her daughters.”
“Apparently. Who else…” He shook his head. “Don’t tell me.”
Nevada a virgin? She’d been eighteen. It was possible. With his luck, it was likely.
He couldn’t remember much about that night except that it had been quick and pretty bad. How was he supposed to apologize for that? What was he supposed to say? He’d been caught up in the storm of loving Cat. Everything else had been a blur. Sure he’d learned his lesson — never be a fool for love. But that didn’t excuse anything, especially his behavior with Nevada.
Jo walked over and placed beers in front of both of them. “Better,” she said. “Looks like you two have made up. Are you eating?”
“Lunch is on me,” Tucker said weakly.
“You bet your ass it is,” Ethan told him, grabbing both beers. “We’ll get a table in the back. Burgers okay?”
Tucker nodded and followed his friend.
They left the main part of the bar and went into a space that reminded Tucker a whole lot more of the bars he was used to. TVs mounted on the walls were tuned to baseball games. There were round tables, chairs without padding and a big pool table in the center.
“Interesting place,” Tucker said as they sat across from each other.
“Home,” Ethan said simply. “Except for college, I’ve never lived anywhere else.” He passed Tucker one of the beers. “You must get tired of traveling all the time.”
Tucker grabbed the beer and took a swallow. “It’s all I know. Tell me why this is better.”
Ethan gave him a slow, satisfied smile, then reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He passed over a picture. It showed Ethan with a beautiful redhead. She was looking at him the way every man fantasized about being looked at. A combination of love and pride and contentment.
“You don’t deserve her.”
Ethan chuckled. “Tell me about it. Liz is incredible. Sexy as hell, smart, a great mom. She loves with everything she has. I don’t know why she picked me, but she did and I’m not letting go.”
The simple words, honestly spoken, made Tucker feel uncomfortable. As if he’d accidentally walked in on something intimate, something he wasn’t supposed to see. He couldn’t imagine feelings like that. Loving someone and being loved in a way that was supportive and safe. In his world, love was a trap. A man could get lost in love, and sometimes getting away meant chewing off an arm.
“Then there’s these three.”
Ethan handed over a second picture. This one showed three kids — two girls and a boy. The girls were redheads, the older, maybe fourteen or fifteen, was probably already causing havoc at high school. The younger was an adorable carrottop with freckles. The boy, about the same age as the younger girl, was all Ethan.
“You’ve been busy,” Tucker said, passing back the picture. “Did I know you’ve been married that long?”
“Liz and I got married last summer. Tyler’s mine. Long story. The girls are her nieces. Their mom is dead and their dad’s in jail, so we have them now.” He put the pictures back into his wallet. “If you’d told me about taking in two kids a year ago, I would have said if they’re not yours you can’t love them as much, right?”
Ethan shook his head. “I couldn’t have been more wrong. Those girls keep me up nights just as much as Tyler does. Melissa wants to start dating. I want to lock her in her room until she’s forty.” He grinned. “We’re working on a compromise.”
“You sound like you’re happy.”
“I am.” Ethan picked up his beer. “It doesn’t get better than this.” He stared at Tucker. “You ever going to settle down?”
“I’m not the type. I move around too much.”
“When you take over the company, you’ll travel less.”
“Maybe. I’m not sure I want to change. I like living all over the world, seeing new things.”
“Don’t you get lonely?”
Tucker leaned back in his chair. “There are beautiful women everywhere, or are you so married you’ve forgotten.”
“Just not interested. Why go looking when you have the best of everything waiting at home?”
The fervor of the freshly converted, Tucker thought. He’d seen it before. Guys who were newly in love wanted everyone else to have what they did. The problem was they didn’t see that love would turn them all into fools until it was too late. Cat had done it to him, and his dad’s women did it to him on a regular basis. Tucker had learned his lesson.
Except now, talking to Ethan, he felt a hint of something that might be envy. Roots could be good. A place to call home. Someone waiting.
No way, he reminded himself. He’d tried that once. Cat had nearly destroyed him. Not by anything she’d done, but his reaction to her. He’d allowed her to become everything. He’d been little more than her love slave. By the time he’d managed to escape, he barely recognized himself. No. Love was for idiots who didn’t know better.
“You’re going to be around here for, what? A year?” Ethan asked.
“About that. I won’t stay through completion, but I’ll want to make sure the major elements are in place.”
“Ever spent any quality time in a small town before?”
“No.”
Ethan laughed. “Brace yourself. It’s not what you think. Within a month, everyone will know who you are, what you do with your day and who with. You won’t be able to make a move without running into someone you know. Stay clear of the local women. They’ll eat you alive — and not in a good way.”
“Sounds worse than construction in a rain forest. Why do you stay?”
“Because there’s nowhere else I want to be. I grew up here. I belong. I want to know my neighbors, have them watching out for the kids and letting me know when a friend is in trouble. They have my back and I have theirs.”
“I can’t relate,” Tucker admitted.
“You’ll get a taste of it. Be sure to head into town every weekend. Fool’s Gold is known for its many festivals. They happen regularly. The food is always good. Come winter, we can head up the mountain and go skiing.”
“I’d like that. I haven’t skied in a couple of years.”
“Good. If you think you can handle it, we’ll have you over to dinner. Or is that too domestic?”
“I can survive a few hours.”
Ethan grinned. “We could even invite a couple of the local single ladies. Let them fight over you.”
“You said to steer clear of them.”
“Maybe you want the challenge. As long as it’s not my sister.”
Tucker thought about Nevada. “Hands off. You have my word.”
“I’d better.”
Tucker took a swallow of his beer. Thirty minutes ago, he would have considered Nevada a hell of a temptation. Now, not so much. While he still found her intriguing, he’d already crossed the line once. He wasn’t a jerk. He knew when to back off, and with her, that was now.