Page 62 of Scaredy Cat
“Reservations?” Her voice comes out as cheery, and she politely turns to look at me a moment later with the same welcoming expression.
“Our party is already here, actually.” Shiloh waits for the girl’s permission and drags me through the restaurant by my hand like I might run if he lets go. Which is completely preposterous.
After all, there’s food on the line, and I’m starving.
Brynn and Madison never look away from Shiloh as we approach. Their eyes stay glued to his face, and I see them murmur a few comments to each other that I don’t even try to hear. They’re like the nosy grandmothers of any friend group, and I don’t take it personally whatsoever.
“I hope you practiced your rapid-fire responses,” Brynn informs Shiloh as he sits, earning a quizzical look from himthat only fuels her grin. “Because you’re about to play twenty questions. Congratulations.”
He snorts at that and settles back in his chair as I do the same. “Ask me anything you want. I guess I have to pass this test to date Persy, right?” His mask is back on, the one he can use to charm anyone with ears or eyes in a five hundred foot radius. It’s almost boyish in nature, with good humor and an underlying current of sincerity that my mother ate right up.
I would know, since she hasn’t stopped texting me about him since that morning and wants to meet him as soon as possible. While I know she’d love him in person, and so would my dad for that matter, I have absolutely no desire to go see them unless I’m being threatened. And even then, I’m not sure I wouldn’t give up a few fingers to stay on my side of the state.
“Right,” Madison promises. She shoves the bread basket in front of me, where a piece of dark rye has been reserved as my offering. I smile my thanks and take it, splitting it in half before dropping the other half and pushing the basket toward Shiloh.
“Full name?” Madison begins before Shiloh has even picked up the menu.
“Shiloh Wilkes. Twenty-eight,” he answers with a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Born and raised in Valparaiso. Went to school in Bloomington. I’ve visited forty-nine states, just missing Hawaii. Never married, no kids. And yes”—his grin gets wider—“this is my natural hair color.”
I can’t help but laugh at his attitude, but I attempt to cover it with a cough. Even Madison looks like she might chuckle, though she gracefully withholds such a human-like reaction in front of him. “What do you do for a living?”
Thisis the part I’m interested in. I want to know how he’s going to explain away basically beating people up when his dad needs him to, or how he intimidates people for money.
“I’m a consultant for a couple of top firms in Chicago. I get to work remotely, which is nice.” That has me looking at him, stunned, and Shiloh grins when he sees my face. “You never asked me for my jobtitle,” he points out. “We never make it past her asking about my day, or if anything interesting happened.”
He’s not wrong, though he’s definitely phrasing it in a way that makes it seem less violent than he is.
“Oh.” Brynn sits up, looking interested. “Wow. That’s not what we expected.”
“What did you expect?” I grumble with a mouth full of bread. “For me to have picked him up off the street and dressed him up nice?” In all honesty, I hadn’t expected them to know about Shiloh at all. But thanks to my forgetfulness and Madison’s hovering, she showed up just minutes after he had, and unfortunately caught us making out on the front porch.
At least she loved Arugula once I invited her inside when she wanted to continue to glare daggers at Shiloh. But it’s hard to hate someone who loves his cat so much that he stood there bouncing him up and down like a baby while cooing at him in front of witnesses.
“Figured he was some scare actor you found at a haunt. You get a little weird about all of that.” Brynn’s words are casual, but I still nearly choke on my bread. Shiloh’s hand comes down, and his fingers squeeze my thigh reassuringly.
“I do love horror,” he admits. “But no. I’m not a scare actor. Well, okay. Does it count that I helped out with my high school’s charity haunted house back when I was seventeen? I was the worst werewolf anyone had ever seen, so they politely did not ask me back.” The admission draws a snicker from Brynn.
“You don’thaveto say you love horror,” Madison assures him. “She has other qualities. Not a lot of other interests”—she ignores my noise of protest—“but she has other qualities. Maybe you can get her into something else. Like hiking.”
“I’d rather die,” I promise.
“Or traveling.”
Shiloh and I look at each other, and he shrugs. “What do you think? We could get one of those boards with pins to put the map at every haunted attraction we come to and make a road trip of it in your off season? Your followers would love it,” he suggests while stroking my leg lightly.
It’s…actually a really cool idea. I’ve shown him boards on Etsy, the ones with the states’ top haunted locations marked, and you put a ghost-shaped pin in once you’ve visited them. He’s heard me sigh wistfully over them a few times this week, after a follower revealed their existence to me.
“Yeah?” I ask, warmth flooding me with pleasant surprise. “That would actually be really fun if you want to go.” I don’t know if I’ve ever felt like this, with butterflies fluttering pleasantly through my insides and my brain very aware of his hand on my thigh in a comforting, positive way.
His smile is sweet, making me want to lean in, but Madison’s voice cuts through my rose-tinted daydream.
“Wow.” When both of us look at her and Brynn, they’re grinning. “Where in the world did you find him, Persy?” she asks.
“Why?” My voice comes out quizzical, and a touch defensive. Like she’s going to insult Shiloh, or?—
“Because I didn’t think anyone this perfect for you could exist. Seriously, you guys seem like you’re made for each other. I think…” The waiter shows up at the table behind us, giving us the signal we’re next. Madison picks up her menu, and I grab mine because I have no idea what they even have.
“I think you’re good for her,” Madison tells Shiloh. “But if you hurt her, Brynn will end your life.”
