Page 105 of Whiskey Chase
“Egg whites and turkey bacon for me,” I said with less enthusiasm. Jonah had become my trainer and was guiding me out of weakling phase. I’d already gained a few pounds of muscle back.
Clarabell arrived with the usual beverages we didn’t even need to order. “What’ll it be today, lovebirds?”
I watched Scarlett closely for a wince but didn’t see one. We ordered and then sat back in the awkward silence that was our new norm.
“So—” we both began.
“You first,” she said, deferring to me.
“I was just going to ask how things at your father’s house are going.” I’d offered to go back to help, but she’d insisted that she and her brothers had a handle on it.
Scarlett stirred her ice water with her straw. “Slow going.”
“Are you and Gibson on speaking terms?” I asked her.
She nodded and gave me an honest grin. “Yeah. And thank you for that. We’re all on the same page now.”
“Where you need to be.”
She nodded, but the smile faded, and I saw the shadows in her eyes. “What are you doing today?” she asked.
“I’m wading my way through constituent communications and a couple of drafts for next session,” I said. “We should be able to pass some significant legislation finally.”
“You must love what you do,” she ventured, looking at me with those big sterling eyes.
“I love the idea of it more than the reality of it,” I confessed.
“Really?” she asked.
“There’s a lot that gets in the way of actually doing the job I was elected to do.”
“Do you ever wish you did something else?”
I felt the weight of the question and wondered if that was hope in her eyes. But I’d never once lied to Scarlett. We didn’t do that.
“I’ve never considered doing anything else,” I said.
Her face fell.
Clarabell returned with our breakfast, and we ate in silence until Scarlett threw down her fork. “This is the stupidest thing in the world, Dev. I like you. I want good things for you. Can we please make the most of our time together?”
“I’m still hung up on the fact that you insist we don’t fit together.”
She stood up and rounded the table, sliding into my side of the booth so that we were hip to hip.
“Do you think I’m happy about this? If I thought for one second that I would be good for you, I’d be packing my shit, getting my nails done, learning to lose the accent, and heading to Annapolis. But we both know I’d be a complete disaster as a politician’s… girlfriend. I don’t fit. And I don’t think you’d like the changing I’d have to do to fit.”
She was right. And I hated that. Scarlett leaned into me, her bare arm brushing my forearm.
“This sucks,” I said succinctly.
“But it doesn’t have to,” she insisted. She wrapped a slim hand around my arm and squeezed.
“Just because we don’t make a permanent fit doesn’t mean that we should throw away the rest of our time together. I love being with you, Devlin. And I’m going to treasure these memories for the rest of my life. Also probably become a lesbian because no man is going to live up to you in the sack.”
I laughed even though I didn’t want to. Scarlett had that effect on me, and I wondered how in a few short weeks I’d gone from wondering how I’d ever sweep up the pieces of my life to wishing I could spend the rest of it with a sexy little brunette that could outdrink me.
“I just want to make the most of our time together. Okay?”
