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all of those?”
    Darla picked that moment to dump a cup of coffee in front of him and freshen Cassidy’s. Putting the silverware on the table and dropping of napkins took even longer. With the rough questions hanging out there, the whole process dragged on for what felt like years.
    Cassidy waited until Darla scampered off again to lean in. “When did I lie?”
    “Oh, come on. Really?” His bored expression gave way to one that said he’d walk out if the conversation didn’t turn around soon.
    So much for thinking she could wiggle out of this with some dignity. His drawn features said “patience expired” as sure as if he’d held up a sign. “I can explain—”
    “And you will. Later.” He picked up his mug and took what felt like the world’s longest sip. “Right now we’re going to sit here and eat breakfast like normal people.”
    “I’m not really hungry.” Putting this off for another second would make her head explode. The heat and pressure pounded in on her until it became harder to keep her eyes open.
    “Cassidy.” Just that. Her name in a tone of pure warning.
    Seeing the flat line of his mouth made her wonder how close the edge his temper had gotten. Testing that limit struck her as an invitation to a loud scene she didn’t want. “I can have toast.”
    “Smart choice. Here are the ground rules.” And his penetrating stare told her she’d better not question them. “We are not going to talk about last night or where you’re currently staying or where you have been staying since you got into town. And if you mention the Inn I will go apeshit. You’ve been warned.”
    She didn’t need him to add that last part. She got that from the way he ground out the words between clenched teeth. “Okay then will—”
    “There’s more.”
    “Of course there is.”
    His mug shook as he slowly returned it to the table. “We are certainly not going to talk about why you keep breaking into the nursery or if you were skulking around the other night when I did a final check of the buildings.”
    She was stuck on the first part of his comment. “I didn’t mean to—”
    “Your stuff is in my truck and it will stay there until we talk this all through. Dragging the bags in now will only confirm the gossip that you stayed with me last night and it didn’t go well, which is the theory I heard from the kid at the gas station, who heard it from a few people who came in before me. The kid actually offered me free condoms to make up for our suspected miss.”
    She tried to drag enough air into her lungs to breathe again. “Please be kidding.”
    “He said ‘Hey, dude, maybe next time,’ which totally made my morning.”
    “People think we had sex and didn’t like it?” It took her a few tries to get the words out and they sounded as bad in the open as they had in her head.
    “Hard to imagine, isn’t it? I’m assuming it will be great, but we’ll see.”
    “Wait—”
    “There are too many people here for this conversation or for answers.”
    She knew he was right on that score because she felt the heat of all of their stares burning into her skin right now. “You think people are listening in.”
    “I think the phone tree will start if I so much as frown at you. Never mind the yelling. And there will be yelling, Cassidy. Count on that, but we’ll be alone at my house when we rotate around to the anger portion of the day.”
    Alone. His house. The warnings bells in her head dinged loud enough to drown out the low mumble of chatter in the diner. “You’re not really selling me this plan.”
    “What you keep missing is that I’m trying to help you.”
    The vibration in his voice finally penetrated her brain. She was trying to keep from jumping out of her seat as the anxiety inside her bubbled and churned. He was wrestling with his control and on the verge of losing. She doubted he was doing all of this for him. He could walk way and never look back. No, he was doing this out of some