Chapter 10
Sucker punch – to hit below the belt by revealing someone’s secret to the whole dang town
Rowan
Igrowl when Ashlyn jumps from the back of my golf cart. Damn stubborn woman won’t let me help her at all. How am I supposed to ensure she doesn’t get hurt on my watch again if she won’t let me help her?
She hobbles toward the entrance of city hall on her crutches. When she reaches the stairs, I don’t give her a chance to climb them. I pick her up and carry her into the building.
She slaps at my shoulders. “Let me down, Jeeves. I can handle things from here.”
I snort in response. I know better than to engage in a discussion about her well-being with her. It leads down the path to jaw-clenching frustration. I’ve spent entirely too much time on that particular pathway lately.
Juniper waves from the front row where she’s sitting with the rest of the West sisters. Before I can reach her, Petal stops me.
“Oh my.” She fans her face. “Would you have a gander at this, girls?”
Suddenly, I’m surrounded by Feather, Sage, Cayenne, and Clove. None of them are a day under sixty and all of them have sex on the brain. I refer to them as the Gossip Gals. Not to their faces, of course. I’m not stupid.
“Ladies.” I nod in their general direction.
“You can put me down now,” Ashlyn grumbles.
“What’s wrong, Ashlyn? You don’t enjoy being carried around by the big, strapping football player?” Feather winks at me.
“I think the meeting is about to begin. We should probably find our seats,” Ash suggests as she wiggles in my arms. I tighten my hold on her. If she thinks she can escape now that the gossip gals are in attendance, she’s wrong.
“Please.” Sage waves away her concern. “Forest wouldn’t dare start a meeting without our go-ahead.”
Forest is the current mayor. I wish I could say Sage is wrong, but these ladies are the unofficial royalty of Winter Falls, and Forest is merely the temporary mayor. He knows better than to upset them.
“Nonetheless, I want to make sure Ash is comfortable.”
“I’d be more comfortable if you’d stop pretending to be some knight in shining armor and stop carting me around,” Ash mutters under her breath.
“Ah.” Clove places her hand over her heart. “He calls her Ash, and he wants her to be comfortable.”
Shit. I stepped in it now, didn’t I? The matchmakers will be placing their bets on when Ash and I will become a couple after this. I survey the room and notice almost everyone is studying our interaction. Double shit. The bets have already been placed.
I don’t bother speaking again. There’s no changing the minds of the residents of Winter Falls once the wagering has begun. I nod at the group of women before making my way to the front row.
Juniper slaps the empty seat on the end of the row. “Ashlyn can sit here.”
I barely set her sister down before Juniper’s shoving a bottle of beer in her hands. “Today’s word is ‘and’.”
Ashlyn grins. “Awesome.”
They clink bottles before taking their first sips. When Ash finishes drinking and licks her lips, I have to avert my gaze before the temptation to put my own lips on those lush ones of hers is too much.
Forest pounds the gavel at the front of the room. “Let’s bring this monthly business meeting for the town of Winter Falls to order.”
Mrs. West indicates the empty seat next to her in the row behind her daughters. “Sit with us, Rowan.”
“Lookie, lookie, your paramour is sitting directly behind you, Ashlyn,” Juniper teases.
Lilac twists in her seat to find who Juniper is referring to. When her eyes land on me, her nose scrunches. “I thought you said nothing happened between you two.”
“Correct,” Ash replies around a mouthful of popcorn.