Mia slipped her hand from the crook of Sawyer’s arm, and fished her flash drive from the front pocket of her jean skirt. “I skimmed through a few sections of Amelia’s journal while I was putting it on the drive. I looked for any entries about men who had disappeared around the time the jail was being built, but I couldn’t find anything. The jail, hotel, and saloon went up around the same time, just a few days after Amelia’s husband died, and she was kind of preoccupied with the funeral arrangements and everything else.”
Sawyer slipped the drive into his front pocket before capturing her hand and tucking it back into his arm, making Mia’s pulse flutter. He obviously enjoyed her touch as much as she enjoyed his. It made her wonder how much touching they were going to get around to tonight, but she pushed the thought from her head.
She wasn’t going to overthink things this time around. She and Sawyer had agreed to have a good time together, without any strings, and that’s what she was determined to do. Dwelling on her relationship with Paul hadn’t done a damn thing to protect her from a world of heartache. It was time to see how flying by the seat of her pants worked out when it came to the opposite sex.
“Thanks for this,” Sawyer said. “I was poking around at the library this morning before I met you at the site, but I couldn’t find many intimate details about Old Town. I did read some interesting things about your great great whatever grandmother, though.”
“Oh yeah?” Mia curled her fingers into his arm and swayed a little closer, enjoying the way they fit together as they walked.
He smiled down at her, flexing enough for it to be adorable, not cheesy. “It said she joined the wagon train to Lonesome Point with her father, but became Rupert’s lover after her father was killed along the trail. Reading between the lines, it sounded like Rupert wasn’t the type to buy the cow when he was already getting the milk for free, if you know what I mean. It seemed their wedding a few months after the company arrived in Lonesome Point came as a surprise to most people.”
Mia hummed through her closed lips. “Yeah, I’ve heard that version of the story. The way Gram tells it, Rupert and Amelia became engaged along the trail, but didn’t consummate the marriage until their wedding night. Though it’s hard to believe Amelia got pregnant with her son after sleeping with Rupert only once. I mean, it could happen, I guess, but the odds are against it.” Mia shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess I preferred to believe the more romantic version of the story.”
“Romantic or not, it’s still tragic,” Sawyer said, hesitating a moment before he added in a too casual tone. “Especially that business about the curse.”
Mia stiffened, and her steps stuttered for a moment before she picked up her pace.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” she said, waving a breezy hand in the air. “Tripped on the sidewalk. We need a new one. I’m going to bug the betterment society about that the next time they get a hair up their butt to make new banners for the Fourth of July picnic instead of filling in all the cracks around here.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the curse?” Sawyer asked, obviously not the kind who was easily distracted. “It seems like you usually enjoy telling your family’s stories.”
Mia shrugged again, keeping her eyes on the lighted booths of the farmer’s market at the end of the block. “It didn’t seem relevant to the restoration, I guess.”
“But you’re the first born daughter of your generation, aren’t you?” Sawyer pressed. “So wouldn’t you be next in line to suffer the curse?”
Mia forced a laugh. “You don’t believe in stuff like that, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” Sawyer stopped at the edge of the square, before they entered the throng of people gathered for Third Thursday. “But I wonder if you do. Is that why you haven’t dated anyone since you moved back to town?”
Mia rolled her eyes, but avoided making eye contact with him as she said, “Of course not.” She lifted an arm, waving to Tulsi and Clementine, who were heading toward the dance floor with Tulsi’s parents, before turning back to Sawyer with a grin. “I’ve decided that you’re not allowed to talk to Bubba anymore. I assume he’s the big mouth who told you how long I’d gone without a date?”
“He was just looking out for you,” Sawyer said. “He wanted me to know I needed to play it straight with you, and not jerk you around.”
“Did you need that kind of warning?” Mia asked, lifting a brow.
“No, but I respected him for giving it.”
Mia sighed, finding it hard to stay mad when confronted with the double sweetness of her best friend looking out for her, and her date being chivalrous and awesome. “Bubba’s a solid guy, but this really isn’t a big deal. And even if it was, it’s not like we plan on getting hitched, right?” She grinned up at Sawyer, determined to put this awkward moment behind them. “So don’t worry, cowboy, you’re safe.”
“It isn’t me I’m worried about.” The intense look in Sawyer’s eyes sent a not-unpleasant shiver up her spine. If she didn’t know better, she’d think this man cared about her. And if she didn’t know herself better, she’d think maybe she would…like that.
Maybe even like it a lot.
“Don’t worry about me,” she said, stepping closer to him, until their body heat met and mingled and the smell of his spicy aftershave and her lavender lotion combined to create a fragrance heady enough to make her dizzy. “Don’t worry about anything tonight, okay? Let’s just have fun. I could use a little fun.”
“All right.” Sawyer cupped her face in his hand. “How about we start with eating an obscene number of fish tacos? The smells coming from that booth over there are going to have me drooling in about ten seconds.”
Mia smiled, pulse leaping as the rough pad of his thumb brushed against her cheek. “Sounds perfect.”
She looped her arm back through his and they strolled to take their place at the end of the taco line. When they reached the front, Sawyer ordered a dozen, making it clear he was serious about that obscene number. Mia teased that his eyes were bigger than his stomach, but she was forced to eat her words when Sawyer scarfed down eight tacos to her four, and swore he still had room for dessert.
“I don’t see where you put it all.” Mia tossed her napkin into the cardboard box their tacos had come in with a satisfied sigh. “I’m not that much shorter than you, and I’m stuffed to the gills.”
“Fast metabolism.” Sawyer grinned, his hazel eyes crinkling at the edges in a way she found unreasonably sexy. “Good for eating lots of tacos, and burning through alcohol at a faster rate than average. But don’t worry, I’m not going to challenge you to a drinking contest.”
Mia’s eyes narrowed. “You realize that just speaking those words is a challenge, right? And I don’t take challenges lightly.”