Falling for Owen (10 page)

“Those are really pretty.”

“Thanks. Since you’re in your suit, I thought I needed a little something extra for dinner.”

“You don’t need anything. You’re beautiful just the way you are.”

She stopped in the process of grabbing her purse and looked up at him. He smiled and waited for her to say something, but she couldn’t. He meant those simple words and they melted her heart and endeared him to her even more.

I’m in so much trouble.

If she lost her heart to this man, she didn’t know if she’d survive if things didn’t work out, because with Owen it mattered more than it ever had with anyone else.

“Let’s eat, I’m starving,” he said.

The implied
for you
didn’t go unnoticed. She grabbed the bakery box and held it out to him. “Your favorite brownies and a few other treats.”

“You must be sweet on me if you’re giving away your goods.”

Not admitting to anything, she smiled sweetly and replied, “Well, they are leftovers. It’s either toss them out or give them to you.”

“Good choice. No sense wasting something this good.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

This time his eyes told her he understood she meant the two of them together, too.

Chapter Twelve

O
WEN OPENED
C
LAIRE’S
door and helped her down from the truck. She took his hand without reservation, making him happy she accepted him so easily. After the kiss they shared, he didn’t want to let go of her, but pull her closer. Aware of her hesitation to take things too quickly, he held her hand and escorted her into the restaurant without putting his arm around her and pulling her to his side.

The hostess recognized him immediately, and despite the many people waiting, she showed them right to a table near the window. Complete with candlelight and tall potted plants to shield them from the next table, it was intimate enough to give them privacy, but still not too secluded as to cut them off from the many other guests watching them.

Owen held Claire’s chair and waited for her to take her seat before he took the one next to her rather than across. He even scooted a bit closer so they could talk, get to know each other better without having to raise their voices over the din of the other guests.

“Our specials tonight include a delicious salmon ravioli with white sauce, and Portobello mushroom with chicken and rigatoni in a white wine and fresh herb sauce.” The waitress came to stand beside the hostess. “This is Anna, she’ll take care of you this evening. Enjoy your meal.”

“May I take your drink order? Mr. McBride, your usual?” Anna asked.

“Yes, please.”

“And for the lady?”

“What are you having, Owen?”

“They have a really great Californian cab I love.”

“We stock it especially for Mr. McBride,” Anna added.

“I’ll have what he’s having,” she said, smiling at him.

“In that case, bring the bottle.”

“As you wish, Mr. McBride. Would you like an appetizer this evening?”

He looked to Claire and she smiled prettily at him, melting his insides.

“I’ll defer to you again,” she said, trusting him with the order, and he hoped a lot more.

“The antipasto platter and pancetta focaccia twists.”

“Excellent choices. I’ll leave you to the menu. The specials are listed inside as well. If there is anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Owen spotted Rain and Brody heading in their direction. “Can you kick them out?” He indicated his brother with a nod in their direction.

Anna smiled and laughed. “Sorry, no. I’ll be back with your order in a few minutes.”

Owen dropped his napkin on the table and stood to greet his brother and Rain. She came around the table and hugged him close.

“Hello, beautiful.”

“Hi. Fancy meeting you here.” Rain cast a glance Brody’s way and Owen caught the guilty look.

“What? I’m hungry, and we’re celebrating,” Brody defended showing up at the same restaurant, like Owen hadn’t mentioned it when they talked earlier.

“Celebrating what?” Owen asked.

“Can I tell him now? It’s been three months.”

“You’re pregnant,” Owen guessed, crushing Rain to his chest. “Oh, honey, I’m so happy for you. Both of you. I know how much you want this.”

“We’re very happy. But we’re being rude. Introduce me to your friend,” Rain demanded.

“Oh God, Claire, I’m sorry. This is Rain. Rain, Claire.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Rain said, reaching across him to shake Claire’s hand. “I heard a lot about you this morning.”

“I’m sure you did.”

“You remember my brother, Brody, from last night.”

“Keep the knives away from her,” Brody teased.

Claire’s face turned pink with embarrassment. Owen shot his brother a dirty look.

“I’m so sorry about that.”

“No big deal. I’m not the one you nearly gutted last night.” Brody nodded in Owen’s direction.

Claire stared up at him with a question lighting her green eyes.

“You weren’t thinking clearly and you tore my shirt before I took the knife from you.”

All the color washed out of Claire’s face. He took her hand and squeezed. “Sit down.”

“Don’t mind if we do,” Brody said, seating Rain in the chair beside his.

“Brody, they’re on a date,” Rain scolded.

“Now, it’s a double date.”

Owen didn’t care what they did. His sole focus remained on Claire. “Breathe. I’m fine. No harm done.”

“I didn’t know,” she mumbled, worrying him.

“You didn’t need to know. My brother needs to keep his big mouth shut. It’s no big deal.”

“I could have stabbed you.”

“You didn’t.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No need to be. Brody scared you after you’d been terrorized. It’s only natural you’d fight.”

Anna arrived with the wine and poured a small amount into his glass. He went through the ritual of smelling and tasting it, though he hardly paid attention. He gave Anna a nod that the wine was good, and she poured for the table.

Owen took Claire’s hand from her lap and held it. “Take a drink. You’ll feel better.” When she did as he said, he stared across the table. “Nice work. Did you come here to purposefully ruin my date?”

“No. I promised Rain a nice dinner out. Messing with you is a bonus. But I am sorry I upset you, Claire. You didn’t need that after last night’s trouble. How are you feeling?”

“Fine, until you showed up.”

She said it with a straight face and Brody frowned and leaned back in his seat, obviously dismayed by her statement. Owen wanted to groan and throw up his hands in defeat. The date had started off so well, now it had gone to shit. Claire would probably never want to see him again.

“I’m just kidding,” she added, smiling and giggling nervously.

Brody sighed out his relief. “You look better. How’s the head?”

“A few glasses of wine, and I’ll be fine.”

“That should be a slogan,” Brody said.

“Here, have mine.” Rain set her glass in front of Claire’s place. “I can’t have it anyway.”

“Congratulations.”

Owen caught the look of envy on Claire’s face and remembered that she and the asshole broke up for more than his cheating. She’d wanted to have a family. Well, he liked the idea of having kids. Hell, he loved hanging out with his nieces.

“Your girls are wonderful. Always so full of joy and fun when they come into the shop,” Claire said, engaging Rain in her favorite topic. Her girls.

“Always so full of sugar when they come home from your shop.” Rain smiled, then gave Owen a frown because he was famous for taking them out, feeding them nothing but sugar, and dropping them home for Rain to deal with the inevitable sugar crash and cranky attitudes.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Owen lied with a smile on his face, making Claire laugh beside him. Her distress from a moment ago forgotten, he hoped.

“They must be so excited about the baby,” Claire said.

“They don’t know,” Brody answered.

“We haven’t told anyone but you two. We wanted to wait until the first trimester was over to be sure everything is all right,” Rain explained.

“You’re okay?” Owen asked, concerned.

“She’s perfect,” Brody said, smiling and taking Rain’s hand, kissing the back of it.

“You should bring the girls to the shop. I’ll make pink and blue tea cakes. You can surprise them.”

“What a wonderful idea. We’ll do that Saturday after the softball game.”

“I’m not wearing the pink boa,” Brody announced.

“That one belongs to Owen,” Claire teased, shooting him a mischievous smile.

Anna arrived with the appetizers and took their order. He didn’t mind Brody and Rain’s intrusion, not when Claire seemed fine and at ease with the group. If things went well, he hoped they’d spend a lot more time together.

“Owen tells me you were in the military, Brody. Have you been back long?”

“It’s been several months now. I came back for Rain and discovered I had two little girls.”

“You’re fixing up the cabin on the family ranch?” Claire asked.

“Owen has the big house. I’m building Rain and the girls a house where the cabin used to be.”

“It’s going to be gorgeous if we ever finish it,” Rain added.

“A couple more months. Then, we’ll get married,” Brody said, smiling at Rain.

Owen knew that smile didn’t always come easy for his brother, but Rain brought it out more and more each day.

“You still haven’t asked me.”

“I will,” Brody teased.

Owen leaned in to Claire, like he was telling her a secret. “This has been going on since these two got back together. Brody tells her they’re getting married, but Rain isn’t one to take orders, even from Brody, so she’s waiting for her proposal.”

“All he has to do is ask,” Rain confirmed.

“Which Brody hasn’t done, because he’s stubborn and ornery,” Owen added.

“Not true. Well, true,” Brody said, laughing at himself. “You see, Claire, I did some bad things back in the day. Rain and the girls paid a high price. I owe her the perfect proposal.”

“I don’t need perfect, I just need you.”

“You’ve got me. But like you said, we did everything else backward, this I need to do right.”

“It’s taking you long enough.” Rain pouted.

“The best things in life aren’t always fast or easy.”

Claire raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

They all clinked glasses. “You took over Roxy’s bar and changed the name to McBride’s, right?” Claire asked.

“Changing the name was the first order of business,” Rain said, giving Brody a look.

“Owen helped us broker the deal. He’s a great lawyer and negotiator. You ever need help, he’s your guy,” Brody said, choking Owen up that he thought so highly of him.

“Thanks, man, but I already got her to go on a date with me, you don’t need to sell me on her.”

“Doesn’t hurt, especially when we crashed your party.”

“I don’t mind,” Claire said, her tone and smile telling all of them she meant it. “I haven’t had a chance to spend a lot of time with anyone in town. Most of the time it’s chitchat while I put their order together. Until last night, I think the only thing Owen and I said to each other besides his order was, ‘Have a nice day.’”

“Yeah, well, I’m an idiot for not asking you out sooner. Besides, you thought Dawn and Autumn were mine, so you weren’t exactly sending out the ‘I’m available’ vibe to me.”

“It’s okay. I’ve spent every waking hour setting up the shop and making sure it runs smoothly. I probably wouldn’t have been very receptive to a date.”

“Which is why you still haven’t unpacked your house,” Owen pointed out.

“I’m working on it.”

“You’ve only finished your bedroom.”

“How do you know this?” Rain asked, planting her elbow on the table and dropping her chin into her hand, her total focus on him, and a knowing smile on her face.

Owen copied her posture. “I put her to bed last night.”

“Do tell.”

“Hardwood floors and a thick, deep green rug. Sage walls and oak furniture. A queen-size sleigh bed.”

“Your feet will hang off the end.”

“I don’t care.”

Claire slapped him on the back, but he kept going, knowing she didn’t understand what he and Rain were really talking about.

“Please don’t get her started,” Brody pleaded.

“Cream-colored spread with the same color sheets and blanket. The sheets had green leaves on them.”

Rain sighed. “Perfect.”

“Antique crystal lamps on the nightstands, silver framed photos of her as a child and with friends at college on the dresser along with a collection of antique perfume bottles. Black-and-white photographs of Paris framed in silver on the walls.”