11
IT HAD BEEN twenty-four hours since he’d confessed his dog phobia to Kelsey, and Ian had yet to get over it. The look of terror on her face when she’d grabbed her book from him must have short-circuited his better sense. Although he might not like dogs, he wasn’t a heartless monster. He’d flailed about for anything to make her feel better and had latched on to the one thing that had popped into his mind, possibly because he’d assumed she’d laugh at him for it.
That she hadn’t done so had told him more about Kelsey than anything he’d learned on the trip to her grandparents’ house. Beneath her snark and her open contempt for those who pissed her off, she was actually kind. He didn’t know what to make of her offer to help him get over his phobia, only he wouldn’t put it past her to be doing it for the dogs, as she’d said.
What made him accept the offer—that was the mystery that deserved to be explored, and therefore paradoxically the one best ignored. Therapy had never risen to a high enough priority in his life, but if he was going to work on his phobia, he should do it with someone trained for the task. Not a woman who believed he was an interloper and one bottle short of a six-pack when it came to life skills.
Down the hall, Ian could hear Micah starting the shower. His friend had just gotten back from a run and had connected his phone to a speaker so he could shower to music.
He should get up and do something about dinner, but instead he found himself searching online for Summer Austen’s books. Burning curiosity had him clicking on the first in the series before he could question what he was doing. It was only when the shower turned off that Ian realized he’d devoured almost the entire free sample. He had to stop this nonsense before Micah caught him.
It wasn’t that Ian particularly cared if Micah teased him about reading romance, but questions would arise since it wasn’t his usual genre, and he wouldn’t have a smart answer. Good thing then that Kelsey’s books were available in digital format as well as print. Ian bought the first book—Dog with a Bone—and told himself that it was in no way strange to be interested in Kelsey’s series, and surely the fact that the books were described as steamy had nothing to do with his decision. Kelsey had warned him he needed winter hobbies, after all. He wasn’t just doing this because Kelsey and sex went together in his mind like peanut butter and jelly.
“Oh good, you’re being lazy.” Thanks to the incessant music, Ian hadn’t heard Micah sneak up on him, but his friend spoke from right behind the sofa.
There was no way Micah could have read what was on his phone screen, but Ian tossed the device aside quickly anyway. “You startled me,” he said as an excuse.
“Sorry. Came in to see if you’d started dinner, and since you haven’t, all is well. We’re going out.”
Ian blinked at him. “We are?”
“Yes, to someplace that serves food and alcohol.”
Ian’s stomach rumbled. Yes, he did need food, but he’d already finished a second chapter of Kelsey’s book since buying it, and he had been settling in to keep reading. “How about takeout?”
“How about going out? Remember the whole spiel about how we should be openly supporting other town businesses so they’ll want to support us? Still in effect.”
“I’m feeling antisocial.”
Micah snorted. “No, my friend, you’re feeling stressed and like working because that’s what you always do.”
Micah might have been wrong this time, but Ian had to grudgingly admit that usually his friend would have been correct.
“Exactly,” Micah said when Ian didn’t reply. “We’re going out, and you’re going to tell me how your road trip with Kelsey went yesterday.”
If Ian’s stomach hadn’t audibly rumbled, he might have gotten away with protesting, but it had, and more to the point, he couldn’t put off that conversation forever. Micah had dicked him over yesterday, and in retrospect, Ian couldn’t be too pissed off.
“All right.” He shut down his laptop. “But if I’m talking, you’re buying the first round.”
THE LAST TIME Micah had dragged Ian away from his work to be sociable, they’d patronized a Porter-affiliated bar. So this time Ian insisted they go to a Lipin-affiliated place. It was frustrating and ridiculous, but yesterday’s adventures with Kelsey had done more to convince him of the feud’s seriousness than anything yet. If there was a way to keep his brewery out of the fray, he had to do whatever it took.
Micah, who was far pickier about his food than Ian, had determined the perfect place was a tiny watering hole whose claim to local fame was its fish tacos. That was fine. As long as they served food with their drinks, Ian could live with it.
Micah questioned him about Kelsey on the drive, and Ian did his best to recite bland facts in a dry manner. He mentioned Kelsey almost falling out of the trailer, but not that he caught her. He admitted he’d made a fool out of himself by asking about the crate she kept in her car. And he declined entirely to talk about discovering Kelsey’s secret career or that he’d agreed to let her work with him on dog issues.
Micah was visibly disgruntled with this recounting of events. “That’s it? Nothing exciting?”
Ian wasn’t sure what precisely Micah was waiting for him to say. That he was attracted to Kelsey? His friend had figured that out already, and Ian was doing his best to pretend otherwise.
“Oh, exciting things.” Ian smacked his forehead like it had never occurred to him. “Actually yeah, one more thing. We almost hit a moose on the drive back. Those Moose Crossing signs are no joke.”
“I see.” Micah put the car in park, looking extremely disappointed. “Then what’s up with that broken table sitting in our living room? Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
“The moose crossing and slamming on the brakes happened.”
“So you offered to fix it?” Micah’s smirk was too knowing.
“It seemed like the friendly thing to do.”
Micah’s smirk increased in power. “How gallant, especially considering you already overwork yourself, and how convenient that it gives you a reason to see Kelsey again.”
Yeah, well, it wasn’t like that hadn’t been his subconscious motivation.
Shaking his head, Ian got out of the car.
The interior of the bar was packed and noisy, and Ian hid his grimace. This was much more Micah’s scene than his. He wasn’t even sure they could find a table. On the bright side, however, it was noisy enough to make continuing the Kelsey conversation challenging.
“Hey!” As Ian searched for two seats together to grab, he became vaguely aware that someone was yelling in his direction, but it wasn’t until he heard his name that he realized the person was calling out to him.
There weren’t many people in this town whom he was on such friendly terms with, but luck was on his side this evening. Ian turned his attention from the bar and saw Josh whose-last-name-he-didn’t-know wave him over.
The first time they’d run into each other, Ian had stumbled upon Josh making out with his girlfriend outside the brewery. The couple’s embarrassment had given Ian the laugh he’d needed after a long day, although he’d done his best to contain it. Since then, he’d seen Josh around a few more times. Helen was big enough that the strangers you passed in the store seemed faceless only until you began talking to some of them. Then you realized you were seeing the same people over and over. Apparently he and Josh did their grocery shopping at similar times. That was how he’d eventually learned Josh was a doctor at the local hospital and excited about the brewery opening.
Ian waved back as Micah entered the bar behind him.
“You have a friend?” Micah feigned shock.
“More like a friendly.” Josh was sitting with another guy, whom Ian didn’t recognize, but there were two extra seats at their table.
After a quick stop at the bar so Micah could schmooze with the owner and introduce Ian, they made their way to Josh’s table. Thanks to the need for introductions, Ian learned that Josh’s last name was Krane and the guy with him was Adrian, another doctor. A server came by, and while they waited on the famous fish tacos, Ian coddled his stomach with the complimentary tortilla chips.
“So you’re the other brewery owner,” Josh said, sipping his beer. “My cousin told me she met the two of you recently. How come we don’t see you around as much?”
Micah laughed. “I’ve spent a lot of time on the road. I’m the sales and numbers guy. Ian’s the one with the important job.”
“Sales guy?” Adrian tapped the bar’s draft menu. “So when is this place getting to taste the wares?”
“Soon, hopefully. We have a contract with them.” Micah nudged Ian. “He’s the one to ask about when the next batch will be ready.”
“Soon, hopefully,” Ian said, mimicking Micah’s tone. He had two batches almost ready for bottling, and a few more only a couple of weeks away. But off the top of his head, he didn’t know what had been sold to where, and he had to resist the urge to look it up on his phone. There would be no defense to the workaholic comments if he couldn’t manage that.
“Who’s your cousin?” Ian asked Josh. There was only one person he could think of who had met him and Micah recently, but she was a Porter, and this was a Lipin bar.
Josh waited for the server who’d brought over Ian’s and Micah’s beers to leave before responding. “Kelsey.”
“Porter?” Micah looked around shiftily. “Should I not have said that out loud?”
“Kelsey’s your cousin?” Ian asked while Josh chuckled at his friend’s antics. “How does this work logistically?”
“Josh is our current best source of entertainment.” Adrian smirked.
“I’m dating a Lipin,” Josh said, seeing the confusion on Ian’s and Micah’s faces. “The chaos it’s causing is all very entertaining, so I’m told. Personally, I’m tired of finding dead mice on my front step, and the person who used shaving cream to write ‘traitor’ all over my Jeep annoyed me, but as long as other people are amused . . .” He rolled his eyes.
“Dead mice?” Micah cringed. “Nice.”
“A gift from the Lipins’ cats, I’m sure. The shaving cream was my family.”
Ian took a sip of his beer, a pumpkin ale from a microbrewery in Juneau. Pretty good. He tried to enjoy it and not think of it as competition. Northern Charm’s own pumpkin ale was one of the beers that was almost finished.
“Porters and Lipins dating?” Ian pushed aside the work thoughts. “We really are living in fair Verona.”
“Fair Verona?” Josh repeated.
“Kelsey and I were discussing Romeo and Juliet yesterday. She’s surprisingly not a fan, considering the names of her dogs.”
Adrian grabbed a chip. “It’s romance. Can’t see Kelsey enjoying that.”
Actually, Ian was positive Romeo and Juliet was more of a tragedy than anything else, but in light of his discovery about Kelsey’s books, he figured the safest thing to do was drink more of his beer. Credit to Kelsey—she’d done a great job of convincing everyone in town that she couldn’t possibly be a romance writer.
“I don’t know,” Josh said. “Feuding families fighting each other seems like the sort of story Kelsey might like. On the other hand, it might hit too close to home. She’s a former English major; she has feelings about Shakespeare.”
Ian grinned into his beer. “I suspect she has ‘feelings’ about a lot of things, if that’s the code word we’re using for ‘opinions.’ ”
Micah pointed a finger at him. “Aha. Was this the discussion yesterday? Because you failed to provide it during your half-assed recap.” He turned toward Josh and Adrian. “Ian drove up to Wasilla with Kelsey yesterday on a very exciting road trip.”
He should have expected Micah to chime in the moment Kelsey’s name came up. All he needed was for Micah to share his theory that he had the hots for her, and then have Josh repeat it to Kelsey. While his accidental flirting had probably already given him away, he wouldn’t put it past Kelsey to rescind her offer to help him if his feelings were confirmed.
“She’s doing us a favor, so I did her a favor,” Ian said quickly, hoping that explanation would cut off any further discussion.
“Was that to pick up her grandparents’ furniture?” Josh swore. “I told her I’d help, but the timing kept not working out.”
“Well it wasn’t a big deal, and it’s done now.” Ian glanced toward Micah. “And it wasn’t very exciting.”
Adrian’s head had been swiveling between them, and he raised an eyebrow. “Really? In my experience, being around Kelsey can definitely be exciting, particularly in an ‘Am I going to live to see tomorrow?’ kind of way.”
Ian was too stunned that Adrian would say something like that around Josh to respond, but Josh chuckled. “It’s true that Kelsey merely tolerates most people. She must like you to have been willing to spend that much time in your company.”
Micah said nothing, but the expression on his face was significant. Ian pretended he couldn’t see it. “ ‘Like’ is probably overstating things. More likely she was desperate for the help.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Micah said. “They get along well.”
“Really?” Josh looked curious, and Adrian disbelieving.
“No.” Ian shot Micah a cut-it-out look. “That was sarcasm. Kelsey can be, um . . .”
“Bitchy?” Adrian suggested.
“I was going to say ‘prickly,’ but I figured that was just her attitude toward me.”
Josh shook his head. “Nope, that’s Kelsey. Don’t take it personally. If Kelsey really didn’t like you specifically, you’d know. She definitely wouldn’t have tolerated an entire drive to Wasilla with you. She’d be doing everything she could to avoid you.”
Ian made a noise of understanding and went back to drinking his beer, saved from further discussion by the arrival of the server and their fish tacos. If what Josh said was true—and Josh ought to know—then he was back to the question he’d been pondering earlier: What did it mean that Kelsey had offered to help with the dog issue? Doing it to help all of dogkind was no longer sounding as plausible. And what did he want to think about her motivations?
Ian swished the pumpkin ale around on his tongue, contemplating its sweet-to-bitter ratio. He was trying to steer his thoughts back toward work, but even the words sweet and bitter made him think of Kelsey. He didn’t have time for this sort of distraction, but it looked like he didn’t have a choice.