“Ready?” he asked.

She was definitely ready. “Yes.”

They walked outside, and she had her keys in her hand. Bash stopped. “You’re driving?”

“Oh. I thought we might drive separately.”

He frowned. “Why the hell would we do that? Bert’s is only a few blocks away. And you’re coming back here after. Right?”

“Yes, but …”

He gave her a confused look. “But what?”

How was she going to explain her reasoning to him. “Um …”

He laughed. “Come on. We’ll take my truck.”

She had no logical reason for taking her car. Not one that made sense anyway. But it also blew her we-just-ran-into-each-other plan right out of the water. “Okay.”

They didn’t say much on the ride to Bert’s, but Bash reached across the truck and held her hand. It was nice. A little too nice—a bit too much like they were dating, or a couple.

The problem was, the simple gesture felt good.

They arrived at Bert’s, and Chelsea cringed at the packed parking lot.

“Looks crowded,” she said. “Maybe we should go somewhere else.”

Like a restaurant in Tulsa, where there was a chance she wouldn’t know everyone in the place like she would at Bert’s.

“Nah. We’ll be able to get a table.”

With a resigned sigh, she got out of the truck, then lagged a little behind Bash as he started toward the door, trying to appear as if she and Bash weren’t walking in together. Unfortunately, he waited for her; even held the door for her.

Dammit.

There were people waiting inside for a table, and of course she knew several of them. So did Bash, so after the waitress wrote Bash’s name down, they engaged folks in conversation.

And just as she feared, the inevitable questions surfaced.

“Why, Chelsea, honey, I didn’t know you and Bash were dating.”

“How long have you and Bash been going out?”

“Are you and Bash … together? As in a couple?”

Bash took it all in stride, laughing and saying they were just friends having breakfast together. He clearly had no idea what the gossip mill in Hope was like. It only took one person to start spreading the word—even a false rumor. By Monday it would be all over town that she and Bash were a couple.

They finally got their table and placed their orders. Chelsea found herself staring at her phone, just waiting for the rumors to start spreading and for one of her friends to call or text her.

“Hey,” Bash said.

She looked up at him.

“You expecting a call?”

“Probably any minute now.”

“From?”

“One of my friends, who will have heard from one of their friends or some relative that you and I are now the hot item in Hope.”

He took a sip of his coffee, then leaned back in the booth. “And that bothers you?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. It might. You know how gossips are. Doesn’t it bother you that people assume that just because we’re having breakfast together, we’re a couple?”

“Not really. People are going to think what they want to think, Chelsea. I’m surprised it upsets you. It’s not like I’m Hope’s resident serial killer.”

She gave him a look.

“That you know of,” he added, wriggling his brows.

She rolled her eyes. “Come on. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Doesn’t it?” He leaned forward, wrapping his hands around his coffee cup. “Say you and some random guy you’d been out with on a few dates decided to spend the night together, and he wanted to go out for breakfast the next morning. Wouldn’t the same thing happen?”

“I suppose.”

“And would you be this upset about it if people started talking about you and Random Guy?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“So maybe it does have a lot more to do with me than you think.”

“I guess it’s because we’re not dating and we haven’t been dating. But now there will be a rumor that we are.”

“Oh.” He nodded. “And you think this will hurt your chances with other men, that they’ll see you as off the market.”

Was that what she’d been thinking about? She had no idea. She only knew that people assuming a relationship where none existed bothered her. “I don’t think that’s it.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t know!”

She’d raised her voice enough that people at the nearby tables turned to look.

“Uh-oh. And now we’ve had our first fight. I’ll bet that makes the rounds, too,” he said, grinning at her.

She narrowed her gaze at him. “Now you really are pissing me off.”

“We should kiss and make up.” He got up and came over to her side of the booth.

Chelsea scooted away. “Bash, what are you doing?”

“Making sure they have something more to talk about.”

Before she could object, he’d gathered her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers, giving her a hot, melt-your-panties kind of kiss that should not be given in a public place.

He pulled back only when someone cleared their throat.

Chelsea’s heart pounded, and she was all too aware they had an audience. Like … the entire restaurant was staring at them.

Bash smiled at her, then rubbed her bottom lip with his thumb.