All Wrapped Up (A Pine Mountain Novel) by Kimberly Kincaid Page B

He’d filled it two-thirds of the way with lemonade before Ava finally conceded.
    “Fair enough.Tell you what, then. Why don’t we trade?”
    “Trade what?” He topped off her drink with the perfect layer of iced tea, placing it on a cocktail napkin in front of her.
    “A question for a question,” she said. Okay, so it was a wing and a prayer and a whole lot of hey, what the hell , but at this point, she had no other options. “I’ll answer yours if you answer one of mine. In fact, I’ll even gofirst.” After all, what could it hurt to tell him that she didn’t have any plans to kiss anyone later? It wasn’t like she had to cop to the fact that she hadn’t been kissed—truly, properly, felt-it-in-every-corner-of-her-being kissed—in what had to be a century.
    Or however long it had been since Nick had last put his mouth on hers.
    He paused, and oh my God, he was thinking about it. “Off therecord. Nothing about what happened yesterday is on the table. And I answer first.” His tone was as immovable as his stare, and Ava jumped in with both feet.
    “Done.”
    “Okay, then,” Nick said, his hands hitching just slightly as he wrote up the ticket for her order. “Ask away.”
    She scooped in a deep breath, but said nothing. She needed to gain his trust here, which was the mother of tall orders,considering their past. But her sudden desire to melt his calm, cool exterior extended past wanting a story, so Ava simply said, “How long have you worked here at the Double Shot?”
    “That’s your question?” Now Nick’s hands screeched to a complete stop. His lips parted, showing just a flash of white teeth against his nearly black facial scruff, but she stood firm.
    “That’s my question,” Ava agreed.
    He examined her for a second, as if looking for a trapdoor. “Two years,” he finally said.
    “Oh.” Her brain brimmed with no less than a thousand other questions, but a deal was a deal. “To answer your question, no. I’m not planning on kissing anyone later tonight.”
    “That’s nice, but it isn’t my question.”
    Ava pulled back against her bar stool. “I’m sorry?”
    “You said a question for a question.I never specified which question I wanted to ask.” Although Nick’s expression delivered just the facts, the tiny crinkle at the corners of his eyes was a dead giveaway that she’d been had.
    Of all the underhanded, sneaky . . . “You tricked me.”
    “Yup,” he acknowledged, unrepentant. “But you agreed.”
    Damn it, there was no way she could not answer whatever he asked now, and judging by the lookstill hovering in his eyes, the question was going to be a doozy.
    “You’re right. I did.” Ava squared her shoulders, shoring herself up for a direct hit. “What would you like to know?”
    Nick leaned in, so close she could feel the warm puff of his breath on her lips and the hypnotizing heat of his nearness, and in that moment, she remembered exactly how much he didn’t disappoint in the go-all-indepartment.
    “I want to know why you left me seven years ago.”

Chapter Five
    If kicking his own ass wasn’t a physical impossibility, Brennan would’ve polished up his shoes and gone for broke right there behind the bar. It was bad enough that he’d agreed to answer anything Ava had to ask, even if she’d surprised the hell out of him by going totally benign with her question. But any second now, she was going to recover from the shock currently dominatingher pretty face, and not even one-upping her was worth hearing her answer.
    Keeping his emotions on lockdown was hard enough, thanks.
    “You know what, forget I asked. I’ll get this in for you.” Brennan gripped the ticket with her dinner order hard enough to make his knuckles blanch, but Ava was quicker on the draw.
    “Nick, wait.” Her hand landed on his, but Christ, he felt it everywhere, andif she didn’t move, his composure was going to go up in flames.
    “Brennan,” he ground out, simultaneously wanting her