


“Why?”
“Something’s going on.”
“Nothing is going on.”
He set a wine glass in front of me, nodded deeply, and poured a glass of red. “It’s like that.”
I smiled. “It’s not like anything, but I’ll always take a glass of red wine.”
His brows furrowed and he gave the wine glass a pointed look. “Who said this is for you?”
I laughed.
“Are you driving?”
“Took an Uber.”
His concerned tone held a hint of demand. “Why would you do that?”
“My car’s at the shop. Now, can I have my vino?”
“You have boy troubles, yes?”
I fought an eye-roll. Block was all man. “No.”
Auntie Stella swept back in from the kitchen with a smile on her face. As she came closer, her smile dimmed.
“What’s her problem?” She asked Uncle Mick rather than me.
Uncle Mick’s eyes cut to me with a look of regret. “She’s got boy problems.”
“I don’t have boy problems.”
Uncle Mick looked at Stella and nodded. “Boy problems.”
Auntie Stella glanced between us. “She’s never with a boy long enough to have problems.”
“Exactly,” I said, snagging the glass of wine and sipping.
Auntie Stella closed the distance between us and leaned against the counter. “Spill.”
I set the glass down with a sigh. “I went to a Fourth of July party—”
Uncle Mick spun around. “No! You’re not with a biker!”
I shook my head. “You like Gamble.”
He turned his head, giving me side-eye. I didn’t know if it was his dark hair and dark eyes, or the amount of life he’d lived, but he did it so much better than anyone else I knew. “He’s an exception. Only got room to make one exception around here.”
I laughed. “You’re so full of it!”
He threw a dish towel over his shoulder. As he headed to the back, he said, “You can do better. Kick this man to the curb.”
Auntie Stella shook her head. “Ignore him. Tell me all about it.”
I grinned and gave her the pertinent details. From Block’s physical appearance to how insanely protective he was, and how it all imploded before it ever really began.
The bells on the front doors tinkled, but I kept my focus on Stella.
She glanced at the patrons and back to me. “So, tell me more. This man rides a motorcycle, he’s stocky, has no hair, and striking blue eyes… does he also have beautifully-inked arms?”
My head tilted. “Yeah, one of them is. Why?”
She nodded. “Don’t move, but he looks at you like you’re a work of art, my dear. That’s not something I’d throw away because of your job.”
“I got bills, Auntie Stella.”
Her stern expression made me brace. “Jobs come and go, Heidi. Love is different – especially good love. The right love for you. No matter what my stubborn mule of a husband says, he’d tell you to hang onto this man, too. Especially if he saw what I just did.”
I shook my head. “It’s entirely too soon for the l-word. However he’s looking at me, it’s lust, not love.”
She smiled coyly. “Or better yet, it’s both.”

