I frowned. Was he serious? I didn’t recall Derek Clark having a thing for me at all. He was just a sweet guy. “I think you’re remembering things wrong.”
Creed raised his eyebrows then. “Okay. Then I’ll ask Fleur about it tonight. We will see who is remembering things incorrectly.”
The idea of asking Fleur about her brother’s attraction to me six plus years ago made me cringe. I’d rather just say I was wrong now and forget about it. “That’s okay, I believe you.”
He chuckled and kept driving. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to let this go. Before I could think of more reasons for him to forget about this, we were pulling into the parking lot of “On a Clark Shell.” Okay, so that was a cute name for the bar.
“I don’t play until seven thirty so we have forty minutes to eat. Can I trust you not to attack Fleur while I’m on stage?” He was teasing, but I still glowered at him then got out of the truck.
He was around the truck before I had the door closed. “It’s a little icy,” he said, then held out his arm for me to take. I looked down at his arm and thought about it for a second then decided I was thinking too hard about something so silly. Taking his arm, we walked toward the entrance, and twice, I almost slipped and would have busted my ass had he not being holding me up.
When we went inside, the warmth of the place was a relief. The closer to the water, the colder the wind it seemed. Outside felt frigid. There was a large fireplace that sat on the far-right wall and I wanted nothing more than to sit at a table near that. It looked toasty and the view to the stage in the center of the back wall would be perfect.
We were greeted before we could go too much farther by a young brunette in jeans and a black t-shirt that said In a Clark Shell on the front. “Good evening, Creed.” She blushed as she said his name. “Where can I sit you tonight? The usual?” She couldn’t be older than nineteen years old.
Creed looked down at me. “You want to sit near the fire, don’t you?” he asked me.
I nodded. “Please.”
He turned back to the waitress, “Lulu” or at least that’s what it said on her name tag. “Tonight, let’s try the booth by the fire,” he told her.
She gave me a smirk as if I were a lightweight that needed heat then spun around to strut with an over-exaggerated swing in her hips toward the booth by the fire. I glanced at Creed and he didn’t notice the extra effort Lulu was making. I felt a little bad for her but not completely. Creed was looking toward the stage then his eyes came back to me.
“Nice place, isn’t it?” he asked.
I nodded. It was a nice place. I liked the cozy feel. It was very New England.
“Creed!” a female voice called out from across the restaurant.
We both turned to see a grown-up Fleur walking toward us. Her boobs were bigger and at sixteen, I didn’t think that was possible. Her fiery long locks were a deeper auburn than they had once been. Her large round stomach sticking out like a basketball had been the most significant difference. Fleur Clark was pregnant. Creed had left that out.
She saw me and paused mid-step, and for a moment, I wondered if sixteen-year-old Fleur was about to take over but then she beamed at me and put her hands on her hips. “Oh my God! Sailor Copeland!” she said then continued her path toward us. “Creed Sullivan, you did not tell me you were bringing Sailor,” she said as she reached us.
“I thought I’d surprise you,” he said smiling smugly at me. I felt stupid for my attitude about Fleur in the car earlier. We were grown-ups now for goodness sake. I had been silly to think otherwise.
“Lulu get this woman whatever she wants. Don’t let her cup get empty,” she said to the blonde waitress then looked back at me. “I am thrilled you’re here. It’s been a lifetime ago it seems. When did you get back into town?”
It was as if there had never been issues between Fleur and me. She acted like any grown adult would with a childhood acquaintance. “Two weeks,” I told her. “I moved into my Gran’s house.”
She swung her eyes to Creed then back to me. “Neighbors again,” she laughed then. “The talk in Portsmouth has already started I bet. I’m surprised Derek hasn’t called me and told me. He should be here tonight too. Have you seen him?”
I shook my head. I hadn’t run into Derek in town and I didn’t realize he still lived there. I wondered if he too had a spouse and offspring. She laughed then and cut her eyes back to Creed. “Competition is good for you. God knows you need some.”