Page 7 of Goose

“About the…” I shrugged. “You know. The ‘gift’ I left you.”

His mouth twisted into a smirk. “So, it was you?”

I feared he’d seen me do it, and now felt like an idiot for admitting what I’d done when I didn’t have to. I shoved the pancakes into my mouth and gave him a crumpled grin. “Kind of tough denying it now, huh?”

Shoving my panties into the pocket of his leather jacket wasn’t completely out of character for me. It wasn’t typical, either. It was a spur of the moment decision. I was ninety-nine point nine-seven-five percent certain I’d never see him again. I thought my panties would brighten the obviously shitty day he was having.

Now that he was hovering over me, it seemed like a bad idea.

Kind of.

“Want to sit down?” I asked. “You’re making me nervous.”

He nodded toward my half-eaten food. “Are you waiting on someone?”

“No,” I said with a laugh. “That’s all me.”

He sat down. “I’m Goose.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Goose.” I offered my syrup-soaked hand. “I’m Ally.”

He looked me up and down. “Is it common for you to leave your panties stuffed in some random stranger’s pocket, Ally?”

“It’s not something I do daily.” I reached for my burger. “You just. I don’t know. You looked like you needed your spirits lifted.”

“Did I?”

“Well, we were checking each other out there for a minute. Then, it seemed like you kind of faded away on me. When you spoke, I realized how close you were to Porter. I just thought, I don’t know.” I lowered my burger and did my best to look innocent. “I do dumb stuff sometimes. More often than most people, I’m sure. I thought it might distract you from what was making you sad. You know, maybe it’d bring a smile to your face.”

He stared at my half-eaten pancakes for some time. He looked up. “How’d you know Ghost?”

“Who?”

“Porter?”

“I’d just moved here and stopped in at this place to get something to eat. He was sitting right here, at this table. On the day we met, he paid for my breakfast. We sat and talked almost every day after that while we ate breakfast together. Ends up we had a lot in common. He said I reminded him of his fiancé. I’m sorry about what happened. For your loss, and everything. I really am. He was a great guy.”

He pursed his lips and swallowed hard. “Thanks.”

I raised my burger. “Want half of this?”

“Sure.”

I cut the sandwich in half with my butter-covered knife and offered him the plated half. “I hate to eat in front of people.”

“Me, too,” he admitted. “Always thought it was rude.”

I tilted my head toward his spotless ride. “As rude as not offering to take me for a ride in your awesome Shelby?”

He studied the burger as if trying to determine what was in it before committing to take a bite. He shifted his gaze from the burger to me. “It’s not mine.”

“Are you a car thief, Goose?”

His face immediately flushed red. He looked away. Half a second later, he coughed out a mouthful of embarrassment.

“So, you are a car thief, but you didn’t steal that one.” I took a bite of my burger. “Gotcha.”

He chuckled and glanced in my direction. His face was still flushed. “Are you a detective?”