Dear Rose 2: Winter's Dare Read Free Page B

“Fine. I’ll have a chicken Caesar salad. Dressing on the side. No olive.”
    He put the menu back into the Josie’s eager hands. She turned to Tucker. “And for you, sir.”
    Tucker had been looking at the menu but hadn’t paid attention to it. He didn’t care what he had. “Same here.” That caused Devyn to look pointedly at him. Tucker never ate salads. Except by force. Ally had gone on a vegetarian kick one time when they’d been roommates. They’d had spinach and radicchio coming out of their ears. But she’d been in charge of grocery shopping that week, and that had been all she’d bought with the shared grocery money. None of them had been able to afford more groceries. They’d all been so tired of greens by the time it was Tucker’s turn to shop. They’d never enjoyed grilling out so much as they had that night with steak and shrimp that had mercifully been on sale, and they’d even had a coupon.
    “Same way as your friend? Sauce on the side? No olives?”
    “Yes.” Did that sound as biting to them as it did to him? He couldn’t help it. He had a crisis, and lunch orders seemed more important to these other people than they did him.
    Josie shot him a look before rushing off. Tucker would have to leave her a big tip for dealing with his bad mood and Devyn’s BS.
    “Something has you all hot and bothered.” Devyn added cream and sugar substitute to his coffee before he stirred it.
    “Someone.” Tucker took a sip of water. “Someone.” She’d had him hot and bothered since college. Only she never seemed to know it.
    “So what has Ms. Ally done now? Did she not do chores? Did she leave her romance novels in the bath?” Devyn rested his chin on his palm. “Or maybe she sang in the shower?” He shuddered. “That would be scary.” Ally loved to sing. Off-key.
    “She’s not happy.”
    “Imagine that.” The lack of surprise evident on Devyn’s face chilled Tucker to the core.
    “She talked to you.” Tucker’s hands tightened. “What did she say?” He should have known Ally would have talked to the man. And for the first time ever, he felt jealous. After all, he was the one who shared Ally’s bed. And most of her life. Why would she talk to Devyn over him? Hell, about him?
    “She hasn’t talked to me. She’s been a little wrapped up in some things I’ve being doing, so we haven’t talked much about her. But I’m not blind. I noticed she isn’t Miss Sunshine lately.” Devyn narrowed his eyes at Tucker. “I do notice things beyond myself. Sometimes.”
    “Shit. Then you don’t know what’s going on.” That was what he was hoping for even as he’d been envious. He’d wanted Devyn to tell him what she’d said so that he could fix it and make it better. He was a whiz at fixing stuff. Surely he could get this done. He could make Ally better, and they could go on like they had been.
    “I don’t know what it is. I suspect what is.” Devyn gave him his best serious look. That Devyn suspected what it was surprised Tucker.
    “What?” Right now he’d take anything. And that included speculation from someone he’d known longer than Ally. Devyn didn’t have a reputation for his insights, but maybe he could have picked up on something.
    “You truly don’t know?” Devyn shook his head back and forth. He looked sadly at Tucker. “You’re clueless.”
    “I don’t.” Tucker tried not to let irritation come through his voice but he couldn’t help it. “And usually, I am.” Except when it came to carpentry or philosophy. Women had always eluded his superior plane of knowledge. Ally had been the exception. Until now.
    “You’re a big fucking idiot. It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out why Ally is unhappy.” Devyn stated the words like whatever was going on was the most obvious thing in the world. It wasn’t. If it was, Tucker would have picked up on it. He wasn’t that dense. Or was he? Because he didn’t know and Devyn seemed to.
    Tucker drummed his