When I look around behind me, my eyes meet Waylon’s.
He’s not dressed in his usual work clothes. Rather he’s in dark denim Wranglers, a button-up shirt, and a cowboy hat. He looksgood.
But he always does.
“Hey!” I turn completely until we’re face to face.
“Harlow.” He clears his throat. “Hi.”
“I wouldn’t have thought you were the type to come all the way into town for some coffee.”
“Uh, right.” He scratches over his scruffy cheek. “Just felt like gettin’ out today.”
He looks slightly uncomfortable—which isn’t unusual for him—but I give him a small comforting smile anyway.
“Yeah, it’s a beautiful sunny day.”
I face toward my table to continue waiting with my nerves in overdrive.
Looking down at my phone again, I frown that he’s not here nor given me a heads-up he’d be late. I’m tempted to text him and ask where he is, but I don’t. At least, not yet.
Instead, I watch Waylon at the register. He orders a drink and then points at a muffin in the display case. When he looks over his shoulder, our eyes meet, and I smile at him again.
This time, he returns it.
When he dated my sister, there was so much going on in our family that I rarely saw him. The most was after I started training with Noah and even then it was sparingly since he works on the opposite side of the ranch.
After Waylon receives his order, he goes to walk past my table but then stops.
“Are you here alone?” he asks.
“I’m waitin’ on someone. He’s a little late,” I say, the words nearly choking me because deep down I know he’s not coming, but I’m too embarrassed to admit it.
Waylon gives me a look, one I can’t quite place, and then his face morphs into a sympathetic grin.
Great.As if I couldn’t look any more pathetic sitting at a table by myself, he must think I’m a loser now for getting stood up.
“Okay. Have a good rest of your day.”
I swallow hard. “Thanks, you too.”
He nods and then walks away.
If I had more confidence in myself and wasn’t afraid of his rejection, I would’ve invited him to join me instead.
Chapter Ten
Waylon
Isit in my parked truck that’s half a block from the café and watch as Harlow walks to her car across the street ten minutes later. There’s a coffee cup in her hand, so she at least grabbed something before she left.
But her expression is a combination of sad and mad as hell.
I would’ve texted her that I was running late, but my phone slipped out of my hand while I was driving and got caught underneath the passenger seat. Since I didn’t want to waste more time by pulling over to look for it, I waited until I parked and then spent another few minutes trying to dig it out from where it got caught.
The moment I recognized her long, golden brown hair and noticed the pink bow, I panicked. I almost left the café before she saw me.
All this damn time.
