“Well, interestingly enough, being the bigshot is a double-edged sword.”
The pad of her thumb, goodness, so soft, makes slow strokes across my knuckles.
“When I was in college, I got shot down multiple times by a girl I really liked. Then, weeks later,sheaskedmeon a date. Long story short, a few wasted weeks later, the truth came out. She’d learned my family had some money.” I smile wryly. “I thought she was great—but I think all she really wanted was a ride in the jet.”
Everly’s jaw drops. “You own a jet?”
Oops. “The company does. Bought used, by the way.”
“Don’t even, Knox. Just…don’t.” Covering her face and growling, Everly drops back onto the mattress.
“Hey.” I pinch a fold of wool slacks at her knee and wiggle it. “Whatcha doing down there?”
“This is so embarrassing.”
“I genuinely don’t follow.”
She scoots up onto her elbows, gawking. “First, the suit. Then, I told you you’d be able to pay off the ring now.”
I laugh—and it’s the wrong move.
She throws herself down again, so hard the mattress trembles. “I don’t imagine your mother makes her yard an inflatable wonderland?”
“Not since Rand and I were kids, no—but only because that’s not her style.”
“I rest my case.” Her hands fly up to shield her face. “Welcome to how the other half lives.”
Okey dokey. Far enough. I rest onto one elbow, bringing my face much closer, and gently unstick her palms from her cheeks. She’s got no business covering her beauty that way. “Get ahold of yourself, woman. I’m a regular guy who happens to have a dad who made it big in the exciting world of sewer construction while he was in junior high. I put my pants on one leg at a time, same as anyone else.” I nudge her thigh. “You saw for yourself in the motel. ’Member?”
She gasps and pops half up, throwing a look toward the open door. “I saw nothing of the sort!”
In pretty much any situation, Everly stirs true joy in me, and I love that about her to the depths of my soul.
“I can assure you, my life is and always has been exceedingly normal. Do you know, I can remember hearing my mom lay into Dad one time because there wasn’t enough money in the account to pay the electric bill?” I peel away her hands and scold her with a look. “Have you ever had your electricity turned off, Everly Anne?”
She chews her pink lip. “That really happened?”
“It did. Of course, Mom had to eat her words about Dad throwing good money after bad intothatbusiness about six months later when he landed his first million-dollar contract.”
She searches my face like she’s probing for truth. Finally, she accepts it with a sigh.
“I promise you, you don’t have any reason to be embarrassed about anything.”
She comes the rest of the way up all of a sudden. “You’re right. None of this is my fault.” She burrows her finger into my sternum. “You see, this is the problem with secrets. They cause needless trouble, and who’s got time for that?”
Chuckling, I rub the indentation in my breastbone.
We both ease back down, hands joined, and stare at the ceiling fan. “Now…may I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“So, I get that you were caught off guard, and maybe frustrated, but I’m a little confused by all the tears.”
She fiddles with a button on her sweater. “Last year, I went out with one of the partners at the law firm where I worked. He was based out of the firm’s Nashville office but traveled to Texas a lot. When he was in town, he flirted and tried to get me to go out with him for almost a year. He was mister smooth, and I’m generally very cautious. Going out with a coworker didn’t seem like a wise thing. But he wore me down.”
My stomach feels like it’s inside a drawstring waistband being cinched by a prize fighter. Everly doesn’t need ugly stories in her life.
“The first date, he took me to a swanky restaurant. Wined and dined me. I had fun.”
