She caught my wrist. “You and I should catch up after Brockie and I get back from Jamaica. I don’t know anyone in town.”
“Sure.” She most likely wanted to use me to get clients. We had nothing else in common and no other reason to hang out. “I’ll be around Wednesday and Friday nights at Copper Summit.”
Tenor curled an arm around me and pulled me back toward him. “Then I tend to dominate her weekends.”
Oh. Yes. I had a boyfriend I was in Bourbon Canyon for. That was, until people figured out Tenor and I were no longer dating.
How would that go?
Did we make an announcement? Tell people one by one? Or did we just do our own thing and let others wonder?
I preferred the latter option. Others could privately wonder what I’d done to scare Tenor Bailey away.
“We’d better let you keep dancing,” Tenor said. “Don’t want to take away from your first night as a husband and wife. Congratulations. Beautiful wedding.” He spun me away.
I didn’t bother to look at Cara or Brock. I rested my head on his chest as he swayed me to a slow song. “That was the smoothest exit I’ve ever witnessed.”
“You don’t owe her a second of your time.”
“She hasn’t beenbad.”
“But she doesn’t make you feel good.”
True. Cara wanted to rekindle a friendship that she’d killed off. She would no doubt agree with Brock about my work and my romance novels. I was dull. Except with Tenor, when that was okay.
I smiled and soaked up his heat as he led me around the dance floor. Over the next two hours, we danced, checked in with Jenna, tracked down Teller, and laughed when some single women from town spotted Teller and tried to drag him onto the dance floor. Tenor didn’t leave my side.
Once the crowd started thinning, my happiness dimmed. This was it. The end of my month with Tenor Bailey. It was over. I was back to being fully single. For real.
He led me along the sidewalk around the clubhouse to the parking lot.
“I can’t believe that’s over,” I said to distract myself. No more weekends with Tenor. No more hanging out casually withhis wonderful family. No more quiet nights in his cabin in the middle of nowhere.
When Cara had first invited me and I’d roped Tenor into my lie, I’d thought I’d wither away from embarrassment each day until the reception, which would be the final nail in the sarcophagus of my personal life. Instead, I’d had a wonderful time with my fake boyfriend.
The stars overhead twinkled brightly behind wisps of clouds. I tipped my head back to admire them and sighed. Tenor would be gone in the morning when I woke up and drove out of his personal life. He’d return to being one of my bosses. Only I’d know how firm his lips were when he kissed me. How coaxing his tongue could be. What he looked like in nothing but boxer briefs.
He’d know what I sounded like when I came next to him in his bed.
Totally normal working situation.
“What if it wasn’t quite over yet?” he asked.
My hopes surged.This is it!screamed somewhere in my brain. He wanted to date me for real. The month with me had only shown him that he was ready to see someone again, and I was that someone.
I really liked him.
I wanted to find out where kisses like his could lead. I clutched my hands in front of myself. “What are you thinking?”
Tenor yanked the passenger door open. “Since you aren’t driving home tonight, I have a stop planned.”
That didn’t sound likeI can’t live without you, Ruby. You’re my Goldilocks. Just the right woman for me.But I’d go wherever Tenor took me.
“Okay. Show me what you’ve got, Warhammer.”
Tenor
I drove toward my place but turned off on a rutted path between the trees. They were thinner on this side of the road as the foothills rose and dipped across the land. The trail didn’t quite extend to a creek that was mostly dry after the spring runoff.
