“Because I wasn’t expecting you.”
Heat floods my cheeks, betraying me and my unresolved feelings for him.
“So, what do you say? Jensen said he’d pack us a lunch basket, and we could take the horses up to this spot a lot of you guys like. Some place by a creek?”
“Do you ride?”
Please say no. Please, God, say no.
“Yeah. I assume you do?”
I nod. “I can call down to Nash and ask him if we can take the horses.”
Which he will say no to because I will not be making that call.
“Jensen mentioned it’s his best friend who manages the horses.”
I latch onto that, trying to derail the conversation about the horses. “A picnic lunch sounds a little too romantic. Not very friend-like.”
“It could be friend-like, and besides, I didn’t say picnic lunch. I just said he’s packing a basket. We have to eat, right?”
I think of my growing baby and sigh. “I suppose.”
His arms drop, and he steps into the room. “Listen, I know I don’t deserve your kindness, but you’re the one I feel the most comfortable with, and that’s not an easy thing for me to come by. I know I could ask your brother or one of your cousins. Emmett seems really helpful, but I want you.”
I want you.
Ugh. How many times have I dreamed of hearing those words from him? Just in a different context.
“I also think you have a great eye for some romantic possibilities.”
And there’s the real reason. Well, at least if he’s thinking about it that way, he just needs me there for business reasons. Which will make it all clear-cut in the end. We’re in this together until he leaves, then our future is up in the air.
“Okay.”
His eyes widen. “Really?”
I nod. “Really. I’ll grab the keys to the UTV, and I’ll pick you up at The Getaway Lodge.”
“Can I drive? We can head to the lodge together and pick up the basket and then head out.”
For a man who never has to plan anything himself, he’s got this day mapped out.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
I grab the keys, lock my office, and follow him out.
Another day with Zander Shaw sounds like a slow form of torture. Just another day of holding my heart together while it quietly breaks into pieces.
Chapter Thirteen
Zander
Luck has been a foreign word my entire life. I’m sure some people think I got where I am because of luck, but they didn’t walk in my shoes. But Romy agreeing to go out with me after everything I’ve done to her? Maybe my luck is changing.
That blush on her cheeks… I can’t stop admiring it, wanting to be the reason for her flush again.
Fuck. What am I doing? What’s the end game? What’s my plan? Hell if I know. All I know is that now that she’s back in my life, I feel like a fucking fool for kicking her out of it in the first place. Even if it was the right thing to do.
