Wynter was quiet for a long moment. The truth was, she didn’t have an answer to Morgan’s question that her friend would accept. She could say the job was better in California, but honestly, the pay for what she was doing was competitive. She could say that she preferred the heat, but that couldn’t be further from the truth, and they knew it. Honestly, after seeing the way Marcus behaved with Jake, it stirred up those latent feelings she’d been working so hard at smothering. She liked that he cared enough about her to stand in Jake’s way. Even though her base instincts reminded her that people don’t stick around, the fantasy of it all had her knees growing weak and her heart racing.
“Oh my gosh!” Morgan whispered. “You want to stay.”
“What? No, I don’t!” Wynter squeaked.
“Morgan is right. We can see it written all over your face. So what is it? You don’t want to stay because Marcus is being a tool?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Wynter admitted weakly.
Rose grinned, and it was like a lightbulb turned on in her head. “It’s because heisn’tbeing a tool.” She shared a knowing look with Morgan. “Yeah, those Palmers are something else, aren’t they?” Rose fanned herself with her hand, drawing a groan of exasperation from Wynter.
“I think one of my brothers was friends with Marcus in high school,” Morgan mused. “I could ask him if Marcus has said anything?—”
“Absolutely not!” Wynter all but screeched.
Morgan grinned and shrugged one shoulder. “Just saying.”
“Can we stop talking about Marcus? I need an excuse to get out of the house this weekend because at this rate, I’m beginning to wonder if my grandma is in on this whole thing and trying to make us fall in love.”
Rose perked up even more at that. “Oooh. Really? I love a good matchmaking story. This is great.”
“No, it isn’t great. It’s a headache, and it’s driving me crazy. She made me go to the city with him because she wanted a specific kind of tea. Then Marcus had to go and buy a whole bunch of it so she wouldn’t need to replenish her stash for a few months.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Morgan crooned.
Wynter glowered at her friend.
“She’s not wrong,” Rose piped up.
Then Wynter glowered at Rose for good measure, who only raised her hands in defeat.
“Just saying.”
Wynter took a sip from her cup before saying anything. “Please, just… let’s come up with something fun to do.” She glanced from one to the other. “I don’t even care if we have to go a couple towns over, so your siblings don’t catch you hanging out together.”
The rivalry between the two families was no joke. Wynter had laughed when she’d first heard about it, but then her laughter had died down when she’d realized that Rose and Morgan were entirely serious.
Morgan made a face. “I can’t this weekend.”
Rose shrugged. “I’m sure I could get Lily or Jasmine to tag along.” Her expression brightened. “Christmas Karaoke!”
Morgan grimaced again. “Yeah, pass. I don’t need to make a fool of myself.”
“Party pooper,” Rose exclaimed.
This time Morgan smirked.
“I’m game,” Wynter agreed. “Sounds fun. As long as I can get some space from you-know-who.”
Unfortunately, Rose was the queen of sabotage. About an hour later, she was dropping Wynter off at her grandmother’s house at the same time as Marcus was heading out. Rather than a quick hello, Rose rolled down her window and blurted, “Hey, there! You must be the Marcus I’ve been hearing all about.”
Marcus froze, and his uncertain gaze drifted to Wynter. She was too busy staring daggers at Rose.
“That’s me,” Marcus said, shoving his hands into his coat pockets as he walked over. “And you are?”
Rose held out her hand through the open window. “Rose Taylor.”
He nodded slowly as they shook hands. “Nice to meet you.”
