I frowned. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think?—”
She sighed. “Talk about a buzzkill.”
“At least you’re still in costume.” I rolled up to a seated position with her in my arms.
She got her feet under her and used my shoulders to stand. When she looked up, her face morphed from the soft smile and teasing to an unreadable mask. She turned her face so her hair covered most of her features.
I followed her gaze to find Valerie staring daggers at us and one of the theater kids had their phone up recording. “Hey. None of that here, man.”
“The view count is off the charts man.”
“I gotta go,” Amber said on a low voice.
“Wait—”
“It’s okay. I got a little bit of time to just be Amber. Thanks, Tate.” She quickly headed to the hidden path between our properties.
I collapsed back against what was left of the hay bale and stared up at the sky for a second to cool the anger simmering in my chest. She didn’t deserve that. I couldn’t control people, but she should have been safe with me. Until I thought I was being playful.
“You good down there?” Molly asked.
“No.”
She crouched down near me. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“You keep asking questions I don’t have a good answer for.”
“C’mon. Let’s finish cleaning up. My bed was calling me two hours ago.”
I sighed and managed to get to my feet this time. Most of the crew had thinned out thankfully. I was such an asshole. What the hell had I been thinking with that stunt?
Even just in front of my people was bad enough. I wasn’t thinking with my brain that was for damn sure. It had been a damn long time since I’d felt something like that with a woman.
Dating certainly hadn’t been difficult since my lottery win. However, figuring out motive was a whole different thing. Annoyed at myself, I chased off the last of my employees with to-go containers. I still had way too much food going into my fridge.
I didn’t get a chance to eat much. I took a quick shower and made a plate and fell asleep in front of the television with the scent of cinnamon and spice following me into dreams.
I woke around dawn to find my cat checking out the scraps of last night’s food.
I reached over and scooped the inquisitive calico out of trouble. “No rumbly bellies for you later, Velma.” I settled her on my chest. She gave a yowl, then curled under my ancient cardigan and settled on my shoulder where she liked to be then turned around and poked her head out to bump against my neck. “I met your namesake last night. She rocked my world.” I scratched the top of her head until she purred.
I switched off the blue lit TV that had gone into screen saver mode and shifted on my recliner.
Making out with Amber Dalton had not been on my bingo card, that was for sure. We’d run in separate circles in high school. She’d been a year behind me, but Haven High was small enough that it didn’t matter all that much. But where I’d been enmeshed in sports, she’d been holed up in the music room most of the time.
But we’d had a few things in common. Our love for movies and books.
While I’d hidden my reading from everyone, including my father, I’d been at all the movie in the park events. I’d also gone to the small theater in a nearby town for every major movie release with my friends. They were more interested in makingout in the dark, but I’d been locked in on everything from superhero movies, to romance, to historical adventure.
I’d always been drawn to figuring out people and why they did what they did.
Probably why I’d decided to make the Winter Wonderland. I clicked down my recliner and rose to get my day going. My back twinged from all the work yesterday and sleeping in my chair instead of my insanely expensive bed in my room.
Velma stayed curled in her spot on my shoulder as I made coffee, then slunk out when I opened her cupboard. She hopped down on the kitchen island as I readied her dish with her favorite wet food. I set her bowl in front of her and absently stroked a hand down her fur.
I took my coffee to the back of the house I’d added on to the ranch. It had been sorely in need of updates, but I couldn’t quite rip it down. My mother had taken a lot of pride in this house. Even shabby, it had been a clean home with little touches of her love. The quilt she’d hand sewn now hung on a simple blanket hanger with a few other pieces I’d scavenged around the house.
I may have wanted to upgrade, but I didn’t forget my roots.
