“Nothing,” I said, keeping my eyes on my canvas.
Lacey laughed.
“You’ve always been a terrible liar.” She put down her paintbrush and picked up her glass of white wine, her second one of the evening. “Now, spill. Did you guys have a good time?”
I sighed. “Honestly, I don’t even know. I told him about Hunter.”
Lacey’s eyes widened. “Why did you do that? Doesn’t it kind of ruin the fun?”
“He needed to know. We were kissing, and I didn’t want it to lead to more. It’s not like the first night we met, when I assumed it would be a one-night stand and I’d never see him again. If we go there now that we’re getting to know each other, it means something, doesn’t it?”
“If you want it to. Or you can keep things casual.”
“Even then, he needed to know that I’m going to marry someone else soon.”
“Soon? Since when?”
“My mother wants to announce the engagement next week.”
Lacey’s eyebrows arched and she sucked in a sharp breath. “Next week? What’s the hurry?”
I shrugged. “Well, heisolder than me. He’ll be thirty next month. And I know he wants to run for governor at the election in a couple of years. It makes sense that we would be married first.”
“Governor? Geesh. Talk about a lot of work.”
“His ultimate goal is the White House.”
“And what’s your goal?” she asked with an arched brow.
“I agreed to be with him,” I said, stating a simple fact.
There was no point in expressing my feelings about it. I couldn’t let my family down. Lacey pursed her lips for a moment, and I could see the worry in her expression.
“First Lady Sabrina Albrecht. Has a certain ring to it, I guess,” Lacey mused. “Where does that leave Butch?”
I had no idea. All I knew for sure was that he was lingering in my mind, and I wanted to see him again as soon as possible. I was glad that we still had a fundraiser to plan together.
“He didn’t take the news well. But hedidkiss me at the end of the ride.”
“Ride? Kiss?” Her face lit up with a grin. “Start at the beginning and leave nothing out.”
Lacey was turned in her chair, facing me as she took a big sip of her wine, her painting all but forgotten in the excitement of my story. I filled her in on everything, including my confusion about the way the evening had ended.
“I just don’t know why he kissed me. He seemed so mad about the whole thing before that.”
“Guys are just like that sometimes. It’s like every negative emotion has to be expressed as anger, to hide weakness or whatever archaic crap motivates them.”
“You think he was just upset?”
“Sure. Maybe a little angry at the situation, too. It has to be a shock, to find someonebetrothedin modern times like this.”
I chewed over her words for a moment as I put the finishing touches on my painting. It made sense. I’d dumped a lot on the poor guy.
“But I’ll tell you what, that guy wants you. If he kissed you after all that, right there on the street, as if he couldn’t hold himself back—” Lacey swooned with a silly grin on her face. “It sends the message loud and clear.”
“I told him we couldn’t be together.”
“But you want him too.” It wasn’t a question. “So have some fun with him. You both know the deal. In the end, you’ll be with Hunter. But in the meantime, sow your wild oats. Get it, girl.”
