It didn’t matter. Not anymore.
Right now, Tripp was willing to lose himself in this woman. He’d kiss her until she was dizzy, breathless, and finally willing to accept that what they had was bigger than any reservation she might have.
Her hands pushed into his hair as she clung to him.
Relief, desperation, and exhilaration fueled his every movement. She was his. In this moment, as long as it would last, Wendy belonged to him. He didn’t know what would happen after this moment, but he had a feeling he’d gotten past the first hurdle.
She moaned into his lips and he murmured her name. This was happiness. This was perfection.
“Hey, Tripp, Reese is looking…”
Wendy gasped, tearing away from Tripp at the sound of Brent’s voice. She moved far too quickly for him to see if she regretted the moment they’d just shared. Like a streak of lightning, she darted from his side and toward the door, her head down.
Brent mumbled something as he jumped out of her way then he turned a knowing grin in Tripp’s direction. “So…”
“Shut up, Brent,” Tripp muttered, pushing past him. At the speed that Wendy left, there was no chance that he’d catch her. Calling after her would only draw more attention. He’d give her some space, then he’d track her down. This wasn’t over.
Despite the way their kiss had ended, Tripp smiled to himself.
He’d call this little encounter a win.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
His name could have beenTrouble. Both words started with the same letter. Wendy had to remind herself of just how bad it would be for her to like the guy let alone fall for him entirely. For the most part, she’d planned on avoiding Tripp. Serenity was gone on a honeymoon for the first week. Three of those days, Tripp hadbumpedinto her when she’d been in town. She had her suspicions he knew exactly what he was doing.
How else could she explain that she’d gone from never seeing him to seeing him three times in one week?
Neither one of them had brought up the kisses they’d shared. Honestly, the thought of discussing it terrified her. They’d agreed they would go their separate ways.
But that was before everything happened.
Of those three ‘random’ meetups, Tripp managed to rope her into getting coffee with him. Thirty minutes later, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d finally lost her mind.
Was it actually possible that she liked him?
No more. She wasn’t going to let this escalate any further. If she had to run the other way when she saw him walking down the street, she would.
Wendy dug her hands into her hair as she sat at her desk. The end of month paperwork sat before her, strewn and messy like her bedraggled thoughts. Tripp was an enigma of sorts. He could be infuriating. Definitely obnoxious when he got too cocky. But then there were the tender moments that gave her a glimpse of the person behind his reputation. Endearing.
She groaned. At some point he’d gotten to her. Now she couldn’t help but entertain the idea of ‘what if’. What if he wasn’t as bad as she’d thought he was? What if he was boyfriend material? What if he was different because he wanted to be with her?
Stomach swirling, Wendy shot to her feet. There was no ignoring these thoughts. She’d done her best to do just that after the wedding, after that kiss. There was only one thing she could do now and that thought scared her even more than opening her heart to the man who she’d sworn she’d never like.
The phone rang three times before Olivia answered.
“Wendy? It feels like forever!”
Wendy smiled, but the pain and uncertainty in her chest only intensified. Olivia sure sounded happy. Her voice was bright, excited. It had been too long since they’d checked in with each other. “Hey, Liv.”
“What’s up?” The sound of a child screeching in the background was followed shortly by Olivia’s painfully patient voice. “I know, baby. Lunch is almost ready.” Then her voice got louder. “Please tell me you’ve finally been swept off your feet.”
Wendy flinched. She paced the small office and chewed on her lip. How was she supposed to jump into this conversation like that?
Olivia laughed. “You have! I knew there were only a couple reasons you’d reach out to me out of the blue. You either finally finished that book you wanted to write, or you found a guy who grabbed your attention. So, who is he?”
“I’m not,” Wendy argued a little too sharply. “I actually called because I bumped into Tripp. Did you know he lived in Montana?”
There was a pregnant pause. “Tripp?”
