“I’m not worried about any of that. As long as it’s not forbidden in my contract, I’m good. But I still don’t plan to be in the video.”
“Do you not like the camera?” Riley asks.
He shrugs. “I’m used to being on camera. But in this case, I know next to nothing about ranch life, and I’ll just be in the way.”
“Not at all,” Logan says.
I touch Liam’s arm. “You get a pass. Do you want to just watch instead?”
He winks at me and steps closer. “With you running the show? For sure.”
I get that stomach-plunging sensation again as I smile at him. If we were alone, I might kiss him.
But we’re very much not alone. I drag my gaze away from his and glance toward the bar. Macey, Logan, Riley, Ben, and George are all watching us.
“Y’all are so cute,” Riley says.
Logan grins. “Come on, and we’ll get you set up outside.”
CHAPTERTWELVE
Logan steps out from behind the bar, and Macey follows with their baby.
“I’m curious how this whole live video thing works,” she admits. “I’ll pop into the house and have Logan’s mama watch Kendall.”
She whispers to me, “Your boyfriend only has eyes for you. I’m sure you know that already, but it’s obvious.”
I wave goodbye to Riley, Ben, and George, who then shyly asks Liam for a photo.
Until this trip, I never realized how exhausting it must be for public figures.
“What if you’re just in a bad mood and don’t want to deal?” Riley says to me as we watch Liam and George take a selfie together. “God, I would be the biggest bitch if I were famous.”
“Same,” I agree. “I’d be talked about as rude for sure.”
Liam shakes George’s hand goodbye, and we head for the exit.
As Logan holds open the door and I step outside the bar, I’m immediately hit by the unrelenting sun. Macey wasn’t exaggerating—Texas in summer ishot.
Liam and Logan walk on ahead as Macey and I lag behind. “Liam and I aren’t dating, actually. I barely know him.”
“Well, you couldn’t have shocked me more just now,” she says, her mouth dropping open. “He calls you darling and looks at you like you hung the moon.”
I flush. “We didn’t even like each other before this road trip, and we ended up traveling together unexpectedly. I was in a pinch, and Liam offered to drive me home.”
“From the few seconds I’ve spent with him, he doesn’t seem like the type of guy to be charitable,” Macey says. “So I doubt he’d have extended himself for you unless he liked you.”
I shrug. “There might be a physical attraction…”
“You think?” Macey laughs. “Honey, I could have spotted the chemistry with my eyes closed. And now I’m extra glad I’m tagging along with y’all. I love watching love stories unfold.”
Certain she’s bound to be disappointed when nothing happens in that arena, I shift the subject to the weather.
But I’m about to find out that chatting about the weather will just bring us back to the topic I’m trying to avoid.
Macey is one of those rare women I’d love to be friends with and also love to be more like. She can conversate about literally anything from weather to family dynamics to romance. And she never misses a beat as she segues between the different topics.
“A heat wave always reminds me of Logan.” She giggles. “Logan and I had a friends-with-benefits situationship going for years. My daddy’s an alcoholic and my mama wasn’t the best at raising kids, so I felt scarred by childhood trauma. It was hard for me to trust any marriage could work.” She says all of this cheerfully without a hint of bitterness.
