“Fine. I’m fine.” She wasn’t, and the look on his face said he wasn’t buying it, but there was no way she could tell him what she felt.
She couldn’t stand next to him, wanting him so much when she was still with Ethan.
“These are amazing,” he said, glancing over her shoulder to look at the painting in front of them.
Watching his face while he admired her cousin’s work made something twist tight inside her. He didn’t need to be cajoled or coerced into showing up for Taylor. He clearly did it because he wanted to. The fact that he appreciated the beauty her cousin created was written across his face. When he glanced over and caught her watching him, he smiled and warmth spread through her. He wasn’t pretending or posturing to impress her or anyone else. His reaction to the art was genuine. The same as his reaction to her, the genuine pleasure she saw reflected in his eyes whenever he saw her. The steady patience he had when they worked at something together or even when she got prickly and pulled away from him. He was the same person—strong, gentle, open, available, and steady as the rock she loved.
If she was smart, she’d make some excuse and get away from him before she did something stupid. It would be easy. She could steer him toward Becca and Gabe and then make herself scarce until Ethan finally decided to make an appearance. Except the longer she stood there escaping into her cousin’s created worlds with Michael, the harder it got to walk away. She wanted this time with him and he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to join the others.
They walked around the corner to a painting of a stairway. It looked like it was decaying and being rebuilt at the same time. When they stopped in front of the painting, their hands brushed. Nothing big. Nothing anyone would notice, just the barely there touch of the back of his hand against hers, but it was enough to send a jolt of heat through her, and she took a deliberate step away to catch her breath. When her phone vibrated in her bag, she jumped as if she’d been electrocuted, so off balance by her reaction to Michael it took her a moment to realize what was going on. She glanced down and saw Ethan’s toothpaste-white smile grinning up at her and braced herself for what she knew was coming.
“Excuse me,” she said, stepping away from Michael. She didn’t want an audience for a conversation she was sure was going to include an endless stream of excuses and Ethan’s carefully orchestrated charm.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he said after she answered, killing any hope she had that she’d misread the situation. “I’m not going to make it to the opening today. Something’s come up.”
He kept talking and explaining himself, but she couldn’t hear past the buzzing in her ears and suddenly she didn’t care. When she took a deep breath and considered her relationship with Ethan and his inability to commit to anything that was important to her, she realized it just didn’t matter anymore. Holding the phone against her ear without really listening, she glanced across the gallery and saw Michael hugging Becca and slapping Gabe on the back the way guys did when they liked each other but didn’t want to be too obvious about it. Ethan had never been that comfortable with her family, not once in the entire time she’d known him.
She watched for a fraction of a second longer and then as if he sensed her gaze, Michael looked over at her. When his eyes met hers, he smiled—so honestly happy to see her—something inside her melted in his warmth. He held her gaze for a moment longer, and the heat ratcheted up between them.
“It’s okay, Ethan. Don’t worry about it,” she said, more certain than she’d been in a long time.
“I knew you’d understand. You’re the best.”
“This isn’t working for either of us. I think we need to take a break.” A break implied they could try again. She had no intention of rekindling her relationship with Ethan, but dropping anI never want to see you againover the phone seemed unnecessarily harsh.
“Wait, sweetheart. You can’t mean that. Is this because I couldn’t make it to your cousin’s little party?”
Amanda glanced around the gallery filled with people admiring Taylor’s work. She saw someone she was pretty sure was a reporter for the local TV station and smiled when she thought about how disappointed Ethan was going to be when he realized he missed a chance to appear even in the background on television.
“No, it’s about us wanting different things. I’m tired of pretending and I think once you think about it, you’ll realize you are too.” Not that he’d done all that much pretending. If he hadn’t wanted to do something, he didn’t do it. Their present situation was a perfect case in point.
“What about the competition?” he said, a slight edge to his voice.
The fact that he was more worried about his job thing than her leaving him would bug the crap out of her if she was more upset about it all. But the more she got used to the idea, the more she realized she didn’t feel much at all. That more than anything showed her she’d made the right decision. When a relationship ended, a person was supposed to feelsomethingabout it.
“I’ll finish the challenge. We all will,” she said, giving him a not-so-subtle reminder her sister and brother were helping him too.
“Take some time,” Ethan said, sounding completely reasonable now that he was sure he was getting what he wanted. “I understand you’re confused. We can talk about all of this later.”
“I’m not confused, Ethan,” she said, irritation creeping into her voice. The man was going to push and push until she finally got angry.
“Never mind. That was probably the wrong word choice. We’ll talk again later.” He spoke slowly and soothingly as if he were talking to a child and Amanda resisted the urge to chuck her cell phone across the room. She wouldn’t risk damaging Taylor’s paintings.
“Good-bye, Ethan,” she said, ending the conversation before he pushed her to take drastic measures.
Across the room, Michael mouthedeverything okay?
She nodded, smiling, and he gave her a sexy wink that sent a jolt of heat through her. Ending the call with Ethan, she sent her sister and cousin a quick text telling them she wasn’t feeling well and would catch up with them later. Becca wouldn’t believe her, but there’d be time to sort that out later. She couldn’t stay in the same room with Michael, especially now that the obstacle of her never-present boyfriend was gone. Regardless of how things had ended with Ethan, she didn’t think she’d like herself very much if she turned into the kind of person who broke up with one guy and turned around and started kissing another. If she stayed at the party with Michael, she couldn’t promise that wouldn’t happen.
Remembering the jolt she got from just his hand brushing against hers, she was pretty sure kissing was the least of what would happen.
––––––––
HOLDING THE TAKEOUT cup of hot apple cider he’d picked up from the farm stand alongside the road, Michael pushed open the door to the Next Mountain shop. It took a moment for him to find Amanda but when he did, a heat that had nothing to do with cider zinged through him. She was helping a customer choose between a handful of sleeping bags. When she looked up and saw him, she gave him a smile that would have made it worth waiting for her to finish with a room full of customers.
He’d known something had gone wrong at the gallery opening. One minute she was on the phone and then the next she’d disappeared. But he hadn’t realized what happened until Becca texted him that morning with the news that Amanda and Ethan were over. Actually, what she’d said wasthe dumbass is gone—what are you waiting for?He didn’t need more of an invitation than that. Besides, he needed to pick up some gear for their expedition into the Blue Ridge Mountains that weekend, which made his visit legitimate and gave him an out if Amanda didn’t want to see him. If her smile was any indication, he could cross that particular worry off his list.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked, coming to meet him in the tent section as soon as she finished helping her other customer check out. She stopped a step or two away, but her body leaned toward him as if she’d considered greeting him with a hug or kiss and pulled herself up short. He made it his new goal to figure out a way to encourage her initial impulse before the end of the day. Greeting Amanda with a kiss was exactly the way his world was supposed to work.
