Everyone was exhausted after the event, and a heavy silence settled over the room for several minutes.
“I should probably stay here tonight and keep an eye on her,” Nolan said.
“Of course!” Ruth replied as she retrieved her phone from her bag. “There’s tons of room,” she added before standing up. “I’m going to take a picture of Reba.” She asked Nolan, “What are you going to call him?”
“Well, since I already have a Duchess and Clay has a Duke, I think I’ll name him Earl.”
“That’s perfect!” Ruth laughed and Jamie joined in, but Clayton sat there and shook his head.
“What are you going to name yours, Clayton—Baron?” Jamie asked.
“The girls want to name him Heathcliff.”
“Ohreally? Why?” Jamie thought it was an unusual name.
“From Wuthering Heights?” Ruth inquired.
Clayton nodded. “They were named after the Brontë sisters, so it only makes sense for him to be named after one of their characters.”
“That’s adorable,” Ruth said.
“It really is, Clayton,” Jamie agreed, making a mental note to read the book.
Clayton gestured toward the scattered cards on the table.
“We didn’t finish the showdown,” he said and flipped over his hole cards, revealing two pairs—jacks and eights. “Beat that.”
Jamie smiled and turned over her cards to reveal a royal flush. “Read ’em and weep.”
Ruth giggled. “I told you, Clayton. She always wins.”
Clayton exhaled, pushing back his chair with a slow nod. “Guess I should roll on out.”
“If you’re still feeling sick, we have an extra bed,” Ruth offered.
“Feeling better now, thanks.” Clayton took his suede jacket from Jamie’s outstretched hand. “See you in Vegas.”
Jamie froze. “Vegas?”
“The ACMs,” he said casually.
Her stomach knotted. “Wait—what? I thought they were in Nashville.”
“Vegas,” he repeated, as if it were obvious.
A sharp pulse of panic shot through her. Vegas. The word alone made her chest tighten. The flashing neon, the relentless noise, the ghosts of a life she’d worked so hard to leave behind—it was all waiting for her there. She hadn’t set foot in that city in over five years, and she sure as hell didn’t plan to now.
“No one told me they were in Vegas,” she said, her voice taut. “I can’t go back there.”
Clayton shrugged. “Sorry, darlin’.”
She stared at him, disbelief hammering in her chest. “You knew. And you didn’t tell me?”
He met her gaze. “You never asked.”
CHAPTER 20
CLAYTON
