She hums as if she’s thinking. “Or we could order a pizza.”
Not ready to give in to her obsession with cheese and meat on bread, I glance over my shoulder. “Would you prefer chicken with the salad?”
“If it’s on the pizza, sure.” She grins as if to punctuate her point.
I shut the fridge and face her, leaning my arms on the counter. “Still not a salad eater?”
She scrunches her nose. “Nope.”
After a noisy sigh of resignation, I lean over and grab my phone. “Fine. We’ll do pizza tonight, but after that, you either eat what I’m making or fend for yourself. Deal?”
Without looking away from her screen, she gives me a thumbs-up.
Once I place the order for a half pepperoni, half veggie pizza, I sit down at the table near Bree. “So, are you ready to talk about it yet?”
She continues to stare at her screen, making me wonder if she even heard me. Then she closes her laptop, takes off her glasses, and sighs. “Things didn’t work out the way I’d hoped.”
That’s it? That’s all she’s going to tell me? Fine. I’ll annoy her with more questions. “Freelancing wasn’t working?”
She shrugs. “Not really. The income wasn’t stable.”
I lean back in the chair, crossing my arms as I stretch my legs out in front of me. “Why’d you leave the gig at the Texas Stars?”
Her eyes dart to me before dropping to her hands as she pulls them into her lap. “It wasn’t a good fit for me anymore.”
“Bree.” She may be two feet from me, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt so far away from her.
After what seems like minutes, she finally meets my gaze. “What?”
Something deep and painful flickers in her eyes. As I lean forward, I grab one of her hands. Her skin is soft and warm,and when I squeeze her fingers, she squeezes back. “What happened?”
She shrugs again, tugging her hand away. “Nothing. I was ready for a change, that’s all.”
I pull my head back in confusion. “Then why did you take the job here? It’s the same kind of work, isn’t it?”
She blinks rapidly as she takes a ragged breath. “I…I?—”
The doorbell rings. Her eyes flash to mine like a deer caught in the headlights of my old Jeep on the ranch.
I’m pushing too hard, and I haven’t even asked the big question of why she disappeared from my life for a year. And as much as I want to know the reason, cornering her will only make things worse. Kind of reminds me of the mustang that showed up one morning and joined our herd. She was fine in the group, but alone, she’d buck and snort at anyone who tried to get close.
Except for me. Took a while, but Luna finally let me get near enough to hand-feed her at first. Took most of the summer before my senior year of high school to get her to trust me and allow a saddle. Last I heard, she just had her first colt, bearing the same moon-shaped patch of white hair on his muzzle right below his eyes.
“That would be our pizza.” I give her a reassuring smile before heading to the door.
Bree already has the plates and napkins arranged on the table when I return with the pizza box. Her laptop sits off to the side, open to some graphics program she’s using to edit the video she took of Ethan and Elias. “The E-team” spans across the bottom in a banner with bold letters, with the Sun Kings logo centered, yet overlapping the top of the text.
I gesture toward the image. “Impressive.”
To my relief, she smiles and lights up. “I’m creating a model to show Rebecca tomorrow so she can get a feel for the branding I’m working on. And I have some events in mind that will notonly help the team’s image but also work with the charities you guys are involved with.”
When she takes a single slice of pizza, I add another because I know she’s distracted. Even in high school, Bree would forget to eat during finals, so I always made sure I brought extra snacks in my backpack so she wouldn’t pass out or become hangry.
“You’ve done your research.” I slide three slices onto my plate.
She nods. “And I made a list of ideas to optimize your profiles.”
“Should I be worried?”
