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His body language shifted. It was subtle. But I noticed.

"Hey, Dani." He stood. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She exhaled and was visibly relieved. "Oh, okay. Good."

"I'm here with Mikayla. We brought her mom in.”

She looked down at me and I waited for the next words out of her mouth to be, is she okay? Preemptively, my eyes began to wonder. I didn’t know if she was okay.

To my great relief, she did not ask about her well-being.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks." I nodded.

"Mikayla, this is Danielle. Danielle, Mikayla."

She smiled warmly. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too."

Her gaze flicked between us. "Are you staying at the ranch?"

"Yes, I⁠—"

"She's Damon's girlfriend," Dylan quickly supplied.

I nearly choked. "It's long distance," I blurted out.

Why? Why had I said that? The relationship was fake. Over. Done. And yet my mouth had apparently decided to extend the contract without consulting management.

Dani's shoulders relaxed. Actually relaxed. Like she'd been holding her breath and had finally been given permission to exhale.

"Oh, Damon." Her smile brightened. "That's…great."

A pager sounded at her waist. She glanced down.

"Sorry, I have to go." Her eyes met mine again, this time with no hesitation. "It was really nice meeting you, Mikayla. I hope your mom's okay."

"Thank you."

Then she looked at Dylan. "Try to stay out of trouble."

He grinned. "No promises."

She shook her head, smiling as she walked away.

Dylan watched her. And kept watching her. A good three seconds longer than necessary.

Interesting. Very interesting. I sat back down. "She seems nice."

He turned, his expression blank. “She is.”

“She’s gorgeous.” I commented, watching his expression closely.

“She is,” he agreed with zero emotion.

Okay, subltly was getting me nowhere. "What's the deal with you two?"