Page 22 of Tangled Up With You

He stirred for a few more seconds. I thought I was busted when the arm that had been wrapped around me stretched out like he was feeling for me in his sleep, but instead of waking up, he rolled over onto his back and threw that same arm over his eyes. The sheet was pooled at his waist, leaving his defined chest and carved marble abs on full display.

I licked my lips unwittingly as I took a few more moments to appreciate the man’s gorgeous body, then I got my shit together and got the hell out of there.

The great room was blessedly quiet as I crept down the stairs to the first floor. The reception desk was shut down and the restaurant and bar were dark and empty. I booked it out to the staff parking lot where I’d parked earlier and moved as quicklyto my car as I could, given I was running barefoot on gravel. I practically dove into the driver’s seat and threw the car into reverse, finally letting out a sigh of relief when I left the lodge in my rearview mirror.

From the curiouslooks I kept getting from everyone who walked into Muffin Top, the most popular coffee and pastry shop in town, I knew I probably looked ridiculous, sitting inside with oversized sunglasses perched on my nose, but the dark lenses were the only thing keeping my head from splitting open.

After I returned home from the lodge, I’d crawled my exhausted ass back into bed and slept for several more hours. I probably could have slept longer, but shortly after eight, a certain angry bull rider showed up on my front porch, beating on my front door and blowing up my cellphone at the same time. Was it cowardly to lock myself in my bathroom and hide until he finally gave up and went away? Maybe. Okay, yes. I was a chickenshit. I kept telling myself that fair was fair. He’d dipped out on me, and I simply returned the favor. I didn’t owe him any kind of explanation.

Shortly after he left, Lennix had called asking if I wanted to meet her for coffee. I wanted to say no and spend the whole day in bed binging true crime documentaries. My hangover was beating at my skull almost as hard as Connor had been beating at my front door, but I knew the odds of him showing back up at some point were high, and it would be easier to avoid the man if I wasn’t here. It was only a matter of time before he took off againor got sick of me. I just needed to wait him out, and what better way to do that than with caffeine.

“You look like flattened roadkill,” Lennix pointed out lovingly from across the table we’d managed to snag near one of the large windows. Like the Evergreen Diner, Muffin Top was a Hope Valley institution, and it was usually hopping, no matter what time of day it was.

I gave her a flat look behind my sunglasses as I took a much-needed hit from my coffee cup. “Thanks,” I deadpanned, holding up my middle finger for her to see.

She let out a tinkling giggle as she pulled off a piece of her chocolate croissant and popped it into her mouth.

“It’s just a hangover. I’ve had more than my fair share in my life. A little more coffee and a bit of grease and I’ll be good as new.”

“Hmm.” She gave me a look that had my hackles rising as she slowly chewed her croissant.

“What?” I began to fidget in my seat as she watched me keenly. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, no reason,” she said nonchalantly. “I just figured you’d be in a better mood today. You know, since a certain sexy bull rider practically railed you into the barn wall last night.”

I choked on the bite of my strawberry cheese Danish I’d just taken and proceeded to hack up a lung.

“Jeez, Ivy.” Lennix sputtered out a laugh as she rounded the table, coming over to my side to pound on my back until the food dislodged and I was finally able to pull in a breath. “I just wanted to give you a hard time. Not kill you.”

My sunglasses had fallen off at some point while I was choking, and with my eyes uncovered, I shot my friend a bewildered look. “How did—I wasn’t—That’s not—” I had to stop and suck back another gulp of coffee to soothe my suddenly dry throat. I worked to center myself as Lennix returned to her seat,counting to ten in my head as I inhaled a calming breath before pushing it back out.

“How did you know?” I finally managed to get out, my cheeks so hot I knew they had to be glowing an unnatural shade of red.

“I saw him follow you to the barn,” she replied with a casual shrug. I waited a few minutes, but when neither of you came out, I went to check on you. You know, to either make sure you hadn’t killed him or to help you dispose of the body. I didn’t even make it inside before I...heard.”

I slapped my hands over my face with a pained groan as she waggled her eyebrows at me. “Oh God.”

Lennix reached across the table and pulled my hands away. “Hey, knock that off. You didn’t do anything wrong. From the sounds of it, you were both doing somethingveryright.”

“For the love of God,” I grumbled, collapsing back in my chair and folding my arms over my chest. “Did you see?—?”

Lennix’s entire face scrunched up like she’d just sucked on a rotten lemon. “Ew, no! I heard you two going at it and hightailed it out of there.” She faked a shiver of repulsion. “Please. I love you, babe, but I donotwant to see that.” She munched on her croissant before speaking around the flaky pastry. “So does this mean the two of you kissed and made up?”

I let out an indelicate snort. “Not a chance in hell.” I reached up to massage my aching temples. “It was just a stupid, drunken hookup.”

As if to contradict my point, my cellphone started to buzz from my back pocket, and when I pulled it out, Connor’s name was flashing across the screen. It was the fifth call I had ignored so far this morning. I quickly mashed the button on the side to send it to voicemail and dropped the phone onto the table in frustration.

Lennix looked from me to the phone and back again, her brows lifting high on her forehead inquisitively. “That him?”

“Yeah,” I said on a sigh, popping another bite of Danish into my mouth. “Guess he wasn’t thrilled to wake up this morning and discover I’d taken a page out of his book.”

Lennix let out a bubble of surprised laughter. “You mean you bailed on him in the middle of the night?”

I nodded. “Yep. Took off while he was still sound asleep.”

“Hell yes, Ivy!” she declared, reaching across the table for a high five. “Way to give that bastard a taste of his own medicine. But I’m curious.”

“About?”

---