Page 158 of Never In My Wildest Dreams

But he didn’t budge. Studying her, he rested the case against the wall. “What did you need down here?”

“I—um…” Her mind went blank.

“Did that motherfucker do something?” His biceps flexed, and his gaze hardened.

“No.” The word shot out of her mouth before she could consider his question. “He didn’t. I just…I met his colleague. All along I’ve assumed George was a man. But she’s a woman. And they’re close. Really close.”

“He fuck her?” Trust Jude to get right to the point.

“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him about it yet.”

These guys knew her entire story because she sang about it at their bar. Most times, before her set, she’d chat with them.

“You don’t like the idea of him working with someone he’s fucked?”

She let out a shaky breath. “It’s not the past I care about.” She couldn’t do it. After what Landon and Cissy had done right under her nose, she just couldn’t. “It’s about continuing to work with someone he’s slept with.”

“Seems to me, you got two choices. You either end things now because of something that might happen, or you give it your best shot, knowing your heart’s taken a lickin’ before and you survived.”

“You’re right.”

“Is he worth it?” Jude asked.

“He is, yes. Totally.”

Jude nodded. “Then, don’t condemn him before he does somethin’ wrong. Give him the benefit of the doubt. If he starts throwin’ down red flags, you walk.”

He made it sound so simple. “Thank you.” She got up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “You’re a good friend.”

He shrugged her off and headed out of the room. “Close the door behind you.”

By the time she got upstairs, Jude was gone. But he’d set her straight.

She had no reason to doubt Slick. He’d been loving and attentive to her and hadn’t shown a hint of anything but affection for his business partner.

Besides, it was time to do the toasts, and she wasn’t going to miss a single moment of her friend’s wedding.

This is Noa’s night.

With a fresh perspective, she stepped out into the cool evening air. She thought about the way he’d mouthed, “Us,” put his hand on her knee, and said, “You look beautiful.”

And the way he’d sat with Stevie in the sandbox. He’d been around his clients’ kids before, but he’d never been a father. For his daughter, he’d jumped right in. That showed his true character. A man who stepped up, not only meeting his responsibility but taking it so much further by jumping into the deep end of fatherhood.

As she neared the barn, she spotted movement in the trees. She knew right away it was George and Slick. They stood close together, her hand on his shoulder, as they had an intense conversation.

Lorelei was thrown back to that night at the music festival when she’d seen Landon and Cissy come out of the woods. The unquestionable intimacy between them. She’d known immediately they were sleeping together.

This time, that wasn’t what she was seeing. She didn’t see sex. She saw a closeness that only came after years of road trips, study sessions, and helping each other through breakups.

It was a connection born out of time and experience. Lorelei didn’t have that with him yet. They’d had fun in the cabin. They’d made a baby together.

But it wasn’t deep. It wasn’t solid.

How could it be? They hadn’t even known each other a full week.

She was sick to her stomach at how selfish she’d been. If she hadn’t met George tonight, Slick would’ve moved in, and they’d have played house. They’d go through all the growing pains of a new relationship in front of their daughter. And if it didn’t work? Stevie would be devastated.

She couldn’t do that to her girl.

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