Page 25 of Let Me Be the One

When she looked at his mouth again, Tanner felt a measure of heat building inside. “Until?”

“Until the coat clerk returned and saw what was happening. Now that lady was all action. I remember her lightly touching my arm and asking, ‘What do you want to do, honey?’ in such a measured tone, almost motherly. I could almost imagine Addie being like that.”

More likely Addie would have had some choice words for the guy and his friend. She could let loose like no one else when she witnessed injustice.

Impatient for the part where Callie had finally put Sutter in his place, Tanner said, “And then?”

“The way she asked it made it seem like I had endless choices—and maybe I did.” She fiddled with her hair a moment. “I’d ridden there with my parents, and I was supposed to go home with Sutter.”

Brows gathering in a frown, Tanner hoped she’d found a solution.

“I wanted to walk out, but we were downtown at night, and it was chilly. Then the woman put a key fob in my hand and curled my fingers around it. She whispered that Sutter had left it in his coat pocket. She was going to ask him if he’d meant to, until she saw what I saw.”

“She wanted you to take his car?” The idea had him grinning. “Genius plan.”

“I thought so, too. I thanked her, without whispering, and turned to go, but then Sutter realized he wasn’t alone anymore. Even with him calling out to me, I kept walking.”

“Felt good, didn’t it?”

She returned his grin. “It sure did. I’d only gone about ten feet when suddenly it occurred to me that it was the perfect opportunity to end things. All of it. The engagement, the wedding, the future plans.”

“The farce?” Enthralled with the story, Tanner waited.

She nodded. “Sutter caught my arm, already apologizing and trying to explain.”

“I hope you told him to fuck off.”

“My mother would expire if I used that type of language.” With an impish smile, she said, “I took off his ring and politely gave it to him with my best smile.”

Tanner sat forward. “No way. Tell me you saidsomething.”

In lofty tones, her nose elevated, she recited, “Deal’s off. You can break the news to everyone. I’m leaving and don’t you dare contact me.”

That sounded like a very Callie-esque reaction. “Good for you.”

Peeking at Tanner, she grinned. “Know what made it even better? The woman who’d given me his fob applauded as I went out the door.”

He laughed. “I’m glad she was there.”

“You have no idea. She’s my hero.” Again, her gaze dipped over Tanner, this time to his biceps, down to his forearms, and then his hands. Idly, as if she’d lostinterest in the story, Callie said, “He chased me out of there, holding his pants up with one hand, talking a mile a minute. Apologizing and explaining. It was easy to ignore him and keep walking until I reached his car. Every single step I took felt more like freedom. Like I’d just come out of a cave.”

Damn, Tanner was proud of her, whether that made sense or not. He offered her a fist bump.

Hesitantly, she tapped her small fist to his. “You’re the only person I’ve told who appreciates the entire thing as much as I do.”

“I think it’s awesome.” Especially the part about her still being single. “No one else has the right to tell you how to live your life.”

“Maybe.” Subdued, she looked down at her coffee. “But I’m nearing thirty and Sutter’s proposition was the only near-proposal I’ve ever gotten.”

“So?” Did she want marriage bad enough to accept an arrangement made by her parents? Another thought occurred to him, drawing his brows together. “Were there other guys you had hoped to marry?”

“Not really.” She pursed her mouth, then said more forcefully, “Definitely not. The thing is, most of my friends have gotten married and they all seem so happy. Plus, shallow as it makes me, I wanted the fancy wedding with the beautiful white gown, the ceremony with flowers everywhere, followed by the awesome honeymoon.”

Yeah, he didn’t want to hear about a dreamy honeymoon for the woman he’d fantasized about most of his life. Determined to let her talk, he blocked that thought. “Doesn’t sound to me like the honeymoon would have been all that awesome.”

Pretending affront, she said, “Hey. The destinationwas great. A really private stay in Costa Rica. Two weeks. Meals delivered…”

He locked his teeth.

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