Page 91 of Moonlit Colorado

Me

Remind me of the general parameters of our no-dating pact?

Piper

We made it up, girlie. You don’t need a loophole if you like him!

Do you like him that much??

Dane wants us to keep seeing each other.

Then listen to your instincts. Trust yourself. What do YOU want?

Dane interrupted me, resting his hand on my back, and I glanced up in surprise, holding my phone screen against my chest. He looked pensively at my device. “Something wrong?”

“Nope. Finished with the photos?”

“I’ve officially appeared in photographic evidence that I was here. But my dad demands that I make nice with Mr. Harcourt, father of the bride. It should be just a few minutes, but?—”

“Go, I’m fine. I’ll top up my champagne and have some of those hors d’oeuvres I saw waiters carrying around.”

“But I hate leaving you alone.”

“I amfine.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek, then pushed him gently in the direction of his father. “Besides, I’m in the middle of a text conversation with Piper.”

“Say hi for me. I’ll be right back.”

I had a few appetizers and sipped champagne, walking over to a quieter side of the patio to admire the scenery.

The hotel really was gorgeous. The place sparkled. Not just the lights of the city, which twinkled in a panorama around us, but the inside of the hotel too. I made a quick visit to the ladies’ room, then looked for a spot where I could think for a minute or two, away from the wedding festivities.

I found a sitting area that wasn’t occupied, off to one side of a quiet hallway, and sat on a sofa. There was a fireplace with a roaring fire. It reminded me of home. Of everything and everyone that I missed back in Silver Ridge.

I still hadn’t answered Piper’s question.

What did I want?

Dane had said he would head back to Silver Ridge with me after this trip. He still had work to do with the ski resort, and I was still supposed to be his guide to the town.

How would my brothers react if I came back and Dane and I were a couple?

I didn’t worry so much about their disapproval. Ashford and Callum both were forgiving. But they worried about me too much. And Dane’s friendship meant so much to Ashford. If things didn’t work out between me and Dane, would I be causing permanent damage to their friendship?

If things didn’t work out, would myheartbe able to take it?

I had been terrified that I would trust the wrong man, fall for him, and then he’d turn his back on me. Leave the way my father had, or hurt me even worse than that.

But deep down, way in the center of me where I really knew what was true, I believed that Dane wasn’t like that. We might not work out, but not because he wasn’t trustworthy.

Heaven help me, I wanted Dane to be my boyfriend.

I was about to text Piper back, because I had my answer, and I didn’t want to leave her hanging. Then I glanced over, catching movement from the corner of my eye, and every part of me went cold.

The sofa where I sat was partially concealed by the fireplace, so he hadn’t seen me. But I’d gotten a good enough look to recognize the man as he walked down the corridor. A shaved head, a salt-and-pepper goatee.

The same man I’d seen last night at the rehearsal dinner. The guy who’d confronted me at the ski resort back in Silver Ridge.

He was here in New York, and this time, I knew Idefinitelywasn’t imagining it.

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