Page 31 of Still A Cowboy
He only smiled like a loon. Then, remembered he really shouldn’t be smiling since this had clearly upset her. He figured it’d upset him, too, once he got over the initial manly giddiness of being this close to her.
Cal took her phone and hit replay, and they watched the video again, both of them straining to pick through the grainy footage.
“It looks like it was filmed from across the street,” Cal said, his mind already pulling through what he remembered. “I think it was from the camera we saw set up at Driftwood Manor.”
Willa’s brow furrowed. “You think it caught us while it was filming the masked couple?”
“Could be. I remember seeing that camera in the background when they were doing their whole… performance.” He handed her back her phone and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “But why make it public? And just how public is it, anyway?” he asked.
Willa’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “Fia said someone sent it to her directly, but it’s also been uploaded to a bunch of sites. It’s tagged with our names.”
Cal quickly grabbed his laptop and started pulling up searches. It didn’t take long to find it. The video was everywhere. Shared. Tagged. Passed around like it was some small-town curiosity.
He considered that. Dismissed a couple of theories. And didn’t come up with anything logical. “If the couple was Sawyer and Lark, why the hell would they post it anonymously? Why go to all that trouble? This doesn’t publicize their vlog.”
Willa shook her head, her arms tightening even more. “Maybe they were pissed we saw them.”
“Doesn’t make sense.” Cal sat back, his mind still working the puzzle. “If they wanted to embarrass us, why not just confront us that night?Why wait? Why leak it like this?”
Something didn’t add up. Someone had filmed them, but he wasn’t sure the motive was as simple as payback for them seeing something that had happened right in front of a window.
Willa went quiet for a long beat, her gaze locked on the floor as if she was chasing something in her head. Then she cursed under her breath.
“I didn’t arrange for this to be filmed,” she said, her voice tight. “I didn’t post it. I would never do something like that.”
Cal blinked, surprised by the sudden edge in her tone. “Why would I think you did?”
She lifted her eyes to his, and there was something almost hurt in her expression. “Because of Eden.”
Her whole body stiffened the second the words left her mouth, like she regretted saying it instantly.
Cal narrowed his eyes. “What about Eden?”
Willa waved him off, but he didn’t move. He crossed his arms and gave her a steady look, waiting.
She sighed, pacing now, chewing on the inside of her cheek like she hated explaining this. “I just… I don’t want you to think I posted the video to mess with you. Or to get between you and Eden. Or to make her jealous. I don’t play like that.”
Cal’s frown deepened. “Why would you even think I’d believe that?”
Willa dragged her hands through her hair and shook her head. “Forget it.”
But he didn’t. He thought back to Halloween. To Eden’s catty smile, her snide little jabs at Willa, her smug confidence like she already knew she had the upper hand with him.
“Willa,” he said, his voice low and steady, “did something happen between you and Eden? Something to do with me?”
She stopped pacing but didn’t answer right away.
Cal could feel the answer pressing against the silence, and something in his chest braced for it.
Willa finally stopped pacing and crossed her arms, her shoulders tight. “She dropped by the Seaglass. Told me not to get in the way. Said you two were working things out.”
Cal’s stomach sank, his jaw tightening. He let out a sharp curse. “I haven’t seen Eden since Halloween.”
Willa’s brow pinched, clearly caught off guard. “What about your dinner? You were supposed to meet her.”
“I didn’t go.” His voice was firm. “I cancelled.”
Willa blinked, her mouth parting like she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. “You cancelled?”
