Page 45 of Mister Cowboy
Tina raised her eyebrows and smirked but didn’t say anything as she left the room.
He’d barely had time to let out a deep breath and enjoy the silence of his empty office when Nadia appeared in the doorway. She closed the door behind her and moved toward to his desk with a flirty sway in her hips.
“Nadia,” he said curtly, turning his attention to his computer.
“What time are you picking me up tonight?”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot,” she said, sticking her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. “It’s the opening for A La Mode.”
In the past, he’d let Nadia dictate their social outings. She shuffled through the many invitations that came in, picked her favorites, and they’d attended together.
“I completely forgot about the gallery opening. I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it.”
“Well, that’s okay,” she said, her tone saying she wasn’t going to be easily deterred. “I can order us dinner in. A quiet night with just the two of us sounds divine.”
Christ. She wasn’t going to make this easy. “I’m sorry, Nadia. I can’t have dinner with you. I have a date.” It was only partly true. He and January hadn’t made plans, but they’d been spending every night together so it was a fair assumption that he’d see her tonight.
“Perhaps a quiet night with the three of us then,” she said, and his stomach jumped to his throat.
“No.” He gave her his full attention now.
Her eyes narrowed for a second before the sultry look returned to her face. “Is this about that frumpy brunette you’ve been seeing?”
“Careful, Nadia,” he warned, wanting nothing more than to remind her that she had agreed to the boundaries of their arrangement and was currently close to crossing them.
He stood and gave her an indifferent glance. “I appreciate that you’ve accompanied me in the past, but I think it’s best if I find my own plus one from now on. I’m going to lunch.”
Grabbing his coat, he left her standing in his office and hoped like hell she didn’t make this harder than it needed to be.
24
January
“Here are some additional boxes. Let me know if you need more.” Timothy dropped the large cardboard boxes on the floor and leaned against the door with one thumb tucked into the front of his jeans. “Place is starting to look great.”
“Thank you.” Wiping the back of a dusty hand across her forehead, she surveyed the room, pleased with the progress. He hesitated at the door, standing straight and filling the space with his tall and lanky frame. “Have you seen Tina today?” She tried for casual but was sure he could read through the innocent-sounding question.
“No, but she does have a way of steering plum clear of me.”
“Why is that?”
He smoothed his beard down with a hand, and one side of his mouth turned up. “I’d like to think she hasn’t come around to my charms yet, but the truth is I might have come on a little strong when we first met.” He dropped his hand and shrugged. “What can I say, it isn’t often a beautiful woman like that walks onto my ranch.”
“Maybe you should tell her that.”
He looked down at his boots and tipped back on his heels. “Eh, I’m not sure what a girl like that would see in someone like me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” she said to his back as he stepped out into the hall. “Thanks for the boxes.”
Sitting on the bed, she took a deep breath and tried to picture what Brecken’s room might have looked like when he was a child. She had found no trace of him as she’d cleaned out the closet and dressers. Not an old yearbook or even a ratty teddy bear. The walls looked as if they had been repainted in recent years, so not even the scratches or holes in the walls left any indication of where he might have hung posters or pictures of friends.
She snapped a picture of herself sitting on the bed in his old room and sent it to him, hoping to break through whatever barrier he had up that wouldn’t allow him to tell her why he’d left home and never returned.
His response was immediate.
Brecken: All my wet dreams just came true.
