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“Pshaw. Just telling the truth.” Noticing Nate had finished the dishes, she continued. “Now you two go on. I’m sure you have better things to do than listen to an old woman blather.”
“You don’t blather. We love seeing you, but I do need to get back to the ranch. Marshall and I have an appointment this afternoon with a possible buyer for one of the colts.”
Damaris hugged Grandma K and when Nate bent to kiss her cheek she said something to him that Damaris couldn’t hear.
“Should I stop at the barn or the cottage?” Nate asked on their way out the door.
“Cottage. I need to change clothes before the appointment.” She’d worn a dress to Grandma K’s and that wasn’t the sort of thing she liked to wear around the horses. Who knew what might need to be done, and heels and a dress would not be fun to work in.
“What did Grandma K say to you before we left?” she asked as they pulled up to the cottage. She’d been dying to know but Nate hadn’t said a word. In fact, he’d talked about his student training schedule all the way to the ranch.
He parked the car then went around to her side to open her door. “I can get my own door, you know.”
“I know. But I’m a good Southern boy so you let me do it.”
She walked into the cottage with Nate following her. “All right, since you haven’t answered, I’ll ask again. What did Grandma K say to you right before we left? Don’t give me the runaround, either.”
He frowned, but he answered. “She said she wasn’t getting any younger and when the heck was I going to ask you to marry me.”
*
Damaris frowned. “I guess that’s no surprise considering her diamond she gave you to give to me. Did you tell her you weren’t going to ask me to marry you?”
“No, of course not.”
“Why not?”
“We’ve been over this before. Just recently in fact. I’m not going to break her heart.”
“You are so frustrating. You have to tell her we’re not that serious.”
“No.”
She heaved a sigh. “We can’t go on forever like this, Nate.”
He stared at her, wanting to shake her. No, he wanted to kiss her until she forgot all about coming clean. “We’ll think of something.”
She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I don’t have time to argue right now. The buyer will be here in ten minutes and I want to change. We’ll talk about this later.”
“Whatever you say.” Maybe it was time to finally have it out. He felt like they’d been circling around the problem. Which wouldn’t be a problem at all if Damaris would admit she wanted more than sex from their relationship. Nate kissed her, a little longer and more intense than a simple goodbye. Turning her loose, he said, “Want to get some dinner tonight?”
“Maybe. Depends on what’s happening here. I’ll call you.”
Nate had a new client call for a flight that afternoon so he didn’t manage to see Damaris that evening. Which was just as well since he was tired of arguing about marriage, engagements, breaking up, and whatever else Damaris decided to argue about.
One thing he knew for sure. He did not want to break up with Damaris. Ever since they’d started this pretending to be together business he’d only fallen deeper in love with her. He hadn’t thought enough about what would happen if Damaris didn’t fall in love with him too. Or worse, if she did but refused to admit it. Oh, he’d started to think about it a hundred times. He’d just managed to push it out of his mind every time it came up.
Tell her the truth? That he’d been in love with her from the first time he saw her? Maybe he hadn’t recognized it at first but eventually he’d figured it out. The fact that no other women held his interest for more than a date or two after he and Damaris became friends. He sure as hell knew how he felt now. As for Damaris, though, if she hadn’t fallen in love with him after everything that had happened, he couldn’t imagine what else would make a difference. But what other brilliant ideas did he have?
Exactly. None.
*
Late that evening after he returned from his flight Nate went to Booze’s. He’d called Damaris from the airport to let her know he was back. But with her getting up before dawn, it was way too late to see her. He took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer from Siobhan Murphy, the cute, sassy, redheaded bartender he’d known since he first came to town. He’d flirted with her and asked her to go out with him early on, but while she was happy to flirt with him that was as far as she’d take it. So he’d settled for flirting and friendship, which seemed to suit both of them.
Siobhan set his beer in front of him. “Why so down, Nate?”
Surprised, he glanced up at her. Hell, she was a bartender. She probably had a sixth sense for sniffing out dejected people. Even so, he didn’t think he’d been so obvious. He started to deny it then decided what the hell. “Women.”
