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Also, that sealed the deal.
“Count me in,” I said. “No guest.”
Would Natalie take one? Didn’t matter. Unless she was married or engaged, the woman was fair game. And though I’d started the week thinking it was a good idea to avoid her, while that was still a good idea...carpe diem. Even she couldn’t deny that there was chemistry between us.
“Speak of the devil.” Neo looked over my shoulder.
Sure enough, the very woman in question was walking in with a woman I had never met before. Every nerve ending in my body told me what I already knew. There was something between us, despite the fact she despised me.
“Natalie. Charlee,” Gian called. “Over here.”
When I looked at Gian, the glint in his eye told me I hadn’t been quite as slick as I thought. “You’re not the only one who can read people. I might not be an ex-Army Ranger, but I’m not a total dummy either. This should be fun.”
Gian saw right through me. “Fun might not be the right word,” I warned him. “In fact, it could get ugly. She really dislikes me.”
Before he could answer, I inhaled deeply, her scent becoming familiar. Winking to Gian, knowing exactly what I was about to do, I turned.
“Natalie,” I said, as if just realizing she was there. “I’m glad you’re here. I have your bag of clothes in my car.”
Natalie’s mouth dropped.
Her friend Charlee started laughing.
Gian muttered, “What the hell?” behind me.
And for my part? I stood there, as if I hadn’t a care in the world, taking a sip of beer and waiting for her reaction.
I didn’t have to wait long.
NINE
natalie
I noticed him the second I walked in the door. Boots and Brews’ western-style swing doors made you feel like you’d been transported out west somewhere. The whole vibe screamed country-western, and I loved it.
Loved country music.
Loved live music on a Saturday night.
What I didn’t love? The smugness of the man in front of me. Or the fact that he’d been stealing my dreams these past few nights.
Thankfully Charlee knew the kayak story, so only Gian and Neo looked at me as if something untoward had happened between Jaxon and me.
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” I said, immediately wanting to explain.
“Do you have your car?” Jaxon interrupted. “I can put the bag in there now so you don’t forget it.”
“No, I don’t have my car,” I quipped back. “I live within walking distance of here.”
“Really?” He asked it with just enough suggestion in his tone to make the question seem intimate somehow. “We can always walk your clothes back then. I can grab my sweats from you.”
Gian looked as if he wanted to burst out laughing. Charlee, the traitor, had already abandoned me, probably gone to find Mazzie.
“I fell in the lake,” I burst out to Gian and Neo. “Right in front of Jaxon’s rental property.”
“How does an expert rower fall out of a kayak?” Neo asked.
“Ask him,” I said, uncharacteristically snippy. “I need a drink.”
