While all the extra work was temporary, they weren’t done yet. Trent was about to start building his home just a couple acres away. By the prints she’d spent endless hours poring over with him, it was going to be every bit as impressive as the old manor they’d renovated. Only a year in town and he was building his roots. Making his spot. Moving on while she peddled in place. Stuck until she could fix her mess without coming out worse.
Her gaze strayed to Trent, once again the truth on the tip of her tongue and itching to just come out.
She pushed the shredded, wadded napkin away and this time kicked that envy bitch in the crotch before she got a chance to rise up too high.
The boys were good people. They had their occasional stupid moments when dating her friends, but overall, good people. Trent had become one of her best friends. He often spent his evening crashed in her back office at the diner flipping through the TV there while eating a cheeseburger.
He worked hard and was proud of the work he accomplished with his brothers. He was absolutely in love with his one-year-old niece. Nothing was brighter than his smile when the little girl climbed in his lap and gave her favorite Uncle Trent a hug.
In short, he was just a fantastically awesome guy.
And she was deceiving him. Of all the people who were in and out of her life, he was the one who frequently asked about her “boyfriend”. Wanted to know if she’d heard from him. Where he was stationed? Was he okay? Was he on the front lines? Several times she’d been tempted to tell him the truth, but held back.
In the beginning the lie had slid easily off her tongue. She hadn’t know him then, the lie was only a few months old, the pain of the breakup still fresh. Even in the few months after, they were easy to keep. Then she learned more about Trent. Discovered how he loved his family, cared about his brothers. It killed her every time.
There was that one time the truth had been on the tip of her tongue. He’d gone and sealed her fate.
It’s awesome that you’re faithful and waiting for him. He’s a lucky guy.
She’d blown off his remark with something easy. “It’s nothing special. Any girl would wait.” Then he’d looked her right in the eye,
no, not every girl would. It’s what I like about you the most.
Her heart had broken for him right there. She didn’t know what had happened to him. He didn’t talk about it. And he also didn’t date much, so whatever it was must have been rough.
He’d voiced what most others thought of her, but it was from him. And made her feel about two inches tall. How did she tell someone that his favorite part of her was a complete lie? That’s why the truth was risky.
He poked her in the arm. “Let’s dance.”
Yes. Wrapped in his arms. Against the heat of his body. Close enough she could nearly feel everything she dreamed up. Um…maybe no would be a better answer? “You don’t like to dance.”
“I’ll dance with you.” He gestured with a flip of his hand over her shoulder. Not twenty feet away was Jacob and Flora headed toward them.
She laughed and allowed him to pull her up because the idea of refusing him was laughable. Not even a serious option. “You’re horrible.”
“I’m practical.” He spun her around to the edge of the floor, brought her in close against his chest in his completely friendly hold with his arm across her middle back in a respectable place. It was nice and polite. Didn’t stop her from noticing the firm mold of his bicep wrapped against her side. His broad hand covering her back. Those long, extra skilled fingers curving against her waist.
She blinked. God, she had to get her head on straight. She needed a safe topic and went back to Flora and Jacob because nothing got him going off on a soapbox faster than those two. “I wouldn’t have minded watching them squirm. Flora has been stressing the I love you for weeks now, too.”
“Really?”
Tonya nodded. “Oh yeah. It’s been worse the last couple of days as we finished all these wedding details. She’s afraid he’s going to say it and she’s going to say it back and then it’s going to look like she only said it because he said it and then he’s not going to believe her. Repeat and repeat and repeat. No matter what we tell her, she still worries. I feel a little bit sorry for her. Then at the same time, not, because she’s so cute with her twisting wrists and nail biting.”
He looked a good bit horrified. “I’m counting us lucky for getting out of there.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
“I know she’s your friend and all, but both of them are so messed up in the head when it comes to their thing.”
She swatted his arm. “Stop it. They’re not that bad. They’re both just….” She
tsk’d
, lost for thought. “They’re both just figuring each other out.”
“Last I heard, Jacob had their relationship defined.” He stared at the sky in thought. “God, what did he call it? Their occasionally together temporary thing.”
She laughed.
“You laugh, but I’m dead serious.” He shook his head. “It was a long time ago and I don’t think they’ve graduated past that.”
“Baby steps.”
“Baby steps of a baby who doesn’t have any legs.”
And she was laughing again. So often he made her do that. He was the only one who could make her laugh this much outside of Flora and Gretchen. Another bonus for Trent, as if he didn’t have enough pluses about him.
They danced in silence a few moments, swaying easily around the other couples in the honeysuckle soaked breeze. His hand lightly held hers. His longer fingers wrapped around the back of her hand with ease. Gentle. Easy.
Platonic, of course. Admittedly, he would be a big ass jerk if it was anything but platonic. He treated her as one of the guys. If he knew the truth, how much would that change? If it changed at all. She bit her lip and knew better to get her thoughts changed fast before saying something she really, really shouldn’t. Not in the middle of this dance floor where most of the town had showed up for the wedding—and primarily the after party with the open bar.
She looked up. Planning to talk about his house. It was the safest topic she had. Not that it was completely safe. Not with the way his face lit up. How his grin turned up when he got to his favorite parts of the house. Then the best part. When he was frustrated. His brows would jerk down. Mouth set straight. She should probably sympathize with him, but she silently chuckled instead. Couldn’t be helped. She knew all this about him. Countless things like that.
Nothing about his past. Maybe he had some deep dark secret he was hiding too and she could feel less like a shit.
Oh man, she cracked herself up sometimes. “Why haven’t you gotten married yet?”
His brows lifted as he met her gaze then looked over her shoulder. “Haven’t had the chance.”
“
Hmm
, good looking, sweet. Takes care of his family. How have you not had the chance?”
He stopped their easy swaying and stared down at her. “You’re not going to start match-making me out, are you?”
She forced a chuckle and kept right on digging. “Now that’s an idea.”
He started moving again and turned her around on the floor. “A bad one.”
She glanced across the people there while they danced. Oh, this hurt a little. To think about shopping him out, playing matchmaker, but she wanted to know if he was even open to anything. What if she told him the truth, what if he was okay with her dumb little secret, and she made a pass at him? And what if he wasn’t at all interested in dating right now for whatever reason. Okay, lot of what ifs in there, but important ones. Seriously important ones. If she told him the truth, she would look stupid enough. Not need to add more egg on her face. “What options do we have here?”
“Tonya.”
That delicious shiver went across her skin by the way he said her name. Serious, in his deadpan voice. No joking, no laughing. Just the deep tones of his voice saying her name.
Ohhh
. Heat curled through her cheeks. Ack, safe topic, safe topic! Flowers. The bouquet. Heat pulled back from her face and ideas about his breathy voice whispering in her ear cleared from her head. Sort of, anyway. “The bouquet toss would probably show off your best chances.”
“You better be joking.”
“I’m undecided.” She winked at him. When he said nothing and the silence stretched, her mouth dried, forcing a swallow to get something going again to make words. “Have you thought about it though? Two of your brothers are married. Baby brother Grant has a kid. The other is…well, we’ll just leave that one at a serious relationship whether they like it or not.”
He chuckled. The sound rumbled through his chest. Two inches closer and she could have felt it against her chest. He shook his head. “Have you thought about it?”
“I have,” she sighed. Every damn long day. At least once an hour probably. “Everyone around me is so happy.”
His fingers caressed her spine, and then patted. “He’ll be home soon.”
“Yeah.” Sure. Uh-huh. Enough about her! Only thing in that conversation would be white lies that were starting to turn gray. “You didn’t answer me though. Have you thought about it?”
“Some.”
Some. That was not an answer. That was an avoidance. His jaw wasn’t ticking yet, so she pushed for more. “Come on. Has to be more than that.”
“I’ve thought of it a lot, doesn’t mean it’ll happen anytime soon.”
She tapped his shoulder with her thumb as they danced. Like tapping on concrete warmed by a July sun. Nice.
Sigh.
“If I match-make you out, it could.”
“Don’t even try it.”
Not a chance in hell she’d be setting him up with anyone, but she kept that smile on her face. This could go somewhere. So long as his jaw didn’t start that flexing, tic thing when the corners of his eyes would narrow. “What qualities do you want in a woman?”
“Not going to happen.”
“If your only requirement is that she’s pretty, I won’t hold it against you.”
Damn
. There went that thing on his cheek, by his temple. But he lifted an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder. “I couldn’t give two shits what she looked like on the outside.”
She should probably stop, but this was the closest she’d gotten to him on this subject. They never talked about girls or dating. They covered his golf swing, hunting kills, favorite sports team. You name it, she knew about it. Everything except women and his past. “You’re being difficult.”
“
I’m
being difficult? You’re the one with the questions.”
She picked at him some more. “In the time I’ve known you, I don’t know your type of girl. I think I should know that.”
He wasn’t looking at her anymore. “I’m not sure how that’s important.”
“Because we’re best friends.”
There was that tick again. “Not if this conversation keeps going.”
“She’ll need a sense of humor then.”
He shook his head. “This is why I don’t like dancing, there’s no escaping the conversation.”
“And she’ll need patience.” It wasn’t escaping her that she so far had those qualities. Not that it mattered. That tick was still going strong. Time to get what she could before he shut this conversation down. “Anything else?”
“Fine.” He settled his gaze back on her. Piercing. All the way through her, if only he could read her secrets. “I expect her to be honest, intelligent, faithful, and trustworthy. Good enough to make you stop?”
Well, now that wasn’t so hard, but dang. Did any of those qualities fit her? Did honest in the gray areas count? What about honest with a good excuse? “Tall order.”
“And why I’m still single, apparently.”
Ouch. Her heart just pinched and she caressed his shoulder with her thumb. Even though he probably couldn’t feel it through his coat anyway, she still soothed the spot. “I was joking. Anyone should have those qualities.”
“I wasn’t kidding about what I want.”
On a friendship level, she had come to love Trent. Impossible not to. He was a dear friend above all else. Just like when Gretchen and Flora were hurting, she did too. “Which one did she fail at?”
“Who?”
She wanted to walk in to him, put her head on his chest and hug him. But she couldn’t, not here with so many people around. “Whoever made you decide that those were important, I mean, any relationship should have those things. Which one did she screw up?”
He glanced over her shoulder for a bit and then looked at her. “All of them. Now can we please talk about something else?”
A knot squeezed hard in her stomach. Who in their right mind would ever want to hurt Trent? She’d pushed enough. Maybe in another year or so she could find out more. “They’re about to do the garter toss. Are you getting in on that?”
He laughed. “Sure. Right after you try for the bouquet.”
“Uh.” She looked around. The muscles straining in her neck relaxed as they moved back into what they were. Comfortable. Easy. Just friends smiling at one another. “I say we steal the chocolate fountain and run.”
An image struck. And then they could pour it over each other. Discover if he was as good at body painting with chocolate as he was with a pencil and paper. Definitely not what they were. Best to keep that thought to herself.
Chapter Two