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“Will and I aren’t intimate.” Damn. Seriously, Lucy should never say the first thing that came to mind. She burrowed her face into the headrest at the end of the table.
“Ever?” Sarah sounded shocked.
“No, he and I…we…uh…the thing is…” Lucy licked her top lip. What was she supposed to say? “He’s not able to… you know. Major performance anxiety.”
Damn. That was so not what she should have said. She glanced to Sarah.
“What happened?” Sarah’s Precious Moment’s eyes got huge.
“It started with the syphilis. It was a whole thing.” Lucy swallowed and dug her forehead into the headrest of the massage table. Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking.
“Syphilis? Like what killed Al Capone?” Sarah darted her hand out across the space between their tables to squeeze Lucy’s. “I am so sorry.”
“He…uh…got treated. It was after he met me. Before. I mean before. Before he met me. The thing is…” Lucy’s pulse quick-stepped, and she tried to calm herself down with deep breaths.
“All done.” Rebecca moved the sheet back up along Lucy’s shoulders. “Take your time getting up and be sure to drink lots of water today.”
Rebecca and Sarah’s therapist made a hasty exit. Lucy lay perfectly still.
“You love him anyway, so you stuck with him. Oh, girl, you are a God’s honest blessing to that man,” Sarah said, all dreamy.
Lucy cringed. William was going to kill her. “Please, you can’t tell anyone. You have to promise.”
“Girlfriend’s honor. I’m so sorry you have it so hard. My church group will add you to our prayer chain.”
“No, no. Please, you cannot tell anyone.” Lucy bit at her bottom lip. William could not know what she’d said. Ever.
“Promise,” Sarah agreed, but Lucy wasn’t convinced.
Seriously, where was a Bible when you needed someone to swear on one? The Gideons apparently hadn’t visited Twin Lakes yet. This was the only hotel she’d ever stayed at that stocked condoms instead of Bibles in the nightstand.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Carbonated bubbles popped along the surface of Lucy’s third Diet Coke. She sat alone at a wooden table in a large barn near the edge of Twin Lakes’ small, town square. Sheesh, she thought Confluence was small. Twin Lakes had a lodge, a bar, a post office, and a gas station that doubled as a general store. And a big ’ol barn.
The barn was primitive, the planks weathered from decades of nature’s abuse. Someone had taken a great deal of time to deck the vast room with twinkling strands of white lights hanging haphazardly from the rafters. A raised stage across the room contained a bluegrass band with fiddles and banjos, along with a performer in full drag impersonating Dolly Parton.
It was long past time to two-step, and William still hadn’t arrived. Sure, he had texted he was running late, and she should go on ahead, he would be right behind her. But that was hours ago.
Her phone buzzed with another William text.
Uh-huh. If “nearly there” meant what it did thirty minutes ago, then he’d arrive somewhere around nine a.m. tomorrow morning.
She’d already worked the barn for hidden camera footage and chatted with the other guests to find out how their experiences had gone.
If she wasn’t stuck in a pretend marriage without a ride back to the cabin, she would have called it quits and evacuated. Since Sarah and Max had driven her there and then hit up the dance floor, she was stranded.
Alone.
In a barn.
Like a cliché country song.
Even with the chilly evening breeze through the open windows, it had warmed inside by the time Dolly announced a break. The swarm of people shifted, and an energy she didn’t understand pulled Lucy’s gaze intuitively toward the door. William stood there, his jaw tight, glancing around the room. Her whole body tingled with awareness when he caught her gaze, relaxed his shoulders, and stalked forward. Lucy studied her drink for a few beats, glancing up just as he reached her. He leaned in to plant a kiss on her forehead. Her body buzzed with inappropriate anticipation clear to her toes.
“Luce. I’m so sorry. That took longer than it should have.” His gaze moved over her. “You’re beautiful.”
Of course she looked beautiful, thankyouverymuch.
