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He took a step toward her, only to find one of the corporate bigwigs in his path and he was forced to make small talk. By the time he pried himself from the man’s grip, Darla was gone. Blake silently cursed, and headed to the table where Lana and Jason were still talking.
Lana looked up immediately. “Oh, please tell me you two are going to make up. The rest of us are miserable with you.”
“For once I have to agree with Lana,” Jason said, clinking his beer with Lana’s and taking a swig.
“Where is she?”
“Hiding in the bathroom,” Lana said.
Blake was walking before she even finished her sentence. Blake arrived at the bathroom as one of the camera ladies came out. She nodded at him, as if he’d asked a question, clearly one of the many cast and crew rooting for him and Darla to make up. “She’s alone,” the woman said. “I’ll watch the door.”
Blake didn’t need any further encouragement. He shoved open the door and went inside, rounding a long hall to find Darla sitting in a lounge chair with her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. Her head jerked up a moment before she came to her feet.
“What are you doing in here?” she demanded.
“I love you more than you can possibly imagine.”
“What?” she gasped.
“I love you, Darla. I’ve loved you since the moment you fell off of your shoe and into my arms and I’m miserable without you.”
Her eyes clouded over and she hugged herself. “It took you a week to decide this?”
“No, honey,” he said. “I waited a week to tell you because I want us to get the hell out of here so I can finally spend some private time proving it to you.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t do this, Blake. The timing is wrong.” Her eyes were dark, etched with shadows. “I have reasons to need this job and you have reasons to resent that I do.”
“Darla, no. I was an idiot. I—”
“Blake,” the camera lady yelled from the door. “We have a line out here. Hurry.”
“Coming,” he called over his shoulder. He searched Darla’s face and he saw the decision there, the stubborn decision that said he wasn’t getting past no, not without a fight. “You’re on for tomorrow’s charity bull-riding event. Nine o’clock at the Wind Walker Hotel. Don’t be late.”
Her eyes went wide. “I’m what? We never confirmed I was doing that. We haven’t talked about it for weeks.”
He pulled her close and kissed her, slid his tongue past her teeth for a deep, sweet taste. “We just did.” He brushed his fingers down her cheek and turned away, promising himself it would be the last time he left her like this.
Blake exited the bathroom to find five women waiting in a line, one of whom was Meagan, who smiled as he walked by, but he barely saw her. He was thinking of Darla’s words. It took you a week to decide this? Damn it to hell. He’d gambled on timing working in his favor, when instead, it might have been the final nail in his coffin, the fatal flaw that cost him the woman he loved.
* * *
RELIVING BLAKE’S WORDS—and his kiss—had kept Darla up all night. By seven, she couldn’t take it anymore, so she showered and dressed in her best Wranglers, cowboy boots and pink Western shirt. She told herself she was early to the Wind Walker Hotel because she needed to know what her day consisted of, so she could be prepared, when she knew deep down she wanted to see Blake. She was miserable without him but she couldn’t see how they could get past his betrayal, and what she still hadn’t confided in him.
She checked into the hotel and soon entered the typical high-end Vegas room, which had a large plush bed and some sort of floral design theme going on with pictures and drapes. In the middle of the mattress was an envelope with her name on it, and she knew the writing was Blake’s. Beside it was an event T-shirt she assumed she was supposed to wear. Her heart thundered in her chest as she sat down and opened the envelope.
Inside was a printed formal event agenda and a folded card. She opened the card and a room key fell out. “Room 1212. That’s where I’m at and where I want you to be. With me.” Darla pressed the key to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. He was letting her choose, as he always had. And she had more than a room choice to make. She’d thought long and hard about this. She had two options. Choose to weather this storm with the bank on her own, without Blake in her life. Or choose to tell Blake what was going on and risk being hurt again. There was no in between. Until now, it had never seemed the right time. But now, it was time.
