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“And you accepted?”
“Believe me, I was very,verytempted. He gave me a nice long hug to make me feel better. You’re both too good to me. It isn’t too much of an inconvenience to water my plants, is it?”
“No,” he lied.
“You’re the best. Thank you!”
He hunched over with guilt. He was just as bad as Nash, wasn’t he? Porter would go over tomorrow morning and confiscate all her plants to give to his mother to keep alive. With his good intentions assuaging his conscience, he let out a snicker. “We’ll see what you have to say when you get back. You might have to perform CPR.”
She groaned. “On you or my plants?”
Porter grinned. “It depends on how forgiving you are, but yeah… hopefully we all survive.”
She let out a gasp. “I’m pulling for you, but you know me, I might lose it. If anything happens to those plants… I can’t make any promises.”
“I know!” he teased back. Emily’s quick wit springing from a never-ending well of sweetness was one of the reasons that his brother Nash couldn’t get enough of her. Too bad that she was too smart for his twin—she’d screw Nash’s head on straight. “I’ve got a black thumb,” Porter said. “Pray for us.”
“Sure, as long as you return the favor. I’m going to need the extra help tonight.”
He immediately sobered at the thought of her having stage fright. “Okay,” Porter said at length. He tried to decide the best way to get her mind off her troubles. “I’ll pray for some catastrophe to stop your performance.”
“That isn’t quite what I meant,” she said.
“No?” Porter knew that, of course, but silliness was the best cure for fear. “Hmm, well too late. Break a leg!” he sang. He hung up to the musical tune of her laughter. She’d sounded less tense than how she was in the beginning of their conversation, so at least there was that.
It was amazing how relaxed he felt when he decided to just let go and have some fun. That really was his problem, wasn’t it? He was allowing the stresses of his life to turn him far too serious.
Nash was going to be Nash without him. West was going to get into trouble, no matter how angry Porter got. His mother was going to heal or not heal without him being consumed with worry. There was nothing stopping Porter from throwing himself back into being social. It was either that or go absolutely insane. All the chaos that he’d been concentrating on for the last few months was just an excuse not to go on with his own life.
It was time for a change.
He’d lived too long under his brother’s shadow, and as much as it hurt to have him gone, it was time to be his own man. He had his life to live.
Chapter Five
It was next to impossible to get close to Lacy at his party. He poured more drinks, turned chummy with his next impressive investors, laughed heartily—all while Cadence trailed his steps and provided whatever hosting duty that he needed at his command.
Cadence should’ve known how it would be, but it had always seemed like Lacy had managed to make time for her before… before she’d accepted his expensive gifts, his invitations, his kisses…
Had she made a mistake?
The doubts and worries gnawing at the pit of her stomach started to feel like the jaws of a monster. No, no, it wasn’t a mistake.He loves me. He has to!She needed to talk to Lacy soon or she’d completely lose her mind.
Cadence was caught in conversation with the investors that Lacy had somehow dumped on her. She tried her best to answer their questions, though they began to go off on their adventures getting here, so that she could take a breather and look around. She noticed the horrible Eva Trout ahead of her in the crowd. The woman was in a slinky blue velvet dress, and she was desperate to get the attention of some tall, handsome stranger.
His allure was no mystery. The guy was heart-wrenchingly gorgeous in a fitted suit that showed the breadth of his broad shoulders and his muscular build. Was this Eva Trout’s latest arm candy? Ugh. At least Eva wasn’t going for Lacy like she used to do. Her attempts at flirting were absolutely shameless. She hung all over the handsome stranger.
Not cool, especially since Cadence had noticed the guy throwing his arms around her good friend, Emily, a few minutes earlier. Eva’s latest conquest had actually picked Emily up and swung her in a full circle. Cadence had even spied him sneaking a kiss against her friend’s hair. Now he was entertaining Eva’s attentions?
Eww! What a player. She hated how attractive men thought that they could get away with anything that they wanted… and in some instances, women like Eva let them. He was a total young Clint Eastwood with his ruggedly chiseled jaw, though he could possibly belong to one of those Hollywood TV dramas glorifying redneck oil tycoons with his expensive suit and boots that he pulled off with the style of an Italian. He seemed used to the outdoor life if his tanned physique was anything to go by. He was the real deal, not some dude posing for the part.
A bad boy cowboy.
Definite trouble right there.
Emily was right to be giving him the cold shoulder right now. Be smart, girl! Sure, the guy might be nice to look at, but these men who dripped with charm were always full of themselves.
She immediately dubbed him in her mind as the “Country Casanova” and kept her distance.
