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Her voice was as soft and happy as usual. Today, he needed to remember that Everly’s happiness wasn’t for him. She was excited to see her fiancé later. If Blake kept that in mind, he’d have no trouble keeping his feelings for her in check today.
Who was he kidding? Nothing could stop the magnetic pull he felt toward Everly.
“Thanks for taking me today. Jameson didn’t mind you leaving for a little bit?” she asked.
Blake opened the passenger door for Everly and hefted her bag into the backseat of the extended cab. “Nah. A bunch of wild hogs trampled one of the ranch campsites this morning, but I think they can manage without me.”
Everly gripped his arm. “Blake! Why aren’t you there?”
It took him a minute to steady his breath. His pulse went wild when Everly touched him. “I was joking. Everything is fine, and they won’t even miss me.”
Everly lifted the gentle hand from his arm and slapped his chest. “Blake, don’t scare me like that.”
“Careful! I bruise like a peach.”
Everly gave him one of her signature grins and climbed into the truck. That expression she wore so often was the reason he felt compelled to get a rise out of her. Everly was moderate in every aspect of her life–clothing, temperament, and emotions. She had this eternal optimism that went hand-in-hand with that polite grin. Everyone else saw a constant smile–a marker of happiness. Blake saw her attempt to make everyone else happy. It was almost like she thought her smile could protect her from anything bad. For the most part, it worked. It was impossible to dislike Everly. Blake knew that better than anyone. He’d been fighting back feelings for her for years.
Everly’s seatbelt was already buckled by the time Blake settled into the driver’s seat. “You have your license?” he asked.
She held up a compact purse with a strap that crossed over her chest. “Got it all.”
“A book for the flight?” It was a rhetorical question. Everly always had a book.
She patted the small purse. “Got it.”
“There’s no way you got a book in that thing.”
Everly unzipped the bag and pulled out a tiny book. Her wide eyes dared him to question her again.
“Keys? Phone? A photo of me, so you don’t forget–”
“Yes!” She chuckled. “I have all those things.”
“You do not,” Blake said.
She held up her phone and shook it. “I have plenty of pictures of you.”
Blake cleared his throat and shifted into drive. It had been a joke, but now he couldn’t help wondering if David had anything to say about pictures of another guy on Everly’s phone, even if it was her friend. Blake knew for a fact that she wasn’t in any of those pictures of him. She hated being in pictures. He did too, but he’d let the crime slide since it was Everly. “Then I guess you’re all set.”
Everly pulled a beige folder out of her backpack and flipped through the pages until she found the one she wanted. “Give this to Ridge. Better yet, put it on the refrigerator when you get home this evening.”
Blake looked back and forth between the road and the paper a few times. “Is this your itinerary?”
Everly was a super planner. Her mom told him once that Everly had been making lists and schedules since she was little. A life on the go had given her many opportunities to make plans and execute them.
“Yes. I emailed it to him too,” Everly said as she stuffed the folder into the backpack.
“I miss these,” Blake whispered.
Everly jerked her attention to him. “What do you mean?”
“You always sent Ridge the itineraries. One for him and one for the family. I checked his email because I couldn’t count on him to pass along important information.”
They rarely talked about the NFL anymore. Blake’s former career as a sports agent felt like a different life. They’d been in Wyoming for five years now, and there wasn’t anything here to remind them of that time except each other.
They’d been different then too, and none of them missed it.
“I didn’t know you saw them. I guess it’s my way of preparing for the things I can and letting go of the things I can’t,” Everly said.
