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“He might have changed his mind. People do that.”
“If that was the case, he would have said something.”
“Why? You changed your mind about wanting to keep things casual, and you haven’t said anything to him about it.”
Well. Yes. Okay. That was true. “Even so, I’m not going to make assumptions based on him merely requesting to pick me up from my building. It isn’t exactly something that screams ‘I’m ready for a relationship.’ It doesn’t really scream anything.”
“All right, you make a good point there.” Briar rested her folded arms on the surface of the island. “I can understand why you’d rather be practical. But if it’s all the same to you, I’m going to hope that I’m right and he’s in the same boat as you. I want good things for you. I believe he’d be good for you. And, to be truthful, I like the idea that if he ties you down you’ll then stay in Redwater. I like having you around. Most people get on my nerves. You don’t.”
Smiling, I drummed my nails against the side of my cup. “Say nothing of this to no one, but I may actually be moving here for good.” Between more biscuits and sips of my tea, I told her about the conversation I’d had with my mum and how I’d come to believe that Redwater might be a good place for me to base myself.
Briar leaned forward, her eyes bright. “Oh my God, youhaveto do it.”
“I’m giving it serious consideration.”
“It makes sense for you to move here—you love Redwater. As for you switching things up career-wise, I genuinely think it’ll be the best thing for you.When you come back here aftera day out somewhere snapping shots with your camera, you look recharged. You don’t look that way when you first arrive at Redwater for downtime. You look drained. It was really only a matter of time before you decided to do something about it.”
Probably. At the very least, my mum would have called for an intervention out of concern and then I would have—
A phone chimed.
“That’s mine.” Briar pulled out her cell and swiped her thumb over the screen. Exasperation tinged with affection flashed across her face. “Good Lord, will it never end?”
I frowned. “What?”
“They are unbelievable.”
“They? Who’s they?”
“My dads.” She sighed, her eyes dancing. “They keep sending me pictures of ‘eligible men.’”
I chuckled. “What, they want you to hurry and give them grandkids or something?”
“Nothing quite that dramatic. Ever since they learned I have a sort-of-thing with Grover, they’ve been determined to set me up with someone. It’s not that they have a problem with Vault arrangements—”
“Wait, you tell them about that stuff?”
“No, they learned of it from people they know who frequent the basement. My dads wouldn’t bat an eyelid at what goes on down there—they ain’t exactly vanilla themselves—but they don’t like that I’m in an arrangement with Grover. Ansel apparently once worked with him on a movie and they butted heads in a major way. And if Ansel doesn’t like someone, Troy won’t like them by default. So now both are saying their ‘little girl’ can do better.”
“Well, you can. I don’t dislike Grover. He’s just very self-involved. He only ever talks about himself. I can almost admire how he can make just about any topic circle back to him. Itmakes him a somewhat boring conversationalist, but I’d be his number one fan if you weren’t as much of an afterthought for him as he is for you. You deserve someone who’sallabout you. In which case, I’m hoping your dads’ intervention pays off.”
“Traitor,” she tossed out, her tone mild.
“Come on, surely at least one of these ‘eligible men’ appeal to you.”
“Nope, none of them do.” After a moment, she jiggled her head and added, “Okay, some of them are damn pretty to look at.” She tapped the screen of her phone a few times and then turned it toward me. “Get a load of this dude. He’sallmountain man.”
Studying the picture, I hummed in appreciation. “He sure has the rugged look down.”
She grinned. “I’m big on ‘rugged.’”
“Well, you’re already on the radar of someone gorgeously rugged. Kaleb—”
“Don’t even go there.”
“Why not? He likes you. You like him. Trace likes you. You like him, too. I’m not seeing the problem.”
“Where’s the point in me ending an arrangement that suits me well merely so I can enjoy an hour of playing with two men for one night? It makes no sense, whatever way you look at it.” She stood. “I need to go grab something from my apartment. I’ll be back in a sec.” She stuffed her phone in her jeans pocket. “You don’t mind wearing neck ties, do you? I have a red lacy one that would suit you.”
