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I doubted I’d be able to keep my hands off her if she allowed me another night in her bed. But I couldn’t let the good feelings keep me going. “If we meet up? Would you like to?”
She kissed me again. “I would like to meet up tonight and will even feed you.”
My limbs buzzed with joy. She was going to feed me. She wanted to see me. “I’m there.”
She pulled me behind a tree to kiss me again, this time a properly messy one. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Holding hands, I walked her back to the patio. It wasn’t until we were at the steps that I saw her. Arianna stood just inside the French doors, watching us. Even with the glare of the window, I could tell she didn’t like what she saw.
So much for faking our relationship, I thought. Whatever Arianna had witnessed was real. I was in. Fully in. No one could change my mind about pursuing Jamie, not even Arianna. My broken heart had healed at last. All it took was a few years and the kiss of my favorite innkeeper. If only I’d pursued her earlier. But no. I wasn’t ready then, and maybe she wasn’t, either. Now, though, we both seemed willing to see where this could take us. I was grateful.
I lifted a hand to wave at Arianna. She fluttered her fingers at me and plastered a fake smile across her face in tandem.
“Looks like we had an audience.” As soon as I said it, I wondered if she’d known Arianna was standing there watching and had come out to give her a show. Or were the kisses real? I inwardly groaned.Why must I torture myself this way? Take things for what they seem.It was impossible, though, not to wonder all the time about people’s motives and whether they would strike out at any moment.
“Seems that way.” Jamie’s eyes sparkled, and she squeezed my hand. “No, I didn’t know she was there. That’s not why I kissed you.”
“How did you know I went there?”
“Because I would have too.” Jamie turned to face me, giving me another light peck. “We’re the same.”
“Messed up.”
“Messy, for sure. Always looking for the moment when betrayal first becomes evident.”
“Yeah, that,” I said.
She looked into my eyes. “Maybe this time we won’t be left and made to feel like it’s our fault.” One of her staff came out then and called out to her that they needed a decision on wine for happy hour. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
I nodded and watched her prance up the stairs in her black pumps. Those pants clung to all the right places, I thought, as I turned to head back to work. That smile, too. It was as genuine as Arianna’s was fake. How had I not known that all along?
* * *
I was puttingthe last of my tools in the truck when someone called out to me. Arianna’s voice. I turned to see her coming down the steps of the patio. Wrapped in a knit shawl that engulfed her, she seemed cold and way too skinny.
Leaning against the truck, I waited for her. “What’s up?” I asked when she was standing in front of me.
“I saw you out here and thought I’d say hello.” She hugged herself and shivered. “Got cold all of a sudden, didn’t it?”
“Yeah. I hope you have a warm wedding dress.”
She ignored that and launched into the reason she was here. “I wanted to say—I’m sorry about last night. I know it was kind of a disaster.”
“Seemed fine to me.” Liar.
“Jamie doesn’t like Rob, that much was obvious.”
“Is there a reason she should?” I asked, amused.
“Well, no. It’s just I thought it would be good if we could clear the air and all be friends. But after last night, I see that’s not going to happen.”
“There’s too much of a past between us,” I said. “My relationship with Rob was really toxic. I see that now. And the one with you was about the same. I used to do that, you know. Surround myself with people who treated me like crap, maybe to prove to myself that my suspicions were correct. Iwascrap. I don’t do that anymore.”
“I’m sorry if I made you feel bad.”
“You wanted me to be someone else. Until you found the one you really wanted. The one who you didn’t need to change.”
She tilted her head up to the sky, which was that beautiful twilight color of blue with a hint of violet. “I don’t know what you thought happened between us that was toxic.”
