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She hadn’t explicitly asked about his intentions, and he was grateful for that. If she had, he probably wouldn’t have been able to make that oath with the same conviction. He was pretty sure that he and Laney were on the same page. His stomach clenched at the caveat. Pretty sure wasn’t good enough. But for fuck’s sake, neither was nine days. He was doing the best he could under the circumstances.
Down the hall, Ty’s office door opened and a stacked blond stumbled out, adjusting her skirt. His friend followed, giving her one last kiss and a pat on the ass. Kyle cleared his throat.
“Hey, man. What brings you here? I thought you were my brother.” Ty looked far too pleased with himself as he sauntered into Evan’s office and fell into one of the leather chairs under the window.
“Came to see if you needed any help.”
Ty waggled his eyebrows.
“With the party, dickhead. For tomorrow.”
“Ah, the party. Right. Nope, everything’s coming together nicely. It’s great to have an events manager now to handle stuff like that.” He cracked his knuckles. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure you were coming.”
Kyle frowned. “Why the hell wouldn’t I—goddamn small town—who told you?”
Ty chuckled, then laughed harder again as Kyle’s tension grew. “Karen, Ian, Carrie, Evie…take your pick. In the age of smart phones, wildfires have nothing on gossip.”
“Fuck me. This isn’t anyone’s business!” He leapt to his feet, bristling with…something. His muscles were bunching and twitching under skin that felt too hot and too tight. He punched one fist into the other palm. They needed time, which they didn’t have, and space, which clearly no one was going to give them.
“Settle, dude. Seriously, what’s gotten into you? I’ve never seen you so wound up over pussy.”
Before either of them could process what was happening, Kyle had Ty hauled out of his chair and up against the wall. Kyle’s forearm pressed hard into the other man’s chest, and Ty opened his mouth but Kyle cut him off.
“She’s not…fuck. Don’t fucking say that.” He eased off. “She went back to Chicago for work.”
Ty stared at him like he was an idiot. “So why are you here?”
Maybe he was an idiot, because he didn’t understand the question. “To help with the party prep?”
“Not here, numbnuts. Here.” He gestured out the window. “In Wardham. Why aren’t you in Chicago for the weekend? You don’t need to be back at work until what…Tuesday?”
Yeah, he was an idiot of the highest order. He’d thought of visiting her, of course, but in the future. Another stolen week or weekend. Another fling. It hadn’t occurred to him to go with her. To be with her. It was only a five hour drive. Why was he thinking about March? He could be in her bed every weekend if she’d have him. That’s a big if. Dread flooded his guts. Laney had made it clear that she didn’t believe he could want her, just her. What if he couldn’t break down that wall? Maybe that’s why she didn’t extend an invitation. Last time she did that, you broke her heart.
So what was different now? If anything, he was more entrenched in Wardham than ever before. Laney was right to worry. Every choice he’d ever made had been in favour of his hometown. His friends. His family.
Family. Fuck. The family he wanted had walked out his door in the middle of the night and he’d just stood on the front step and watched. Again.
“Kyle? You done going all alpha male here?” Ty slid along the wall and eased his way back to the chair.
“Not even close. I need a favour.”
When Laney woke up hours later, her inbox had a photo of Kyle’s hand, gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. She giggled, and snapped a quick photo of her bare legs stretched out on the bed. Then another one, this time a close-up of her face.
She hadn’t even made it over to her desk before the phone rang.
“Are you trying to kill me?”
“You don’t like my pictures?”
“I fucking love your pictures. I just got a hard-on in front of my parents.”
Happy laughter bubbled up inside her. “I’m sorry. I mean, not really, but awwwww. I’d have liked to see that.”
He growled in her ear. “You want to see it?”
“You wouldn’t!” Laney sucked in a breath. “What if you accidentally sent it to your mom? Or your principal?”
“I wasn’t talking about a picture, woman.”
