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Becca nodded as she watched her friend turn and leave the room. She let out a sigh to cleanse herself of the negative drama with Tina. Then her thoughts went back to what Katrina had said about her and Ethan.
Maybe she had a point. It was time to do something for herself. Becca could put in the hard work to win him over. Then they wouldn’t have to do the official public breakup when this was all over.
But she wasn’t interested in a long distance romance. Those never worked. And she knew it wouldn’t be what she wanted. Could she leave Salt Lake? Maybe. Probably. Suddenly, she chuckled at herself. Of course she could. She could live anywhere she wanted.
She had a chance to have it all. Now she just needed to figure out how she could make it happen.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The last fewdays had sped by and Ethan hadn’t had much of a chance to spend one-on-one time with Becca. Katrina had stolen her attention ever since that afternoon when Tina had tried to frame her.
Ethan couldn’t blame them. Katrina had finally seemed to acknowledge that Tina didn’t have her best interests at heart. He found it interesting that she wasn’t willing to send Tina packing when the wedding was only a couple days away. The change wouldn’t have been devastating. Tina wasn’t even walking with anyone. Sometimes women just didn’t make sense.
She didn’t seem to mind, which was another thing that mildly surprised him. However, he didn’t bother wasting his energy on Tina when he couldn’t keep his eyes off Becca.
The whole bridal party, sans the bride and her maid of honor, were waiting in the living room of the Reese house. Mostly, the men had paired up with their wives. Ethan had expected that Becca would come over to chat with him, but instead, she was petting the honorary ring bearer. The pup’s tail wagged as she scratched him behind his ears and spoke to him quietly.
She hadn’t met his gaze no matter how hard he’d stared at her. He knew she was aware of him. They’d had a connection—it couldn’t have all been imagined, he refused to believe that.
The worst part was that they’d been getting so close and then he had to go and ruin everything by shutting down. He’d never felt fully accepted by anyone in his life—that was one of the biggest reasons for his putting up walls.
Turned out he was right to do so.
Becca tucked a curl behind her ear. Every movement she made was graceful. Her beauty was almost painful. While they hadn’t officially broken up, they might as well have. When the wedding was officially over, they wouldn’t have any reason to see each other.
Katrina’s maid of honor hurried into the room, breathless. Ethan couldn’t recall her name; all he knew was that she was a childhood friend. Everyone turned their attention to the woman as she grinned at them.
She turned to Simon. “I just heard from the coordinator. They’re ready for us.”
Ethan’s cousins congratulated Simon and herded him toward the door, followed close by their wives. Becca stood and her eyes locked with Ethan. His heart pounded. He still clung to his desire for a future with her.
Even though he knew it was a risk and the probability wasn’t in his favor, he couldn’t help it. If they weren’t just about to go walk down the aisle together, he would have pulled her aside and demanded to know if they had a chance. That was all he wanted to know.
Becca took a hesitant step toward him. “Ethan, I think we should?—”
“There you are.”
Ethan’s body revolted at the sound of Tina’s voice. He didn’t have to turn around to know she had returned. He could hear the judgment dripping from her voice, practically predict the kind of manipulation she planned for later.
Becca’s focus shifted toward the intrusion. Even though irritation pulsed from her body in waves, she was still beautiful. “What do you want, Tina?”
“I need the dog. They want us lining up right now. The processional music is about to start.”
Becca glanced down at the dog who stood at her side. Ethan didn’t need her to say a single word for him to know what she was thinking. Neither one of them wanted the dog to be Tina’s partner, and they hadn’t come up with a different solution.
Tina marched past Ethan, bumping her shoulder against his arm harder than necessary. She yanked the leash from Becca’s hand and gave Ethan one more menacing look before she exited the way she’d come.
Ethan turned toward Becca after watching Tina take her leave, but whatever she’d wanted to say before Tina interrupted no longer seemed to be on her mind. She held one side of her floor-length periwinkle dress in one hand as she headed toward him. A small purse dangled from her other wrist. If it weren’t for the cowboy boots that peeked out from beneath the dress, he might have thought she looked like she was attending a wedding in the city rather than an outdoor event where the guests were expected to sit on bales of hay.
Becca slipped her hand through his arm and tugged him toward the door without a word. Even if he had wanted to say something, to ask her to finish her thought from before, he wouldn’t have been able to do so. His mind was a jumbled mess.
Everything from his family coming to town to the loan he’d just found out he’d qualified for, and the fact that Becca planned on leaving back to the city in less than forty-eight hours, put him in a situation where he felt utterly helpless.
Just enjoy this evening for what it is, his head seemed to say.It’s not like your feelings for her will grow more than this.
He heaved a sigh and offered Becca a smile when she glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye. They made it to the group just as the music started to play.
The whole slow walk all the way down to the end of the aisle, Ethan went over in his head how things could have been different. If he’d only made a few different decisions in his life. What if he’d asked Becca out at that engagement party rather than fall prey to Tina’s attentions?
