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Katrina ignored her protests. “Definitely put Becca with Ethan.” She turned to Becca. “Who were you walking with?”
Becca snorted, realizing what this would mean. Tina shot her a sharp look.
“Brewster.”
That one word was all it took for Tina’s pale face to turn beet-red.
“Thedog?”
The table erupted in giggles. It could have been due to the champagne, but in all likelihood it had more to do with the fact that Tina was going to be the one walking Katrina’s ring bearer down the aisle. Simon had recently adopted the mutt from the pound and had insisted it was his one thing Katrina couldn’t veto.
Becca joined in on the laughter and her eyes watered because of it. Tina’s expression grew darker by the second.
Katrina wiggled her phone in front of the table. “Oooh,” she sang. “Ethan is trying to get ahold of Becca.”
All eyes shifted to her again and she sobered. Her focus darted to the phone. She didn’t have Ethan’s number and he didn’t have hers. But based on the way they’d treated each other in frontof everyone, it was expected that they did. Hopefully he hadn’t asked Katrina for Becca’s number. Then all of this would be for nothing.
“What did he say?”
Katrina glanced down at her screen. “He wanted to know if I was with you because you weren’t answering your phone.”
Clever.
Becca shrugged. “I left my phone at home. What can I say? I didn’t want to interrupt our girl-time.”
Katrina held her phone out to Becca with a teasing smile. “Well, you’d better call him back. Sounds like things are a little more serious than you let on.”
Tina’s gaze shot poisonous darts toward her as she scooted out from behind the table. The woman was a piece of work. What was she so fired up over? She had a fiancé, for heaven’s sake. Why did she insist on having Ethan, too? It was like she was addicted to the attention.
Becca managed to scoot around two waitresses, one hostess, and a group of people getting ready to be seated without much trouble. She made it outside, but before she could dial Ethan’s number, she heard Tina behind her.
“I hope you know what you’re doing. Ethan is trouble with a capital T.” Tina folded her arms and sneered at Becca. “He’s not what you think.”
Becca spun to face the woman who would forever be filed away as her nemesis. “Oh, andyouknow him so well, do you? Let me ask you something, how is it you didn’t know about me?”
Tina’s confidence faltered but it was only for a split second. She scowled at Becca and lifted her chin. “See? You’re proving my point for me. He’s toying with you. Heck, he manipulatedbothof us. The guy wasn’t happy with just one girl—he is the literal definition of a playboy. Are you sure you really want to go down that road?”
She rolled her eyes. The ironic thing was that this woman had unknowingly started this whole thing, and all because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “Save your breath. I heard you talking on the bus. Don’t believe for a second that I feel bad for you and your failed plans to cause him misery. Have you considered he caught on to what you were doing, and he chose a better path? Just leave him be. You belong to someone else.”
Tina huffed and charged back into the Steer House. A soft groan slipped from Becca’s lips, and she leaned against the brick building.
Why was she so intent on helping this guy? She’d told herself to stay away from him back at the party because he was such a flirt, and falling for those guys always ended in heartbreak. He was perfect inspiration for the romantic lead of her novel, but he’d be a big mistake in real life.
She sighed and stared down at Katrina’s phone. It was probably a good thing he wanted to talk. They needed to figure this out before it spiraled even more out of control.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ethan was on edge.Even working in the barn with the horses couldn’t put him at ease. The methodical brushing of the horses’ hair did little to put a dent in the growing discomfort Ethan was struggling with. Everywhere he turned, he felt like he had to avoid his cousins. When they were younger, his cousins had left his love life out of it. They were pals, visiting during various times of the year when their folks could manage it.
Growing up, he’d managed to hide a lot of his academic shortcomings simply by pretending he wasn’t interested in school. “C’s got degrees” was what he’d tell everyone, while in private he worked up a sweat just to read one assignment.
That was the nice part about working with animals. He didn’t have to read much of anything. The second his uncle had asked him to come up to Rocky Ridge and help with training some of their new acquisitions, he knew he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Away from the city, it felt like he finally belonged.
It was great for the first little while, but when everyone went off to do their own things with their own little families, he got lonely. That was one of the reasons he’d finally put himself out there and asked for Tina’s number.
His chest tightened further, painfully so, and he clutched at his collar to help relieve some of the pressure. Who knew being brushed off like that could hurt so much?
