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Brianne lifted a brow and folded her arms. “Liar. I know for a fact you’re one of the more social people around here. You might not date much, but you would have never been hired as a waiter at that restaurant if you weren’t good with people.”
He sighed. She was right, of course. But he couldn’t handle being here with Katrina if she was going to slip out into the night with someone else.
“You okay? You look… sorta sick.”
“Why do you think I want to leave?”
“Well, you could have just said so.” Still, Brianne seemed to be studying him more than she usually did. Her eyes were narrowed and she moved a little closer. “Can I ask you something? Whydon’tyou date?”
He gawked at her. What kind of question was that?
“You don’t have to answer, but you’re clearly a catch. You’re sweet and you work hard. But you’re only ever hanging out with me and Katrina.” Her eyes grew wide. “Unless you already have your eye on someone and you don’t want us to know. Is she long distance? Have you been dating someone, and you haven’t told us about her?” She whacked him playfully. “How could you not tell us!”
“Brianne, no. I’m not involved with anyone, local or otherwise.” He turned his search outward again as he continued speaking. “I’m too busy for that sort of thing. I’d rather spend my free time with the people I know and care about rather than try to play the dating game with someone new. I don’t have the patience for that.”
She snorted. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound right. You’re social. You don’t have to play thegame. It’s something else and I know it. You don’t have to tell me, but I’ll figure it out anyway.” Brianne turned away from him. “It’s sweet, you know. The way you’re helping Katrina out so much. I think she’s doing a lot better, don’t you?”
“Yeah, maybe,” he mumbled.
“I bet it has a lot to do with you keeping her busy at your farm.” She said this quieter, but he heard every word. “And I bet it hasn’t hurt to get her out and dating.” This time, Brianne glanced at him. “You know I’m right even if you don’t like it.”
“I never said I didn’t like it. I’m just swamped. I don’t need to hear about her dating escapades.” And he didn’t need to witness them, either. Simon heaved a sigh. “If you see her, tell her that I stopped by but couldn’t find her.”
“Find who?”
Both Simon and Brianne spun around, but Brianne acted quicker. She threw her arms around Katrina. “There you are!” When she pulled back, she gave her an annoying grin and wagged her brows. “I saw you with Jackson. Did you two… have a nice chat?”
Katrina glanced at Simon, but he looked away. “We were just chatting about the rodeo. Did you know his younger brother wants to be one of those clowns that distracts the bull?”
Brianne laughed. “That’s awesome. Dangerous, though. Is he going to be fast enough?”
“I hope so.” Katrina nudged Simon, drawing his attention. “When did you get here? I was looking for you.”
All his drive and determination to tell her exactly how he felt had disappeared. She hadn’t been looking for him. She’d been happily engaged in her conversation with Jackson. Heck, Brianne had said herself that Jackson lived close enough to the city that she could still work there while being married to a cowboy. Simon couldn’t let himself forget that little nugget of information.
Katrina wanted nothing to do with Rocky Ridge, and that was where Simon would be spending the rest of his life.
He flashed her a smile, doing his best to make her believe he wasn’t upset in the slightest. “Just got here.”
“Yeah, and he said he was just leaving,” Brianne teased.
Katrina’s eyes shot to meet his, accusation emanating from them. “What?”
He shrugged. “It’s not what I thought it would be. Don’t you think it’s a little too…country?” Even to him, the tone of his voice seemed to take a dig at the folks who preferred living here. “But you understand about that. You don’t like being here either.”
Her mouth fell open and she let out a surprised laugh. “Simon!”
“It’s true though, right? You want your career. You’re still putting in applications. What does Jackson think about that?”
She snickered, clearly in a better mood than he was. He needed to step up his game if he didn’t want to get pulled aside and given a lecture.
“Actually, yeah. He said he thinks I should do what makes me happy.” She glanced toward Brianne and back to Simon. “And I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately.”
Brianne made a whooping sound. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? You might actually settle down with a cowboy? Are you guys dating?”
Simon couldn’t move. This was it. He’d waited too long. He’d been a coward, and he only had himself to blame.
Katrina gave Brianne a pointed look. “No, I’m not dating Jackson. Though, I have to admit that while I never really saw myself with a cowboy before…” Her eyes flitted up to meet Simon’s briefly. “I might actually be warming up to it.”
