Her Blind Date Cowboy - Taylor Hart Page 0,11

time to retch up the sandwich she’d eaten on the way to work.

No. She couldn’t do this today. She walked to the sink and managed to rinse her mouth with shaky hands. Trey had ruined so many things. He’d ruined her, and he’d ruined her relationship with Liam and her father.

Strike that. Her father had done a good job doing that on his own. She’d called off the marriage and told the truth, but it’d all backfired in a big way. It’d left her nearly homeless. Jason had stepped up and helped her get back on her feet.

Jason. She pulled out her phone, seeing the three messages he’d sent her. Quickly, she texted him. Sorry about yesterday. Thank you for all you do. You’re a good friend.

He didn’t take long to reply. I don’t care how you want me in your life, Evie. I just want to be here.

Dang it. Evie slammed a hand to the sink. She’d screwed everything up. Still, she talked herself down from the ledge. She would not do this. She wiped beneath her eyes and grabbed the little pack of toiletries from her locker so she could brush her teeth and fix her makeup and hair. She had a couple of hours to sell, and she needed to look the part. She put her fake smile on and vowed not to think about any of the crap in her life.

But as she walked out of the back and into the front, she stopped cold, seeing Mr. Temple talking to the man who had demanded the truth earlier that day.

Liam.

Mr. Temple gestured her over to them. “Ah, Evie, come meet Mr. Summerville. He’s a musician and performing next week at the Opera house.”

Her heart raced. Why the heck was he here?

Their eyes met and attraction sizzled around her. Just looking into his eyes reminded her of so many dreams she’d had about him; that he would just show up right here at the gallery one day. Her hands trembled and she put them together to prevent them from shaking.

Mr. Temple continued. “Apparently, he’s very interested in upcoming artists. I was telling him about your paintings, and he’s already asked to buy them. He wants to see the paintings in the back. Would you please show him?”

“No.” She took a step back.

Mr. Temple frowned.

Liam put his hands up. “It’s okay.”

“What is wrong?” Mr. Temple asked her.

More shaking fell through her. She couldn’t deal with Liam seeing those paintings. She tried to keep her voice calm. “I don’t want to sell them. I told you that.”

Mr. Temple gave her a quick up-and-down look. “Are you sick?”

“I’m fine.”

With a frown, Mr. Temple walked to her and leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I want the story later.” He put on a fake smile for Liam. “I’m sorry. I guess those aren’t up for sale yet.”

Liam kept his eyes on her for a minute, then turned to Mr. Temple. “That’s fine. Could I see others?”

“No,” she said quickly. “You need to go, Liam.”

Mr. Temple looked between them. “Do you know him, Evie?”

“No,” she said, at the same time Liam said yes.

They held each other’s eyes and Evie wished she hadn’t seen him on the beach today. Wished so many things were different with him but this wasn’t the time to do this with Liam.

Mr. Temple coughed, then moved to her, taking her hand and tugging her a couple of feet away. “Excuse us.”

“No problem.”

“What is going on?” Mr. Temple asked in a quiet whisper.

“Nothing,” she said, still holding her hands and wringing them out.

Mr. Temple’s frown deepened. “Evie, that man back there has a lot of money and I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but he is the customer and he wants to buy. Can you sell to him?”

She swallowed. “I don’t know.”

“Then I’ll do it.” He put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You are almost at the point where you’ll have the money for university, you need to get yourself together. I need good sales people on the floor for the Christmas holiday.”

“I know.” She did know. Christmas was a huge selling time for Mr. Temple.

He nodded and turned away from her. “I’ll show you, Mr. Summerville.”

“No, I want her to.”

Their eyes met again and she saw a stern look on his face.

Anger surged inside of her.

Mr. Temple turned back, seeming to evaluate if she could do it or not.

“Fine,” she said, sucking in a breath and moving