“Let’s see. My dignity? My self-esteem? All hope for my future?”
“See? Totally worth the risk.”
“Right. Thanks. It’s not that simple.”
Daniel laughed. “Really? You’re going to talk to me about simple? I met Hayley when I was up to my ears in pink laundry and had my mother-in-law threatening to sue me for custody of the girls. I think I might get the prize for complicated. Sorry.”
“Okay, okay.” Cole nodded. “You’re right on that score. Still can’t believe she signed up for marriage with the likes of you, but there’s a touch of crazy in everybody, right?”
Daniel socked his arm. “You’ll see. Someday you’ll want it, too. You’ll want the crazy right along with the rest.”
“I don’t know.” Cole shook his head. “Not sure I’m equipped for any of it, especially the crazy.”
“You say that now.”
“I mean that now.”
Daniel nodded. “I know. But seriously. That woman’s going to be on a plane again, heading east again, and where are you going to be? Right here where you started, right here beating yourself up over not at least giving it a try.”
“Don’t make me call you Doctor Phil again.”
“I’m not kidding. Mark my words. You sit back and let this opportunity go by, you’re going to regret it. Next time she comes out to visit, she could bring somebody with her. Maybe a boyfriend, maybe a fiancé. Hell, maybe you’ll be heading to Boston for her wedding.”
“Shut up.”
“Would suck, right?”
Cole shook his head, taking a long drink of his beer. Suck didn’t even begin to describe the fist that clenched his gut when he thought about Jess with someone else. For these past two years, he had kept her single in his mind, because the thought of someone else touching her— kissing her, loving her—was too much to handle.
He looked at her, laughing as the three of them sang along with the cheesy country song the deejay was playing. Yeah, maybe he’d be playing with fire. But hell if he could think of anything but her these days, and that thinking was getting him nowhere but frustrated and agitated.
Daniel was right. Next year at this time she could be engaged, married, or hell—maybe not even come back out to Whisper Creek. He sighed. Shit.
But if he moved too fast, she’d shut down and he’d have lost his chance forever. Hell if he knew where the sweet spot was there.
But he’d be damned if he didn’t want to find out.
Tonight.
Chapter 14
“I hate tourist season. We might be safer standing up.” Hayley grumbled as yet another tipsy woman jostled into her head. “It’s like a ranch town version of reality television.”
Kyla laughed. “You mean beer-soaked and loud?”
“You know it!” Hayley swept her arm in an arc. “And before you say it, Kyla—I know. You depend on tourist season, so I’m trying to learn to love it. I mean, look around, ladies! Check out all of the eligible men!”
Jess raised her eyebrows. “I see two, and they’re not pretty.”
Hayley smiled. “That might be two more than the usual pickings. I think those are Brody’s new guys.”
Jess wrinkled her nose. “Brody obviously hires by skill alone.”
“He can’t help it,” Kyla said. “Our ranch already has all the hot cowboys.”
Jess sat back in her chair, perusing the crowd on the dance floor, trying to get her eyes to focus properly. “I still can’t believe you’ve convinced Decker and Cole to pose for a Whisper Creek calendar. What did you have to promise them, anyway?”
“Nothing.” Kyla shrugged.
Hayley snorted. “Baloney. Tell the truth. Wait. Let me guess. Pies.”
“Oh, please.” Kyla shrugged. “I like baking pies.”
“You like baking two a week? For the next year?”
She sighed, smiling. “I will learn to like it, I guess.”
Jess laughed. “You bribed the men with pie? How classic fifties of you!”
“I know. I’m not exactly proud. But it worked, right? Those calendars are going to fly out of here!”
Jess shook her head. “Stop rubbing imaginary money between your fingers. I think Hayley has already acknowledged that you’re a genius.”
“Ha.” Hayley shook her head. “I only acknowledged that it was refreshing to see someone put an MBA to actual use.”
“Selling calendars?” Jess laughed.
Hayley shrugged. “You take what you can get, right?” Then she turned to Jess. “Speaking of which—”
Jess tipped her head. “Speaking of which—what?”
“Cole’s here.”
Jess’s stomach jumped. Of course she’d chosen the one chair that faced the wall. “He is?”
“Yup.” Hayley smiled. “And he hasn’t taken his eyes off you since he walked in.”