I had to consciously not watch her lips, and when she pushed the basket toward me, I did my best to forget the previous ten seconds.
Which didn’t work. At. All.
“Any good stories?” she asked after she swallowed.
Finally, a topic that would keep me from thinking about her proximity. “I spent most of my time with William. He’s a surprisingly good dancer.” I told her about William’s work and his horses.
“I have a friend that loves horses,” Victoria said. “If William wasn’t so stiff, I’d introduce them.”
Clicking my list brain back on, I noted that insinuating he was a boring guy wasn’t untrue and therefore not really gossip. “What about you?” I asked as I took another piece of bread.
Victoria sat back, leaning against my arm, and thought about it. “Courtney came to chat with Greta for a few minutes. Greta is strangely antagonistic toward her.”
“Because Courtney is a B-word.”
“I guess. I thought it was odd but didn’t want to ask about it.”
Crystal would have asked.
“What about the rest of the women?” I asked.
“Most of the relatives were pretty standoffish when we started, but Keith, Hannah, and I got them out of their shells. I honestly think the whole east vs west coast bias might calm down if the older generation were to let it go.”
“Maybe,” I said.
“The best part was Keith figuring out how to include the women who couldn’t stand for too long, had injuries, or just didn’t want to feel silly. He was awesome. Worth every penny Natalie spent on him. I need to give him a five-star review.”
I suspected Victoria had helped as well, which made me all mushy inside. Time froze when Victoria put her hand on my bare knee again. “You’re not jealous of me talking about Keith?”
“Do I need to be?” I asked with a smile on my face and a hitch in my voice. “I thought Greta had her claws into him.”
“Haha.” Victoria squeezed my knee. “Thanks for not being weird about it.”
“Don’t worry, I’m weird about plenty of other things.”
“I’m aware.” She gave me a shy smile, then removed her hand as the waitress returned with our food.
Every hour I spent with her proved just how amazing Victoria was. I was quickly running out of reasons not to tell her how I felt about her.
I hadn’t expressed feelings like these since the last time I’d seen Courtney.
After Courtney I’d vowed never to say the L-word again.
Victoria was making me rethink that vow.
Chapter 17
-Victoria-
I would never, in my whole life, be able to tell you what we’d eaten for lunch. Logan and I talked and flirted through the entire meal.
Only it hadn’t been like it had been up in Big Bear, where we’d known it was safe to get close and not get attached. Not for me, anyway. Every brush of his fingers, quirk of his lips, and instance his eyes met mine proved to me just how far I’d fallen for the guy.
On the way back up to our room, we once again ended up in the same elevator as William and Courtney. Was the universe punishing us, or what?
Courtney surprised me by putting her phone away and asking Logan, “How long have the two of you been together?”
“We met in June,” Logan said.