Page 31 of Catch and Release Groom

Rather than argue that criticizing a poet from another century would hardly impact her makeup artist career, he’d listened, nodded, and promised he’d try.

It’d never seemed like enough, though.

For some reason, the masses romanticized tumultuous love that left disaster in its wake over the steady, effortless kind.

So, which was Imogen? Realist or romantic? She’d listened to the fable with interest, but avoided looking directly at him and, if the last twenty minutes were any indicator of her poker face, she’d be deadly during a Friday night match.

Whoa. Gear down, big shifter. She doesn’t even live here.He scrubbed a hand over his face, wishing he could go deeper, past his skull and into his brain, where he could erase the memory of that kiss on the dock that’d started it all.

“Anyway,” Easton said, peeling his eyes off Imogen and cursing the fact that it took as much effort as it did. “Go ahead and look around. There’s the statue of Noccalula, and if you cross that little bridge over there, there’s a petting zoo. If you hike down to the bottom, there’s a cave to explore, too.”

As their group dispersed, Imogen and a few of the others moved as close to the bronze maiden as the railing permitted. Nine feet tall and green from decades of oxidation, he’d always thought she was a bit of an eyesore compared to the natural surroundings, and he felt sure the chief who’d supposedly named the cascade would feel the same.

Easton shuffled his feet, purposely warning Imogen of his approach. She gave him the briefest glance ever, and it was one thing if she didn’t want to play couple during this week’s events anymore, but not looking at him was something else entirely.

A compulsory need to break the tension forced words from his mouth in a rapid burst that rivaled the spray at his back. “Too bad the princess didn’t have anyone to warn her that love’s not worth all that trouble.”

At long last, Imogen’s eyes met his, andshit.Tears had turned them shiny, filling them so full that fat droplets spilled over and ran down her cheeks.

Panic seized him, along with the urge to do whatever it took to make the crying stop. Unfortunately, his track record for dealing with emotional women was shaky at best—as evidenced by the awkward shoulder pat he gave her.

She wobbled and sniffed, and it hit him then that her sorrow ran deeper than anything that’d happened between the two of them.

This was about her ex. Easton clenched and released his fists on impulse, forcing himself to bury the jealousy he shouldn’t even be experiencing. “Sorry. Didn’t mean anything by it besides makin’ conversation. I didn’t realize you were taking the breakup so hard.”

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t the greatest at consoling people, but the scowl she fired at him seemed excessive. How the hell had he managed to offend her by apologizing?

“I’d hardly call it a breakup,” Imogen huffed and dropped into to a raspy whisper. “We didn’t even make it to pretending to be a couple,honeybun, so hold those horses right there.”

Now he was the one scowling. “I meant the guy who was going to be here with you originally.”

“Oh.”The lightbulb buzzed on and fizzled out as quickly, darkening with…guilt, if he wasn’t mistaken. “Oh.”

The others in their party had wandered away, and he suspected they’d done so in the name of giving him and Imogen space. Which meant he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the abrupt one-eighty in her mood, but he wasn’t sure if acknowledging it would make things better or worse. “Pretty sure everyone thinks we’re having a lover’s quarrel.”

“Let me guess,” she said, crossing her arms with a sharp cock of her head. “You want to show them how fine we are by making out some more.”

“I’d rather we just be fine,” he said, surprising himself.

Judging from her slack jaw, it’d caught her off guard, too. “We’re fine.”

Using his thumbs, he wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks and arched a questioning eyebrow.

“This is what happens when I forget to hide my fatal flaw.” Imogen punctuated that confusing statement with a sniff and a wince. “Like, I totally understand that her story isn’t a happy one…”

She peered up at the statue, the admiration on her features more than a little worrisome. “But maybe the sadder fate is going your entire life without experiencing that type of all-encompassing love. A love so powerful you can’t imagine living the rest of your life without it.”

Already he was shaking his head. “The crash at the bottom isn’t worth the thrill of the fall.”

Curiosity flooded her expression, alerting him he’d said too much and was right about his mouth getting him into trouble. She bounced on the balls of her feet, scarily eager to return the conversation to him. “You say that as if you have experience.”

Regardless of where this journey was taking them, and whether it’d stretch past today didn’t so much matter, as long as they were both aware of the destination—or lack thereof. “More importantly, I’m saying I’ll never, ever do it again.”

…

Imogen couldn’t imagine another time in her life when she’d consider a total lack of desire to be in a relationship a perk. Particularly from a guy she was this insanely attracted to. Perhaps she’d beat too hasty a retreat earlier on the hike over experiencing a mushy feeling or two.

Yes, Easton left her slightly unbalanced in a thrilling yet terrifying way, but there wasn’t an ounce of wiggle room in his statement, and she’d never been a woman who thought she could change a guy’s mind. In fact, she was far more likely to let him change hers, and that was part of why she was on this journey. She could learn a lot about being firm and unyielding from the man in front of her. His obstinacy—in general, but especially when it came to his stance on romance—would be more than enough to keep her in check.

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