Page 25 of Love You
“So we’re not even engaged?”
“Nope. You’re free to roam.” She didn’t even look up.
Her brusque way of treating him was starting to get on his nerves. “Want to go to lunch later?”
She picked up a brown paper bag on her desk, held it in the air, and continued to write on her damn pink slip. “I brought.”
Win took the bag and opened it, sniffing. “Bologna?”
“Don’t be gross. Nana made it.” She swiped the bag out of his hand, looked inside, and made a face. “You might be right.”
“No worries. I’ll swing by your desk at noon.” He took the bag from her and on his way to his office, tossed it in the staff refrigerator. Without a tour until three, he was at loose ends. He popped his head into TJ’s office but his brother wasn’t there. More and more, TJ was guiding short trips. Mountain biking, kayaking, mountain climbing, nothing that kept him from his CEO duties for too long but enough to quench his need for speed.
He sifted through the itinerary Darcy had given him. Not surprising, she’d even taken care of restaurant reservations for the entire weekend. There was a burger joint in Nugget he was hoping to stop in at during their trip to the bull rider’s ranch. Great curly fries. In high school, when their respective teams had played each other in sports, he and his buddies used to go there after games to get burgers and shakes. But Darcy had the group back in Glory Junction for lunchtime. He might have to change that, depending on the group. The place had no indoor seating and if the suits were fancy pants they might not like that. Usually he felt things out first, then tailored the tour accordingly. The scary groups had members who thought they were Sir Edmond Hillary. Then there were the folks who just needed a little encouragement. Maybe they weren’t the toughest or had the most stamina but the looks on their faces when they made it to the top of the mountain was the best. Just the best.
His cell rang and he checked the caller ID. It wasn’t a number he recognized but he answered anyway.
“Win Garner.”
“Hey, Win, this is Stephanie.” The name didn’t register and Win didn’t say anything, trying to figure out who she was. “Uh, we met kayaking the other day.”
“Oh, hey, Steph. Sorry about last night. I had a family thing and couldn’t make it to Old Glory.” He probably should’ve messaged her back but figured she was just trying to kill time while passing through. Ordinarily, he would’ve been down with a one-nighter, but he was trying to kick the habit.
“You interested in getting together tonight? I’m here for a couple more days and thought . . . you know, why not?”
Unfortunately, yes, he knew. He hated to offend her but . . . “I’m gonna have to pass, Stephanie. But it was really great meeting you the other day.”
“Um, okay.” There was a long, silent pause. Just her breathing on the other end of the phone.
Ah, jeez, he’d embarrassed her. “I’m seeing someone,” he blurted, hoping to soothe the sting.
“It didn’t seem like you were the other day.” There was a bite to her voice.
“It sort of just happened,” he lied, feeling a wee bit guilty that he was so good at it. But it was a white lie. He didn’t want to flat-out reject her. “I’d like to get to know her without a lot of distractions if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” she said, sounding somewhat mollified. “But it’s not serious?”
“Not yet but you never know.”
“Good for you,” she said like she meant it. “I hope it works out.”
“You’re a good person, Steph. You take care now.” He hung up.
“Who was that?” Colt walked in his door, uninvited. Hopefully, he’d only caught the tail end of the conversation.
“A friend,” he said, and cleared off a chair for his brother to sit. His office could use a deep cleaning. Mostly, he used it as an extra closet but as often as he was coming into the office these days it wouldn’t kill him to tidy up the place. “Things slow at the cop shop?’
“Not really. I just came over here hoping there were doughnuts.”
Win thought it was supposed to be the other way around. “I’ve got a protein bar if you’re hungry.”
Colt scrunched up his nose. “Nah, I’ll pass. Where’s TJ?” Everyone was always looking for TJ.
“I have no idea. Probably making a merger somewhere.”
Colt laughed. “What’s this about you buying a house?” News traveled fast in the Garner clan.
“I’m not buying anything yet. Eventually, though. It’ll depend on what I can afford.” Which would depend on what kind of bonus he got.
