Page 19 of A Very Titan Christmas
“You are not.” Eloise scowled and reached toward Thomas as if she could catch the man about to escape. “She’s not.”
“I”—Thomas gestured vaguely behind him—“have to take a call. It was so nice to meet you, Rachel.” He took another step back. “I’ll catch up at the senator’s next fundraiser.”
Thomas skedaddled.
Eloise hissed, “You are not seeing anyone.”
“I am. God, do you not see how incredibly uncomfortable you just made that man?”
“You know he wants kids. I could have grandchildren sometime soon if you—”
“Mother, do you hear yourself?”
Eloise flicked her wrist like she was batting a gnat. “You’re just saying that because I’m trying to help.”
“Not true, and I don’t need help.”
“Who on earth are you dating?”
“Him.” Rachel pointed in the direction Bryce had walked.
Eloise wheeled around. “Him who?”
“Bryce Richmond.” Rachel’s heart hammered in her chest. Why had she said Bryce? She could have lied about anyone else. She could have made someone up. A mystery man who she’d met on the trail between hot chocolate and the Christmas marketplace. She could’ve said she’d sat on the stone fence, stared at the mountains, and met a man she’d instantly fallen in love with. Literally, she could have offered anyone but Bryce. Now, she didn’t have a clue how to warn him—or convince him to go with her story.
Without missing a beat, Eloise flagged over Roman.
Roman was a big guy like Bryce and as attractive as Thomas and Greg. He wore a wedding band. Did Bryce? Oh God. Oh no. That Bryce could give her butterflies after all these years was irritating—and she didn’t even know if he had a significant other.
Roman approached. “Ma’am?”
“Where’s Bryce?” Eloise demanded.
Whelp, this was going to be awful.
Roman glanced the way Bryce had gone and pressed his lips together. “Do you need something out of your bags?”
“No, I need to speak with him.”
Roman flicked his gaze between the two women, but he nodded, strode back, and whispered into a communication device tucked into his jacket sleeve.
“He’ll be back in a moment,” Roman said.
The three of them waited. Roman shoved his hands into his pockets. Eloise smiled at someone she knew. Rachel shifted from foot to foot and had yet to devise a plan to warn Bryce.
She could run up to Bryce, wrap her arms around him, and whisper a warning, but there was a fifty-fifty chance that he would balk like she had an infectious disease. That would leave Rachel mortified and her mother emboldened to continue her antics. Because a little hiccup, like her story falling apart, would not slow down Eloise’s matchmaking if Rachel were exposed as boyfriend-less.
Bryce reappeared without her bags. Her stomach flutters morphed into a roll of nausea. She couldn’t look at him and wouldn’t look at Eloise. Roman seemed to sense something was off. He straightened like a brick wall and planted his feet shoulder width apart, making it known he wouldn’t let his battle buddy be eaten alive by Eloise.
Rachel willed her feet to move toward Bryce. She could intercept him and somehow explain the situation, but she was stuck in place.
Bryce noted the seriousness rolling off Roman and squared his shoulders like he was in a military lineup. “Ma’am?”
Nothing would come out of Rachel’s mouth.Run. Hide. Go with the story.Every possible warning caught in her throat.
Eloise studied his face as if she wasn’t pleased to be left out of their private business. “When did you two plan on telling me?”
Uncertainty clouded Bryce’s expression.
