Page 131 of Holiday Friend Zones
Brooks relaxes against the counter with his ankles crossed, sipping his coffee, eyebrows up to his hairline looking over at me.Lottie stands to the side of him, as though if she strays too far away from him, an alarm will go off.
Damn, I’m a jealous bastard.
“I was hoping you two could help me out with the ranch Christmas festival,” Lottie says.
She smiles wide and shifts her gaze between us again.Saylor’s going to say yes.Lottie’s her boss.And since my boss is Lottie’s husband, I’ll end up saying yes too.Even without Brooks giving me thesay no, and I’ll make your life hellstare.
“Sure.Last year I helped with set up and clean up.I’m happy to do it again,” I say.
Brooks smiles and nods at me.
“Well, um… I was actually thinking that you two could handle the kids’ craft table.”Lottie’s eyebrows raise.
Saylor’s gaze lands on mine for a second before she turns to Lottie.“Sure.”
I rest my hands on my utility belt.“With all due respect, Lottie, I have no experience with kids.I’m not sure…”
“Nonsense.My nieces love you, and you’ll do great.”Lottie smiles between us.
Brooks pushes off the counter.“We gotta go, babe, thanks for the coffee.”
“So you two are good?”she asks one more time, sealing our commitment.
“Of course,” Saylor answers.
Lottie’s gaze lands on mine.Brooks stares me down.
I feel sweat gather on the back of my neck.“Yeah.”
There goes my plans to keep my distance from Saylor.
“Perfect.I’ll go over the ideas with Saylor and then she can talk to you.”She swivels around and wraps her arms around Brooks’ neck.
“You guys can go now,” Brooks says, his mouth inches from hers.
My eyes lock with Saylor’s for a moment before I turn around and leave The Harvest Depot.
Brooks comes out a few minutes later and joins me in the squad car.
“Wanna talk about it?”he asks, starting the engine.
“It’s nothing,” I mumble.
“Didn’t look like nothing.”He pulls down the dirt road back out to the main area and out of Plain Daisy Ranch.
“It’s just…” I stop and shake my head, letting the snow-covered landscape distract me, or try to at least.
“You don’t have to talk, but I can tell you we have about half an hour to the courthouse, and it helps to talk to someone.”
I sigh because he’s right.I haven’t told a soul what happened between us.Truth is, she and Tyler were my best friends for most of my life.After they left, sure, I kept a few good friends, but no one I trusted enough to confess what happened and how I can’t stop thinking about it.
He chuckles.“Relax, Moore, you’re making my head hurt.”
“I’ve known Saylor forever… we’ve been next door neighbors my entire life.We were playmates, and then friends, and then Tyler came into the mix.”
“Tyler Temple?”
I nod.
