Page 26 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

His kindness had too, and as she hung up after confirming a pick-up time of six-thirty and that she’d text him her address, she wondered if she could take Lawrence up on his offer to be her boyfriend for Dr. Biggers’s parties.

“Just ask him on Friday,” she said, making a note of it and then getting back to work, the image of his worried eyes and kind smile as he’d come around the corner filling her head for the rest of the day.

8

Ginny stepped over to her mother when she turned, her unspoken request all that was needed. She zipped up the dress, noticing how bony her mother had gotten. Perhaps she’d always been this skeletal.

“There,” she said.

Mother turned, and she was flawless in her pale pink gown. She reached for something on her bureau. “Ears?” She put on a pair of tasteful white rabbit ears with silver for the inner ear linings, which matched the metallic sparkles in her dress. “Or no ears?”

“It is an Easter gala,” Ginny said with a smile. She wore a robin’s egg blue dress, sans sparkles but with plenty of train. It was easy to pretend with Mother; Ginny had been doing similar stints with her counterparts for years.

She’d confessed that she’d ended things with Cayden, and that since she was doing so much work with the Founders Association that spring and summer, she’d decided to live in Drake’s country house, which was decidedly closer to the Association’s office.

Mother hadn’t questioned it at all. She rarely asked how things were going with Ginny, and it had been easier than Ginny had even anticipated to have her cake and eat it too.

Kiss it too, she thought, her smile turning genuine on her lips.

Cayden hadn’t allowed much kissing, though, and Ginny’s grin went back to plastic. The last time had been on her birthday, almost a month ago now. They’d had plenty of conversations since then, though, and she could admit that getting to know him was almost as fun as the explosive feelings that moved through her whenever he got near.

Her phone buzzed, and she checked it. “This is Bill,” she said. “Excuse me, Mother.” She swiped on the call from “Bill” as she strode away from her mom. “Hey,” she said, her voice low but filled with anticipation.

“I thought you’d have left by now,” Cayden said. “Sorry. Did I cause you to run out?”

He had, but Ginny said, “Not at all. We’re just leaving,” in a much more normal voice.

“I’m here,” he said. “I thought maybe I should go in alone? Or did you want me to wait for you?”

“Up to you,” she said. “If you go in alone, Mother certainly can’t think we’re seeing each other.”

“Right,” he said, but he was distracted. Ginny could hear it in his voice. “What is it?”

“We’ve met for your social events in the past month,” he said. “She hasn’t had a problem with me being your arm candy.”

Ginny kept one hand on the bannister as she went down the steps. She’d have to climb them again to assist Mother, but she needed a few minutes alone. She knew what Cayden was going to say next.

“Maybe she wouldn’t have a problem—”

“She will, Cayden,” Ginny said, glancing over her shoulder at the bottom of the steps. “Aren’t we okay?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t want to pretend.”

“I can get someone else to stand at my side,” she said.

“No,” he said in a flat tone.

Frustration filled her; he felt it too, she knew. She simply didn’t know how to erase it. This was the situation they’d both agreed to. “I’m sorry,” she said, because she didn’t know what else to say.

They’d discussed the difficulty of the situation, and every time, he said it was worth it. That she was worth it.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m gonna go in. I see Lolly.”

“Okay,” she said, and the call ended. Ginny stood near the exit and drew in a deep breath. “It’s fine.” Her whispered reassurance to herself didn’t get very far, but it had to be enough for now.

She turned and gathered her skirt into big handfuls before she went back upstairs. “Ready, Mother? We’re going to be late.”

“You’re never late when you’re the guest of honor,” Mother said, reaching up to adjust her earring.

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