Page 62 of The Troublemaker

She finished up with the horses and smiled at him, a tentative smile that looked like the facial equivalent of an olive branch.

“See you later,” he said.

“Yes.”

She hightailed it out of there, and he looked down at his phone. He decided to call Fia rather than text her, because that seemed to indicate more serious intent.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” he said. “Lachlan.”

“Oh. Hi.”

“I was wondering if you wanted to go on a trail ride tomorrow. Charity’s fiancé is in town, and he’s from Virginia. I want to show him the area. Thought we might make it a double date.”

“Sure,” she said, something unreadable creeping into her tone. “That sounds fun.”

“It’s funny that you say it like that, because your voice doesn’t indicate that you think it sounds all that fun.”

“It isn’t that,” she said quickly. “I didn’t realize Charity was engaged.”

“Yeah. She has been. For a long time.”

“Weird.”

“Why is that weird?” he asked, feeling defensive. If that was a crack about the fact that Charity was a little bit conservative-looking, that she didn’t get flashy or done up or anything like that, well, he didn’t like that at all.

“I just... Lachlan, I kind of thought that it was weird you asked me out because I always thought that you and Charity were... I always thought you were sleeping with her.”

“I’mnot,” he said, realizing he sounded like a scandalized maiden.

“Okay.”

She didn’t sound convinced.

“Never have. Wouldn’t. She’s... You’ve met her.”

“Yes. She’s very pretty. And very sweet. I just kind of always thought she was your long-term...whatever.”

“She’s mybest friend,” he said, the words dragged from deep within him, the conviction in them real and raw.

“I’m sorry. That’s really sweet. I didn’t know that. I guess that kind of shows my own... I don’t know.”

“What about Landry King? Do I have to worry about him?”

She laughed, hard and bitter. “No. You do not have to worry about me and Landry. Rumors of us are greatly exaggerated. Fabricated, even. He’s a pain in the ass. That’s it.”

“Well, there you go. Everybody’s wrong about us, I guess.”

“One thing’s for sure. The two of us... That will give people something to talk about.”

He chuckled. Because she was right. He hadn’t realized that there was a prevailing thought—or maybe it wasn’t a prevailing thought that he and Charity were more than friends. But clearly...

Also, if she was to be believed, she and Landry weren’t quite what other people thought. Maybe people were just wrong altogether. Assumptions, he supposed, really did just make an ass out of you and me.

“Great. See you Wednesday.”

“I can pack a picnic lunch for everybody,” she said.

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