“About a year now. As for what attracted me to him, he talked to meandbought me a drink!” Amy laughed. “Honestly, when you look like I do, you’re grateful when a decent guy pays attention. Someone with your looks wouldn’t know about that. I’m not beautiful, so I’m less fussy. Oh, I know he likes to flirt with other women, but he’s not serious.”
As she contemplated Amy’s dancing eyes, Hailey felt a pang of envy. Was it really so simple? If onlyshecould buy into Amy’s philosophy, she might be able to enjoy what her body craved without her mind getting in the way, but so far she’d failed miserably at separating the two. To find the man whose mental makeup not only matched but outstripped his physicality … Did he even exist? She put the question aside, turning her attention back to the raven-haired beauty beside her.
How was it possible Micky couldn’t appreciate what he had?
As if Amy read her thoughts, she wiggled her jet-black brows. “Don’t you feel sorry for me. Micky’s a pro at wrenching on my lug nuts, and as they say, a good mechanic is hard to find.”
Hailey burst into a fit of laughter, and Amy joined her. Oh, that felt good!
Until reality zapped Hailey between the eyes. “Oh no! I forgot to pay Micky!” She’d been so intent on escaping the Miners Tavern that she’d completely spaced settling up for the tow and the new battery. “Do you have any idea how much I owe? I can Venmo it if I have—”
Amy gave her a warm smile. “I happen to know exactly how much you owe, and that’s zero.”
Hailey didn’t mask her confusion. “Zero what?”
“Zero dollars. Noah took care of it.”
“Hewhat? When?”
“Right before we ducked out of there. Didn’t he tell you?”
Hailey sat back, dumbfounded. “No, he never said a word.”Because I didn’t give him the chance.“Why would he do that?”
Amy smirked. “Maybe he’s trying to make a good impression.”
Hailey’s stomach turned a few somersaults over the prospect of the hot Hunnicutt trying to impress her—even if it was ludicrous and she was reacting like a hormonal middle schooler.
“Haha!” she bleated. She needed to work on cultivating a more ladylike sound. “Doubtful, especially since he’s involved with someone else.”
Amy’s expression scrunched in puzzlement.
“You know. The … Ursula, his … whatever.” Oh, that didn’t sound stupid at all. Hailey rolled her eyes … at herself.
Amy’s bewilderment seemed to deepen. “I don’t think Ursula’s hisanything, unless they got back together, but that would have to be really recent. The last time they broke up was about a year ago.”
A flutter of happiness lifted Hailey’s heart. Only a few hours ago, she’d been thinking “Lucky Ursula,” followed by a rubber-band snap when her mind leaped to its conclusions about Noah being a player. She’d reasoned that Ursula might be royalty, but if her prince was running around kissing random women ... What if hewasn’trunning around kissing random women? Had Hailey read the situation—and him—all wrong? It wouldn’t have been the first time her prudent side had yanked her back without learning the entire story. If Noah and Ursula had been broken up, him kissing Hailey couldn’t be a betrayal—it would be a walk on the wild side of the tracks, and a mind-blowing one at that.
Except …thelasttime?“Are there many ‘last times’?”
“For a while it seemed like it,” Amy chuffed. “You could bank on it like the seasons changing. ‘Oh, spring is here, and Noah and Ursula are back together. Oh, it’s ski season, and Noah just broke it off again.’ It followed a pattern.”
“Sounds more like a yo-yo than a relationship. Is he always the one to end it?” Hailey gave herself an inner fist bump for keeping her tone casual.
“Since I’ve lived here, it’s mostly him. Not like I keep tabs, but it’s a small town, you know?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Anyway, Ursula pulls some stunt or up and disappears for months on end without contacting him, he gets fed up, and boom. It’s done. Then she worms her way back into his life again, and we all scream, ‘Noooo! Don’t do it!’ I don’t know what happened a year ago, but that’s the longest they’ve been apart, and I think it’s sticking this time.”
“So no one since that breakup?” Hailey held on to her breath.
Amy scoffed. “Are you kidding? He’s a Hunnicuttanda bartender with a wicked smileanda body to die for. No shortage of opportunities with that combination, but they’re usually one-and-done.” Her voice dropped conspiratorially. “There was one exception. This hot pro skier landed in his bar one night, and she came on strong—everyone called her the ‘Maneater.’ She wanted Noah, and she got him—at least for a few nights. I hear they really burned up the sheets. She even stuck around a few days longer than she’d planned, trying to convince him to be her boy toy, but that was as far as it went.”
Hailey tried not to let the punch of jealousy make her flinch.
“He didn’t date anyone else when he was with Ursula, though. She, on the other hand, wasn’t so loyal—even back in high school—according to Mick.”
“Ouch. Why not just break up with the guy and leave it?”
