He stared at the painting, the truth smacking him upside the head. “I’m in love with her.”
Absolute silence came back. Which would’ve been frightening, except, as Chance glanced around at their faces, every one of the guys was grinning from ear to ear.
Cody shook his head in disbelief. “You say that as if it’s a surprise.”
The fact parts of Chance’s brain were still tumbling into comprehension was enough to keep his mouth shut. He’d known she was special. Known he wanted more.
Love? Of course it was love.
Thankfully, not one of the men around him seemed upset by how quickly he had fallen. To the contrary, the guys shoved him ahead at full force.
“Now the question remains, what do you do about it?” Tucker raised a brow. “It’s time to be decisive. Take action.”
The repeat of his earlier words made Chance grin. “I’ll get right on that. Suggestions?”
“Buy a big bouquet of flowers, go down on one knee, and spill the beans.” Cody shrugged. “Works in the movies.”
“Do you suggest I buy the flowers from her and have her wondering what I’m doing, or piss her off by buying them elsewhere?” Chance asked dryly. He considered again. “You really think I should bring flowers to a woman who owns a flower shop?”
Finn shrugged. “I bring horse-related things to a woman who loves horses all the time. It seems logical.”
“Kelli wants me to do things with her,” Luke volunteered.
His comment was greeted by a chorus of masculine hoots.
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, not that. Jerks. I mean, yes that, but also other than sex. Love languages, that sort of thing. Some people like gifts; some like acts of service. You know. Plus, Kelli likes when I let her do the things she wants to do.”
Tucker’s grin widened ever more. “You were doing well there for a minute then veered right back into amusing territory.”
Luke threw his empty beer can at Tucker’s head. “Ass.”
“But he’s right.” Cody looked thoughtful. “If you’re serious about this, figuring out what makes Rose tick is important.”
“She bought me one year,” Zach offered unhelpfully. “At the bachelor auction, I mean.”
Just the mention of it made Chance’s blood heat. “Your point? And I’d tread carefully if I were you.”
The other man’s cheerful visage never wavered. “She bought me so I could dance with her at a wedding.” A dramatic sigh escaped him. “Then she politely manoeuvred it so there was zero chance for a good-night kiss, and she pretty much hit on my car.”
Chance was lost. “Your car? What the feck are you talking about, mate?”
“Delilah,” Zach said brightly. “I’ll let you meet her later if you’d like.”
“Just don’t expect to get to drive her,” Finn said blandly. “Mind if I interpret my best friend’s not-so-solid attempt at reassuring you?”
“Someone should,” Cody complained.
Despite his frustrations, despite the change of everything in his life and the uncertainty of the one thing he was really hoping for, Chance had to admit this was entertaining and satisfying. These men, this night, being so easily accepted into their midst.
Zach’s words suddenly made sense as Chance’s brain worked out the puzzle. “Let me take a stab. You’re saying Rose is a woman who knows her mind. She won’t be pushed by rote or ritual into simply saying yes if she doesn’t want to.”
“Exactly.” Zach leaned forward. “So why don’t you just be yourself and tell her what you’re hoping for?”
Be himself. It was a shockingly simple solution.
One that would take hours and hours to actually follow through on, but hopefully in the end, it would succeed in convincing Rose what she’d come to mean to him.
Chance enjoyed the rest of the evening, albeit a little distractedly. But the instant the last of his new friends left the studio, he pulled out a canvas and went to work.
