Earlier, when he appeared in the kitchen, wearing only a towel, he’d almost sent my heart into arrhythmia. From the ease with which he had talked with Gertie as if nothing was out of the ordinary, it seemed like a common enough occurrence. If only I had Gertie’s immunity, though. How anyone didn’t drool upon seeing this man naked was beyond me.
I blinked. “Oops, sorry. Thinking about…” How you would taste if I licked your abs? “Wedding plans.”
“How’s it coming along?”
How could he look so casual, so unaffected after where his mouth had been on my body? Men didn’t dwell too much on who they slept with, but damn, I would have preferred it if our encounter had been an unforgettable experience for him.
“Good. The last couple of days, I’ve gone through what I’ll need to do. Starting tomorrow, I’ll put the plans into action.”
Gray walked behind me where I sat on the sofa and bent his head so his mouth was next to my neck. Tingles cascaded down my spine, and I struggled to keep my eyes focused on the wedding invitation designs.
His breath warmed my skin. Still, I shivered. He was wearing cologne—a rich, woodsy scent—that I wanted to inhale deeply. His lips grazed my cheek. I jerked my head around and stiffened. Why was he so close?
“Are those the wedding invitations?”
“Ye-es.” I cleared my throat. “I have to finalize them by tomorrow so I can send them to those who are coming from out of town, like my parents and my friends back home. Then I’ll have to print a batch for the people you want to invite from here.”
“It’s your wedding. You should invite whomever you want, not me.”
“And I will, but this is a small town with people who are close to the family, yes? I think it’s a good idea to invite them, but I don’t know who they are. Can I rely on you to help me with the guest list?”
“What about Carter? He should have some say in this, shouldn’t he?”
I’d called him, but his phone had been off all day, so I’d contacted one of his friends who had come with him on his trip. According to Seth, Carter was out with the others, but I could have sworn I’d heard him in the background. Seth must not haverelayed my message to Carter to call me as soon as possible, because I was still waiting for his call.
“If I left the plans to Carter, the wedding might not happen at all.” My heart skipped a beat, then raced as if to make up for it. The words hung in the air, heavy and raw. I gave a nervous laugh. “Just kidding.”
But it was true, wasn’t it? Besides buying me a too-expensive ring, what else had he done since proposing? He’d set the date, agreed to let his father pay for the wedding so he didn’t have to spend a dime, and then he’d booked a trip to the Caribbean. Would the wedding really not happen if I didn’t get things done?
“If you can’t decide, why don’t you choose one for the physical invitations and the other for the e-save-the-date cards?”
Damn, maybe instead of calling Carter, I could run my ideas by Gray. He’d actually given it some thought.
“Not bad. That’s actually fantastic. Saves me the trouble of deciding.”
“Glad that’s settled.” He straightened, and I missed his scent, even if it sent my pulse rate out of whack. “Why don’t you give the plans a break and go for a drive with me?”
“A drive? Where?”
“I need to drop by Lawson’s ranch to find out how his cattle are doing. They got a case of brucellosis I’m hoping doesn’t spread. He doesn’t need this on his plate.”
“Is that bad, then?”
“One of the worst fears of a rancher.”
“Oh no. I hope his cattle will be all right. He was so kind to me the first time I came here.”
“You can see for yourself. Put off all the planning for later and come with me. On the way back, we can stop in town and go see a movie in the drive-in.”
“Drive-in?”
“We don’t have a traditional cinema, but there’s a drive-in a few times per month. There’s a movie on tonight.”
A drive-in movie sounded so good. When was the last time I’d been out to see a movie? Carter preferred parties and clubs, so I usually tagged along or stayed home and watched Netflix. My experience with drive-in movies was of steamy kisses and fumbles during high school. Sitting so close to Gray in a car for two hours might not be a good idea.
Opie seemed like a barrel of laughs and good times. I would have liked to see him again, but not at the expense of spending the evening alone with Gray. Ending up in the barn together was all fate, but I would be courting trouble by going off with him, knowing how he made me feel.
“I really shouldn’t, but give my best to Lawson and Opie.”
