I frowned at him. “That sounds dangerously like a bet.”
His smile grew impossibly wider, and I was a goner. “Not a bet. Not even a dare. Just two people promising we’ll be on our best behavior with a penalty clause in place. I’ll even keep the temptation down to a minimum—I promise not to walk around in my boxer briefs.”
Just the thought hit me low and hard in my core, proving just how stupid it was to even consider the idea. I was proud when my voice sounded steady when I replied, “I need some time to think about it.”
“Fair enough. But you know how Delilah works, and I can almost guarantee the news has already spread through town.”
“You should have thought of that before you lied without consulting me first,” I bit back. “Besides, no one is going to believe we’re in love. I doubt Nattingly or the city council members are going to buy this engagement thing, even if you tell them you proposed.”
Beckett frowned. “What’s love got to do with it?”
My heart ached, this time for Beckett. For the damage his mother and Liza had done long before Delilah had pounded the last nail in the coffin.
Before I could respond, the radio on his chest squawked. Smoke had been spotted outside town. Beckett was already sprinting toward the captain’s rig he’d driven to the hospital as he tossed back, “We’ll finish the conversation later.”
“Please be careful!” I yelled.
“Always,” he promised before disappearing into the truck, hitting the lights, and tearing out of the lot.
While I wouldn’t ever say I was grateful for a fire, I was grateful for thedistraction. If Beckett had stayed any longer, he would have pushed, and I would have agreed without really weighing all the pros and cons.
Could I live with the real cost of this arrangement? To my pride, in letting my friend dig me out of a hole once again? To my heart and soul, who were already halfway in love with my friend? Would those costs be worth the chance to pay Beckett back for all he’d already done for me? Or would it eat away the last pieces of me so there was nothing left?
? ? ?
I’d just sunk back into Titan’s saddle, after executing a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree pirouette with my lasso in the air, when Fallon’s voice rang out from the fence.
“Is there something you forgot to tell me, your supposedbestfriend?”
The dust our practice had stirred up mingled with sunshine as it crested over the hills as I led Titan over to the fence. Fallon climbed up onto the rail, ready for her day at the ranch in worn jeans, a sleeveless plaid button-down, a beat-up cowboy hat, and boots that had seen the better side of a decade.
Titan whinnied a greeting at her, and Fallon slid a hand over my horse’s muzzle before shooting me a glare.
“Unless I did something in my sleep last night after you saw me at the hospital, I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
She’d come by briefly to see Dad and me, but an emergency at the ranch with the upcoming Fourth of July festivities had drawn her away before I could even think of telling her about the rest of my day. And that was when understanding hit me.
My stomach fell just as she exclaimed, “You’re engaged to Beckett!”
“Fallon—”
“You didn’t even tell me you were dating. Neither of you even hinted at it the other night at Frank’s. If anyone can understand how enormous it feels to finally get the one person you’ve always wanted to be yours, it’s me. So why wouldn’t you tell me?” she demanded.
Fallon had loved Parker from the time she was a kid, but a promise he’d made to their fathers had prevented him from starting anything with her. It wasn’t until her life had been threatened that he’d finally realized what he had to lose. Once he’d woken up, he’d claimed her as his and never let go.
But the happily ever after Fallon had found wasn’t ever going to be mine.
“It’s not like that,” I told her softly.
“When Andie was at the Emporium last night, that’s all anyone was talking about.”
Well, hell, Delilah really had worked quickly.
My mouth went dry as panic tried to take over. Not because I was the center of a Swift Rivers rumor, but because of what it meant. I was stuck. The decision had been taken out of my hands. No way would I humiliate Beckett by denying what he’d told her.
But what Beckett hadn’t realized yet was, to convince the city council our engagement was genuine, we would have to act like an actual couple. He’d teased about not touching, promised we’d keep our hands off, but exactly how would that work in public? How would we convince everyone we had real feelings for each otherandkeep our distance?
All the questions and worries that had kept me awake last night slammed back into me. I’d been trying to keep my feelings for Beckett at bay for so long that just the thought of pretending to be in love was enough to make me hyperventilate.