Whatever Carson bought, it would be expensive. He was an offensive lineman for the Broncos and could afford some serious bling. “So when is he asking her?”
Lucas lifted his hands, palms facing her. “I’m not making any announcements. I just wanted to point out that when something does happen in the non-specified future, we’re going to be thrown together a lot. It would be nice if you weren’t constantly glaring at me.”
“Pretty soon, then,” she said.
“Is that a yes, you’ll play nice and won’t add any unnecessary drama to their wedding?”
Riley let out an offended cough. “I would never add any unnecessary drama to Olivia’s wedding.” And because she could never resist an easy punchline, she added, “Just the necessary kind.” She snapped her fingers, brainstorming. “I could tell everyone that your car is actually Carson’s so they’ll paint it with wedding messages.”
Lucas snorted. “Good luck selling that story. Everyone knows Carson can afford a better ride than a five-year-old Honda.”
“Fair point,” she said. “Challenge accepted.”
He didn’t laugh. Instead, he fixed her with a frustrated stare.
“I’m just joking.” She held up her hand as though making a pledge. “Should nuptials take place, I will be perfectly civil at all times. I won’t even give an exposé of your faults during the toast.”
“Thanks.” He pressed his lips together again. He had more to say but was thinking better of it. Finally, he nodded a farewell to her. “I’ll see you around.”
After he left, Riley sagged into the chair behind the desk. She was happy for Olivia. She was. But another part of her felt the bitter irony of it. She’d dated a Clark brother first. She’d met Lucas’s family, gone over for Sunday dinner with his parents, and considered what it would be like to tack the name Clarkonto her own. She’d pictured a wedding day surrounded by the Clarks, all of them looking pleased to add her to their tribe.
Now Olivia was going to be part of that family. She was going to have the wedding.
Lucas would be there with some beautiful woman on his arm, and Riley didn’t want to have to smile through the day, pretending it wasn’t painful to see him with someone else.
One thought kept going through her mind:I can’t go to that wedding alone.
She’d have to find some hot, successful man to be her date.
CHAPTER 2
As Lucas walked to his car, Carson rang his phone. With barely a greeting, he asked, “Did you already go to the inn?”
“I’m just leaving now.” Lucas got into his Honda and sat down. “Mr. Ross wasn’t there, so I talked to Riley for a few minutes.”
“How’d that go? Did she take the olive branch from your hand and club you with it?”
An apt metaphor. “I told her it was time to put the past behind us and be friends. She said she would try to get along with me for Olivia’s sake.”
“That’s progress.”
“Yes.” Lucas should’ve felt happy about any sort of progress with Riley. And part of him did. Another part wanted, what? More? Some understanding on her part? That was never going to happen.
And okay, granted, he’d lied to her about meeting Winter. He shouldn’t have done that, but he knew Riley’s opinion of his ex and had been trying to spare her unneeded jealousy. If Winter hadn’t sworn him to secrecy about her situation, Lucas could’ve explained things to Riley, and she would’ve understood. Evenwithout that explanation, though, Riley should’ve trusted him. The months they’d spent together should’ve meant something to her.
Instead, she’d followed him to Winter’s house, assumed he was cheating, and cut him out of her life with the finality of a surgeon removing an unwanted tumor. He deserved better than that.
“Good,” Carson said. “I’ll contact Mr. Ross about buying the place.”
Lucas shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. Just because Riley said she’d try to get along with me doesn’t mean she’d be okay with me as a boss. Maybe you should find someone else to be the manager.”
Lucas was fine with his job as a police officer. He was good at it. But ever since he’d been shot at two months ago, his mother—who lived in town and heard news with lightning speed—was frantic to have him find a different job.
All in all, Lark Springs was a safe place, a small town with only 15,000 residents. The incident had happened when Lucas pulled over a drug dealer who’d come from Bozeman. Things went south as soon as Lucas walked up to the man’s window. If he hadn’t been wearing his vest, he would’ve taken a bullet in the chest. Probably died. Instead, Lucas shot the guy and was put on administrative leave for a week while the department investigated the death.
Lucas tried to explain to his mother that the investigation was standard practice, and he’d been exonerated in the end, but she’d considered it as adding insult to injury.
Carson had come up with a solution he thought was a win-win. Buy an investment property in Lark Springs and hire Lucas to manage it. His brother would pay Lucas more than his police salary, and Lucas wanted to help out his brother. Still, Lucas had a hard time envisioning himself having a long-term career asa hotel manager, worrying about whether rooms were properly vacuumed or the guests had paid their bills.