Timing (259 page)

looking to let my fingers touch the end of the bolo tie he was wearing.

“And this is a nice touch. Only you could get away with an Armani

Tuxedo and this instead of a bow tie. It’s very you.”

He turned to me.

“What?” I chuckled, my voice dropping low. “You know you’re

the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

His stunned expression that I knew I caused sent fluttering heat

all through me.

“Guys,” the photographer called out.

I moved fast, closer to the others, leaning in, letting out a breath.

“You.”

I looked back over at him.

“It’s hard to keep my hands… off.” The muscles in his jaw

clenched. “Can’t leave you alone… won’t.”

My head turned back to the photographer quickly as I heard Rand

take a sharp breath. It was satisfying to know that I was the cause of the

man’s inability to make his lungs work.

“Stefan Joss, you better be smiling,” Charlotte warned me from

where she was standing in front and to the side of me, unable to see

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what I was doing, as we were separated by many aunts, uncles, and

cousins. “I don’t want any of that arty-angsty bullshit.”

“I’m smiling,” I said as a warm hand slid over my ass. “I swear I

am.”

Her grunt made everyone laugh.

IT WASN’T a wedding, it was a triathlon. There was bride and groom

dancing, and speeches, bride and uncle dancing, groom and mother

dancing, and every other special spotlight dance you could think of,

then dinner, and then more dancing, cake cutting, cake eating, garter

catching, bouquet tossing, and even more dancing. Christ. It was meant

to be endured, not enjoyed, as far as I could tell. The slide show was

cute, and all the speeches were good, even mine, but really, after the

fifth hour of celebration, I was done. The ceremony had been at six,

and it was eleven, and everyone was still partying,

“You havin’ a good time, Stef?” Nick asked me as he walked up

beside me.

I made a conscious decision to lie. “Yep.”

“Goddamn,” he breathed out, draining the last drops out of his

Heineken bottle. “This has gotta be the best wedding I’ve ever been to,

including my own.”

It probably had a lot to do with the open bar, the horde of people

still there, and the packed dance floor. I had done hardly any dancing

myself, as Charlotte had put me in charge of the photographer, the

videographer, and coordinating with the catering staff. As a result, I

was busy while everyone else was playing. I consoled myself with the

fact that as her faith in me was absolute, she was free to enjoy her

special night. Since there was no special dance for best friends, I really

wasn’t missing anything except for Rand.

I needed to put some mark on the man so that every woman in

attendance would know that they had no chance with him. The problem

was that after our earlier flirting, the man had not looked for me once.

Every time I breezed into the room, he had a different woman hanging

all over him. He did a lot of slow dancing, flirting, and even had each

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and every one of Charlotte’s bridesmaids in his lap at one point in the

evening. While logically I knew that being jealous was a ridiculous

waste of time, I found that the murderous rage that rose up in me didn’t

respond to reason at all. I was so flustered that I didn’t hear Charlotte’s

mom call my name, making her have to grab hold of me as I tried to

streak by her.

“Oh—sorry.” I forced a smile, taking a quick breath.

“Honey, since Rand’s leaving shortly, do you think that you can

give Tyler and me a ride back to the house in Charlotte’s car?”

“Rand’s leaving?” I was surprised, since I was supposed to be

going with him when he left. “When did he—is he gone?”

“No,” she said gently, pointing over my shoulder. “Not yet, but

he’s leaving with Jenny, and I think they’re about ready to go.”

I turned around, and there was Rand holding hands with a woman

I had never met.

“Isn’t that his ex-wife?” Ben asked as he walked up beside me,

one arm thrown across my shoulders to steady himself.

“Yes, Benjamin, it is,” May Holloway chuckled, patting her new

son-in-law on the back.

“She wasn’t on my half of the guest list,” he informed her.

“I asked Charlotte to include her,” she explained. “She and Rand

parted on good terms, and she was a part of our family, even if it was

for a very short time.”

“Is she visiting or what?” Ben asked as he turned to her.

“I have no idea,” she sighed, “but from the looks of things, I’d say

maybe she’s going to stay a spell.”

“Hey, lady.” Ben’s smile was out of control as he looked at his

wife’s mother. “You wanna cut a rug with me?”

She laughed at him. “Absolutely.”

I watched Ben crook his arm for his new mother-in-law, and after

she took it and he led her away, I was free to look at Rand and his ex-

wife.

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Jenny Holloway was beautiful, and no one had ever mentioned

that fact before. She could have been a model with her height, her long,

thick brown hair, and cornflower blue eyes. Her dimples were deep, her

skin creamy and flawless, and her curves were accentuated by the fitted

dress she wore. If I had been asked to conjure up the perfect woman for

Rand Holloway, she would have been it. When she laughed and wiped

some frosting off his upper lip with her fingers, I understood that she

would be the one in the man’s bed later. It was almost a relief when my

phone rang. I answered as I turned away from the dance floor.

“Stefan Joss?”

“Yes?”

“This is Gracie Freeman.”

I sighed as I ducked under the tent and started across the grounds.

It was cooler away from the crowd of people. “Hey there, Mrs.

Freeman.” I smiled into my phone. It was nice of her to call and remind

me that I had a life beyond ranches and cowboys, a life that I would be

returning to in the next forty-eight hours. “How are you, ma’am?”

“I’m sorry to call so late, Stefan, but I had to speak to you.”

“No, it’s fine,” I assured her. “What’s on your mind, ma’am?”

She took a breath. “Could you come by and see me first thing

tomorrow morning instead of waiting until Monday?”

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes and no… would you come?”

“’Course,” I yawned. “Whatever you need.”

“Really?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I assured her. “What time would you like me?”

“Nine?”

“Absolutely, I’ll see you at nine.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” she breathed out. “Thank you, Stefan.”

“May I ask what you’ve decided to do?”

“Yes… I’m going to sell you the ranch. I spoke to my neighbors

today, and they were all very persuasive.”

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“Oh, why do I not like the sound of that?”

“No, no,” she chuckled. “No one is threatening me—no one

would do that.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t sound pleased.”

“I’m pleased,” I sighed. “I’m just surprised.”

“So was I, really.”

“Well, I’ll see you in the morning, ma’am.”

“I’ll see you then, Stefan.”

After I hung up the phone, I took a deep breath before calling my

boss. He didn’t pick up, so I left a message and gave him the good

news. I called him out on his lie about other people going to see Mrs.

Freeman as well.

“You didn’t have to make up shit to make me go see the nice

lady,” I scolded him, laughing at the same time. “You could’ve just told

me the truth—you know I would have done it anyway. I’ve known you

over four years, Knox; I would hope you’d know me better by now.”

When I finished, I turned around to look back at the party tent. I

was surprised to find Rand standing there, staring at me. He looked

good, all rumpled from his evening. His shirt sleeves were unbuttoned,

his collar undone; giving a glimpse of the white T-shirt underneath, and

the thick, glossy black hair had fallen into his eyes. He looked like he’d

been ravished, and that thought made my mouth go dry.

“Was it your idea to drive my mom and uncle home?”

The question, so casually spoken, was illuminating for me

because in that moment I understood with absolute clarity what I meant

to Rand Holloway.

Instead of just simply going with what he had been told, instead

of accepting things at face value, Rand was checking. We had a plan,

and as far as he knew, I was changing it because of what his mother

had said. I thought he wanted to change it because he had been holding

his ex-wife’s hand earlier. Both of us were making assumptions. But

just before everything blew up, just before we fell back into old habits

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of thinking that we knew what was going on in the other guy’s head,

right before everything ended… he was checking.

“No,” I called over to him. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“Okay.”

“And Jenny?” I asked.

He cleared his throat. “Jenny came to make sure I was okay…

she’s gettin’ remarried.”

Oh. “Your mother thought you guys wanted to be alone… she

thought you were leaving early. She asked me to drive her and Tyler

back to the house.”

He nodded, hands shoved down into the pockets of his tuxedo

pants.

“So I guess I’ll give your Mom Charlotte’s keys and you can run

me back over there tonight so I can grab my stuff and pick up the rental

car.”

His gaze on me was unwavering.

“Would that be all right?”

“Yep,” he agreed, digging the toe of his boot into the dirt. I had to

love a man in a tuxedo and polished cowboy boots. Not many could

pull it off. “That sounds about right.”

“I’ll look for you after Charlotte and Ben leave.”

“Good,” he said, turning to go.

And just like that, everything was back on course. “Rand.”

He looked over his shoulder at me.

“Thanks for making sure what was going on. I wouldn’t have.”

“I know,” he said solemnly, changing his mind about leaving,

instead crossing the twenty feet or so of yard separating us.

I waited as he closed in on me, wondering about the scowl on his

face. “Why’re you mad? I’m not mad, and I’m the one that should be.”

He stopped inches from me, so close that I had to take a step

back, or would have, if he hadn’t grabbed hold of my arm to keep me

there.

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“Rand?”

“Why should you be mad, and why would you just go ahead and

assume the worst of me? I’m the one who should be mad at you for

thinking whatcha did.”

“Oh?” I snapped back at him, irritated now, rolling my shoulder

so he had to let go or hold tighter. “And what exactly did I do?”

His hand tightened as he took another step closer, and I had no

recourse but to tip my head back to meet his gaze. The man was big,

and it was not the time that I wanted to be reminded.

“You don’t just go round thinkin’ the worst of people, Stef. That

dog don’t hunt.”

It took me a minute. “What?”

“You know what I mean!” he growled at me, his other hand

moving to the back of my head, fisting in my hair. “Don’t just think

bad shit about me, I ain’t a bad man.”

Somewhere in the evening between me thinking he wanted out of

our previously agreed-on plans and his ex-wife telling him she was

getting remarried, Rand had been reminded that he could be an asshole.

“No, you’re not a bad man,” I said, putting my hands on his hips,

sliding them up under his rumpled, untucked tuxedo shirt to the hot

skin and rippling muscles underneath. “And I am sorry I didn’t come

ask you what was going on. I do assume the worst, always have. It’s a

terrible habit. I’ll work on it… forgive me.”

I felt the muscles clenching under my wandering hands, heard his

breath falter, saw the way he was looking at me, like I was food.

“I thought maybe you wanted Jenny’s legs wrapped around you in

bed,” I murmured, taking a breath before I leaned forward and kissed

the pulsing vein on the side of his neck. “But I’m thinkin’ now it’s me

you want under you… am I right? I’m just checking.”

He didn’t answer. He grabbed me instead, crushing me against

him, his face buried in my shoulder, arms like steel wrapping me up. I

had my answer.

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Long minutes later, he let me go and followed me back into the

tent. I didn’t worry that anyone would have thought the embrace odd. It

was a wedding, after all, which all manner of weirdness could be

attributed to. Being overly emotional or drunk covered a multitude of

hallucinations. No one would have thought twice about Rand Holloway