Down and Dirty(22)

“I’ll get to spend a lot of alone time with her. Not to mention, she’s going to be shining me up some, putting my best foot forward, so to speak. Maybe she’ll find she doesn’t much like the idea of having to send me out into the world of adoring females.”

Galen cracked out a laugh and pushed off the counter. “Good luck with that, man. You’re going to need it. If she’s got her mind made up, it’ll take hell freezing over to change it.” He clapped Shane on the shoulder as he passed on his way back to the living room. “On the real, though? There’s no one I’d rather see her with. You’re my brother already, but it’d be nice to make it legit.”

Shane stayed in the kitchen a minute longer, sawing off a hunk of sandwich he didn’t want and slapping it on a paper plate. Galen’s blessing had lifted that last bit of weight off his chest, leaving him free to do whatever he had to do to get Cat to wake the fuck up and see what was right in front of her. His friend had been dead-on in one respect, though. The thing with a bullheaded woman like Cat was to make her think it was her idea. Best way to do that? Stick with the plan, and let her do the chasing.

He scooped up his plate and a bottled water and was about to join the group when Cat came barreling in, coat in hand.

“If you’re going to drive me then let’s go.” She tapped an exasperated toe on the tile floor.

“What are you talking about?”

“Lacey and I went shopping earlier and came straight back here, so I don’t have my car. Galen was going to take me home, but he said he’s had too much to drink and that you were taking me.”

“Ah, okay. Let me just say my goodbyes and stick this in a to-go bag.”

The toe percussion slowed to a waltz tempo and her annoyed expression faltered. “Did he not even ask you?”

“He didn’t mention it, no, but it’s not a problem. I go right by your place.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I thought you put him up to it.”

“Nope. I would have liked to give it a shot between us, but you clearly have your mind made up, so why waste my time? Come on, I’ll drop you home and we can talk about when we should get together to do this dating site thing. I’m hot to get started.”

He was hot all right. Probably from his pants being on fire after that laundry list of lies he’d just fed her. He refused to feel guilty, though. He was going to wring every last drop out of their time together and hope that deep down she wanted him enough to find she hated the idea of him with someone else.

She seemed to accept what he said at face value and waited by the door while he said his good-byes. A few minutes later, they were in his rental truck and pulling out of the driveway.

“It’s supposed to snow day after tomorrow,” she said, tracing the icy condensation on the passenger window with a gloved fingertip.

“Yeah, I heard that. Glad I bought my parents that snowblower last year. I’ll be able to clear it out quick. Being stuck inside makes me feel caged.”

“Me, too. That’s the worst. Especially on vacation days. I’ve got some things planned that I have to cross off my list, but I may have to fit in a skiing day, too, if it’s looking good out there.”

“Still working off that list, huh?”

The question hung heavy between them, and he wondered if she remembered the night she’d told him about her bucket list as vividly as he did.

It was a Saturday in September. The Indian summer had gifted them with a balmy night, and everyone was hanging by the bonfire in the backyard of Bobby Boyd’s lake house.

Everyone except for Cat.

One minute she was there, the next she was gone. He’d searched the yard for her, then the house, but no luck. He had just started getting worried when he saw Lacey peering toward the lake while chewing her bottom lip.

“Spill it, munchkin,” he demanded.

She looked up in his general direction but wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Spill what?”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking down toward the lake. “Is she with a guy or alone?” He wasn’t sure which answer he wanted to hear at that moment. Both sucked.

Lacey swallowed hard and leaned in to whisper. “Alone. But she told me not to tell you where she was. It’s just, she’s been gone a while and I’m getting nervous.”

Nervousness was an almost perpetual state for Lacey, so that in itself wasn’t cause for concern, but a young woman in the lake at night was. She could swim out too far and get a cramp, or some asshole could take her solitude as an invitation. “I’m going to check on her. And don’t worry. I won’t tell her you said anything.”