Chapter Seven
By Monday when she went to work, Letty still hadn’t figured out what was going on with her and Riley.
What’s more, she didn’t know what she wanted to happen.
She needed to talk to someone. A woman who wasn’t Riley’s sister.
It wouldn’t be fair to talk to Val any more than she already had.
She knew her best friend and she suspected Val was dreaming of weddings and babies.
After all, what could be better than the brother Val loved and her best friend getting married?
Even though she knew Letty’s feelings about getting serious with anyone, she still believed in the fairy tale.
Who could blame her since Val’s own story had a fairy-tale ending?
Late that morning, Letty’s friend Cici McFarland came into the library. Cici wrote thrillers under the name Cici Bradley and had married Logan McFarland, who was a doctor at the hospital. She was one of Letty’s favorite authors and had become a good friend since she moved to Marietta.
“Can you get away for a quick lunch?” Cici asked after they’d greeted each other.
“Having problems with the book or just need to talk about it?” Cici liked to talk to Letty sometimes when she was dreaming up a new plot or was stuck. Since Letty was a librarian who loved to read, Cici said she loved brainstorming with her.
“Hey, that’s not the only reason I ever ask you out to lunch. Maybe I just wanted to see you.”
Maybe not the only reason, but often. “Okay. Where do you want to go?”
“Is Grey’s okay with you?”
“Sure.”
It was cold but they decided to walk anyway, since parking near Grey’s wasn’t always easy. “So, what’s been going on?” Letty asked Cici.
“I heard a rumor and wanted to ask you about it.”
“Let me guess. It’s something about me and Riley.”
“Of course it is. You can’t kiss someone in full view of the town, at the Stroll yet, and expect no one to talk about it.”
“Oh, the mistletoe kiss. All right, I’ll tell you about it when we get to Grey’s.” That made it easy for Letty to bring up what she wanted to discuss.
They found a booth, and both ordered a salad but they decided to split an order of fries.
“I think Grey’s has better French fries than almost anyone else in town,” Letty said and Cici agreed.
Cici waited until they’d ordered to pounce on Letty. “Okay, tell. What’s going on with you and Riley?”
“Nothing, yet.”
“That kiss didn’t sound like nothing from how I heard it described. I can’t believe I missed it.”
“True. It uh, kind of took me by surprise.” Not totally since the first time Riley kissed her had been pretty amazing as well. “Riley says he wants to date me.”
“Oh, yum.”
“Hey, you’re supposed to be happily married to a hunk.”
Cici laughed. “I am. But I have eyes.”
The server brought their food, which should have given Letty time to figure out what to say. But it didn’t.
“Riley is—” She hesitated, not sure how to describe him. Hot? Handsome? Yummy?
“Mighty fine,” Cici replied. “What did you say? Are you going to?”
“Probably.” Definitely, if she was sure he was okay with the fact that she wasn’t prepared for anything serious. “It just seems out of the blue.”
“Not if Thanksgiving is anything to go by. Riley was watching you the whole time. Even Logan noticed and he’s usually oblivious to things like that.”
She told Cici what had happened, including Riley ruining her effort to have a one-night stand and the kiss he’d given her afterwards. “That was the first time I realized he might actually be interested in me.”
Cici took a fry and dipped it in ketchup before popping it in her mouth. “Are you attracted to him?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you’d be crazy not to be. That is one hot cowboy.”
“Yeah. I’m not crazy.”
Cici clapped her hands together. “This is going to be fun.”
Cici hadn’t known Letty forever. She knew Letty’s parents had died when she was in high school and that she’d lived with the Fletchers, but she didn’t know, and even Val only suspected, that losing her parents when she was so young had left a permanent void in her life.
So much so that she was determined not to chance having anyone mean that much to her again. Certainly not a man.
“I think he wants more than I’m willing to give.”
“Meaning you just want to have fun?”
“Yes. But if he expects more it’s not going to happen.”
“You’re absolutely sure about that?”
“Yes. I have reasons. Good reasons.”
Luckily Cici didn’t probe any further. Drumming her fingers on the table, her friend said, “Tell him. Be up-front about what you want. That way it’s up to him to decide if that’s enough for him or not.”
“I already did that. He’s thinking about it. But I’m afraid he doesn’t believe I mean what I say.”
“Put a time limit on your fling. Unless you’re afraid you’ll fall for him.”
Was she? Was that why she was hesitating? “You don’t think I’m crazy not to want more?”
“You’re a grown woman. If you don’t want to commit that’s your business. You know yourself well enough to be sure of what you want, don’t you?”
She’d always thought so, but Riley Fletcher had never been in the picture before.
*
Riley was tied up with work for the next couple of days but as soon as he thought he could manage some free time, he called Letty. “Did you get invited to the Gallaghers’ Christmas party Friday night?” He figured she had since he’d heard the invitations included half the town.
“Yes, why?”
“Do you want to go together?”
“That depends. Did you think about what I said?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re okay with it?”
“Not really. But if that’s the way you want it, I’ll deal.
” In reality, he wasn’t at all ‘okay with it’ but he meant to do everything he could to change her mind.
For one thing, he still couldn’t figure out what made her so adamant about not getting involved.
Or serious. But as far as he knew she never had been, unless it was with the cowboy who’d broken her heart if gossip was right.
Riley didn’t think so, but he honestly didn’t know.
Still, maybe she had a point. Maybe he was rushing things, at least in his mind.
They didn’t know each other all that well.
Honestly, they never had. He’d been grown when she came to live with the family and she’d been a teenager, still in high school.
At that time, there’d been no way he and Letty would get together. Which he’d made clear. Then.
Now as a different matter. Maybe they weren’t compatible, although he thought they were.
He’d thought of her as Val’s friend until it had been borne in on him that there was a lot more to Letty than he’d allowed himself to see.
Val’s wedding had opened his eyes to the fact that Letty was not only grown up, but also very attractive.
He couldn’t figure out how it had taken him so long to realize it.
“What does that mean? You’ll deal with it?”
“It means don’t expect me not to try to change your mind.”
“I won’t change my mind so if that’s what you’re hoping you’ll be out of luck.”
“We’ll see.”
“You have until New Year’s. We can date over the holidays but then it’s over.”
“That’s crazy. What if we’re still enjoying being together?” What if they’d both fallen in love? “We’re going to call it quits because of some arbitrary date?”
“It’s a holiday thing. That means it’s over once the holidays are over. Or if that doesn’t work for you, we can just forget about it right now.”
“I don’t want to forget it. Damn, Letty, I had no idea you were so hard-nosed.”
“Clearly you don’t know me very well.”
He decided to change the subject. “Will you go with me to the party?”
“Yes. But Riley, it’s just a date. It’s not a commitment.”
“Understood. I’ll pick you up around seven on Friday.”
Blossom, one of his dogs, nudged his hand, demanding to be petted.
He scratched behind her ears, smiling at her blissful expression.
Too bad Letty wasn’t that easy. He needed a plan.
A plan of how to make Letty fall in love with him.
She was adamant about not being serious, but Riley had persistence down to an art.
He had until New Year’s to change her mind.
*
Riley had to admit when Letty wanted to she could really kill it in the looks department. He’d always thought she was pretty. Lately he’d been thinking of her as beautiful. But damn, he hadn’t realized until he saw her dressed for a party how absolutely stunning she could look.
She wore a sparkly black wraparound dress with a low neckline and a short hemline.
Tasteful but sexy as sin. The strappy black sandals she wore made her legs look longer.
Her short hair was a messy pixie cut, the same style she always wore it, but tonight she’d added sparkly red streaks.
Red beaded earrings hung from her ears, she’d done something to her eyes so they looked extra dark and mysterious, and her mouth was painted fire engine red.
He almost swallowed his tongue when she answered the door.
“Let me get my coat,” she said. When Riley stood there dumbfounded, she asked, “Are you okay?”
“You look…you look incredible.” Amazing, gorgeous, sexy, he couldn’t think how to describe her that did her justice. Had she always looked this good, and he’d been too stupid to notice?
“Thanks.”
He helped her on with her coat and they walked to his truck. When he opened the door Letty simply stared without moving. “Damn, I forgot you were—”
“Short? Vertically challenged? It wouldn’t be a problem if I wasn’t wearing a dress and heels.”
“You look beautiful. I’ll help you.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “You just want to get your hands on my ass.”
He laughed. “How about I pick you up and put you in there?”
“Okay.”
He put his hands on her waist, picked her up, and set her on the seat. “I forget how tiny you are.” His hands could span her waist.
“Lucky for you. Although, given what you do for a living, one small female shouldn’t be a problem.”
“You could never be a problem.”
Neither one spoke until they’d left town on the way to the Gallagher ranch. “What?” he asked Letty. She was looking at him like he was an alien species.
“You’ve never been like this before. Not to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re being so nice. Telling me I look beautiful—”
“You do. What’s so strange about that?”
“I haven’t transitioned from old friends to dating. It’s weird.”
“Weird bad?”
“No. I’m not used to it, is all.”
He had to bite his tongue to keep from telling her to get used to it.
What did it say about him that Letty found it weird when he was nice to her?