Elliot #3
Rhonan tosses the dish towel on the counter between us, resting his palms on the marble surface. “I don’t blame you, and neither does Vienna. No one could have prepared for what Cole was going to do.”
“Still. If I had just broken attorney-client privilege and let you know what was going on, you could have seen the writing on the wall.”
“And if you did, how would that have made you feel? Going against an oath that you swore to?”
I lean back slightly and push my hand through my hair that I messed up long before I arrived at this house. “Not sure if it would be better or worse than I feel right now.”
Rhonan lifts a brow in my direction. “Is it just the Vienna thing that’s got you all messed up, or is it something else?”
I flash him a deadpan stare. “Just come out with it. You know you want to.”
He sighs and looks me dead in the eye. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Fletcher, and Henley, obviously. But Elliot, I don’t think you’re thinking this through.”
“I’ve got a handle on this thing with Dilynne, all right? It’s just pretend. It’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, not sure about that, Elliot. I’m not blind, and if you’re not going to acknowledge what happened at The Charming Bull a few months ago, then I will.”
“What are you talking about?”
He laughs. “All right, you wanna play stupid with me? Then fine.” He taps the marble in front of him. “You went out that night to make sure that your dick wasn’t broken, remember?”
“Yes…”
“And you found out it wasn’t.”
“Correct.”
“But it only perked up when Dilynne was on the bull, right?”
My jaw tightens. “I don’t recall.”
Rhonan chuckles. “You and I both know your poker face sucks.”
I toss my hands in the air. “Fine. Yeah, watching her ride the bull made me feel something downstairs, okay? You happy now?”
Surprisingly, he shakes his head. “No, I’m not fucking happy, Elliot. This means that the game you two are playing is going to end in disaster.”
“No, it’s not. That night? It was just a fluke. It hasn’t happened since, all right?”
“Again, you suck at lying. I hope to God you haven’t ever had to lie in court because there’s no way you’d be convincing enough.”
I groan while reaching up to bury my face in my hand. “What do you want me to say?”
“That you’re feeling something for someone you never thought you would, and it’s scaring the shit out of you.”
When I lift my head, I meet his eyes. “Fine. That’s exactly what I’m feeling.”
Rhonan’s brows lift. “Wow. Okay. Finally, now we’re getting somewhere.”
“But nothing is going to happen because one, it’s fucking Dilynne. And two, that’s the last thing I want.”
“Why does it matter if it’s Dilynne?” he asks, catching me by surprise.
“You’re joking, right? The woman hates me.”
“Yeah, I don’t think she does.”
“And what makes you say that?”
“Because I know how much she’s been checking on you over the past year.”
My stomach drops and my heart begins to race. “What? How?”
He taps his temple. “I’m a sheriff, Elliot. I patrol this town at all hours of the day.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. Plus, Laney kind of let it slip one night when she was drinking at the winery with me and my dad. She swore us to secrecy, but she really loved how Dilynne wanted to make sure you weren’t going to let this derail your entire life.”
I roll my bottom lip between my teeth as I contemplate my reply. “I told her to stop, but…”
“It’s Dilynne. She doesn’t know how to listen,” Rhonan finishes for me.
I laugh. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“So how serious are these feelings?”
“You mean my hard-ons?” I ask sarcastically.
Rhonan shrugs. “Sure, those too.”
“My feelings are…” Annoying. Complicated. Irrational. “I don’t know what they are, honestly. I just know that she doesn’t annoy me as much as she used to, and she interests me more now that I know her a bit better.”
“Okay. How so?”
“Well, part of the reason she suggested this little ruse is because she has to face her ex, Vinnie, at Motorlux, and wanted a buffer, kind of like what she’s doing for me with Tori.”
Recognition dawns on Rhonan’s face. “Oh, that makes much more sense.”
His words make me perk up in my seat. “Why’s that?”
“Oh, that piece of shit did a number on her,” he continues.
I scratch the side of my head. “I’m trying to remember him, but…I think I only met him once.”
Rhonan nods. “Yeah, probably. She dated him when you were in your last year of law school and doing that internship in Charlotte. You weren’t around much.”
“Aw, okay. That timing lines up.”
“But she took the breakup pretty hard.”
“I find that hard to believe. That woman doesn’t let anyone tear her down.”
“This guy did, though. It was…bad, Elliot.”
Something about the tone of his voice makes this anger build inside of me on Dilynne’s behalf. “Well, now you know why she’d suggest something like this.”
He nods. “Yes, now I get it. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need to be careful—because until you know just exactly what you’re feeling, you need to keep this strictly platonic.”
“Not sure that’s going to be a problem for her.”
“I’m not talking about her, Elliot. I’m talking about you.”