Chapter 66 Woozy
Whatever the kiss meant, it felt amazing. Hallie raised a hand to her lips as she caught her breath.
“Wow,” she said. She had tried to think of something more interesting to say, but that about summed it up.
Luke had never looked so handsome. Maybe it was because he allowed his vulnerability to show, a tender look in his eyes and a flush on his face. He gazed at her in an astonished way, as if he hadn’t expected her reaction to be so positive.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said.
“Of course you would,” Hallie teased. “How do you know I didn’t mean ‘wow, that was terrible?’”
“I just know,” he said.
“Looks like you’re overconfident as ever.” Hallie kept walking, inviting him to follow her with a glance.
She wanted their relationship to be fun, just like it had been. At the same time she wanted to proceed as carefully as if she was walking on the edge of a pit full of lava.
She didn’t know if the kiss was a mistake, but to make sure her heart survived this, she was going to take things with Luke slower than ever before.
“So, I’ve got a promising candidate for my new assistant,” Luke said, smiling with one corner of his mouth as he seemed to take the cue and rejoined her on the walk.
“Oh, who is it?”
“You may be surprised to know she’s a middle-aged woman, very happily married. I made sure to ask.”
Hallie was glad to hear that news. “Isn’t that an illegal question to ask at a job interview?”
“Yes, but I had to be certain we wouldn’t have another Miss Santer on our hands. I told her I didn’t want my assistant to fall madly in love with me, and she was a good sport about it.”
“Sounds like a promising assistant,” Hallie said.
She was in a happily woozy state, and it was nice not to have to talk about what their relationship was or where they were going.
They walked on, enjoying the day and talking about random topics.
As evening fell, she didn’t regret retreating alone into her little tent. She could still fantasize about Luke as she heard him settling down into his sleeping bag just a few feet away.
Pretty soon the rustling noise ceased, and she could only imagine climbing out of her tent and going into his. He would only be too happy if she climbed on top of him and continued where they left off.
It took everything she had to resist the temptation. This was probably Luke’s plan all along, and she couldn’t play by his rules.
***
THEY SPENT THE NEXT morning on a leisurely ride and then headed back to the ranch, their mission of catching the wild horse accomplished.
As always, Hallie’s parents greeted them with great fanfare, so pleased to have Luke come back for a visit.
They were just making lunch, and Luke went upstairs to change into fresh clothes for the meal.
Hallie realized she had a few messages on her phone, one of them from Jessica:
*Call me! I heard about Andy’s cousin.*
Hallie had dreaded this, but she decided to get the call over with. She shut her bedroom door so no one could hear the conversation.
“I’m calling you like you asked,” she began, “but I don’t want to talk about how awful Luke is.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re still seeing him through rose-colored glasses,” Jessica said. “Can you believe how he treated that poor woman? Seriously, you need to stay away from that Luke. He’s bad news.”
Now was definitely not the time to confess that she had actually kissed him.
“Don’t you think maybe Andy’s cousin overreacted?” Hallie asked.
“No, I think Luke led her on like he always does, and he broke her heart.”
“That’s very dramatic.”
“You’re starting to sound like him,” Jessica accused.
“I am not!”
“Ever since you met him, you’ve changed into a different person.”
“Maybe I like the change,” Hallie said. “I told you that night when I first met Luke, I don’t want to be the good girl anymore.”
“I didn’t know you were serious about it.” Jessica’s voice grew more and more tense. Hallie didn’t want the conversation to upset her friend, but she was getting too riled up herself.
“So what if I was serious?”
“Then I’d ask you to reconsider.”
Hallie took a deep breath, trying to hold back from yelling. When she spoke, it came out even worse because it was obvious she was holding back a lot of irritation. “I am just about sick and tired of people telling me what to do, especially when it comes to my love life.”
“Just don’t come crying to me when he pulls one of his stunts and you’re the one left sad and broken-hearted,” Jessica replied heatedly.
“Oh, I won’t! I don’t need someone to tell me ‘I told you so’.”
She hung up before she could say anything else in anger. Their friendship had been so solid up until now, and this was the biggest fight they had ever had.
Was she about to lose her best friend? If Jessica couldn’t respect who she was as a person, maybe they couldn’t be friends anymore.
Hallie just hoped never to have this conversation again, tired of people trying to protect her as if she was still some misguided teenager. She also hoped Luke wouldn’t screw everything up.
She remembered that strange look that passed between Luke and Terry the other day, and she wondered if something was going on after all.
She decided to get it out of Terry, no matter what.