hair?”
“No.” Slate closed his eyes. “Faith is Hope’s twin sister.”
“Twin sister?” Sam’s laughter rang out. “That’s a good one, Slate. You can sure come up with ’em.”
“I’m being serious, Sam.”
The laughter died. “Now, Slate, I realize that Hope’s puttin’ all kinds of pressure on you to get her car back. But you need to be as tough with her as you are with your team. In fact, women are a lot like teenagers. They don’t know what’s good for them unless you show them. So take the bull by the horns, boy, and show that girl that the best thing for her is stayin’ right here in Bramble and marryin’ you. And tell Hope not to worry about her car because I got it in a real safe place. Although once you two get hitched, I’d be buyin’ her an American-made if I was you. Vole-Vo. What the hell is that?”
The phone clicked.
There were times when Slate considered moving to a bigger town. One where people kept their nose to the grindstone instead of up their neighbor’s ass. This was one of those times.
He closed the phone and slipped it in the breast pocket of his shirt as Faith’s eyes remained riveted on his face.
“So where’s my car?”
“Well, darlin’, there seems to be a little misunderstanding.” He tried to keep his voice as upbeat as possible.
Her brows lowered. “What kind of misunderstanding?”
How could he explain it when he couldn’t even understand it himself? Damned small-town mentality. “It’s kind of complicated, and something we really don’t want to get into until we’ve both had a little shut-eye.”
“I’m not tired. And I need to get to California.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until morning to leave.” He reached over to pop the truck into gear but she grabbed his arm.
“Oh, no, you don’t. Not until you tell me what you did with my car.”
“What
I
did with your car? How could I do anything with your car when I was making out with you at Sutter Springs?”
Her face flushed a cute shade of red. “I know where you were, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t responsible for my car missing.”
She was probably right. In a roundabout way, he was responsible. Years ago, he should’ve let everyone know he wasn’t interested in Hope, instead of going along with the entire jilted boyfriend scenario. He just hadn’t wanted to crush their dream that someday the homecoming queen would return to the football hero and they’d live happily ever after.
That and the fact that being thought of as Hope’s man worked out pretty well for him. He got to enjoy his freedom and not worry about matchmaking mamas and overzealous women whose biological clocks were ticking. All the women who spent time with him knew it wasn’t forever.
Not when he was saving forever for Hope.
It had seemed like only a little white lie.
Until now.
Now someone else was involved. An innocent victim who didn’t deserve to be caught in the sticky web he’d helped weave. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see a way out of it. Years of lying made for a pretty tangled mess. Especiallywhen the mess included the stubborn people of Bramble. People who had spent their lifetimes believing what they wanted to, rather than the truth. Still, it was his responsibility to set them straight, and he planned to.
First thing in the morning.
“Look, darlin’, your car’s been towed, and there’s no way you can get it back until the morning.”
“Towed? But why would—” She blinked, and her hand slipped from his arm. “Because I was drinking?”
Relief washed over him. “Exactly. We have real strict drinking laws here in Texas.”
She nodded, but still looked adorably confused. “Then I guess I’ll need to get a hotel room for the night.”
“I’m afraid there aren’t any in Bramble.”
“No hotels?”
He shook his head, feeling almost as good as he had when an unexpected ice storm canceled all his high school classes on the first day of finals. He didn’t
“No.” Slate closed his eyes. “Faith is Hope’s twin sister.”
“Twin sister?” Sam’s laughter rang out. “That’s a good one, Slate. You can sure come up with ’em.”
“I’m being serious, Sam.”
The laughter died. “Now, Slate, I realize that Hope’s puttin’ all kinds of pressure on you to get her car back. But you need to be as tough with her as you are with your team. In fact, women are a lot like teenagers. They don’t know what’s good for them unless you show them. So take the bull by the horns, boy, and show that girl that the best thing for her is stayin’ right here in Bramble and marryin’ you. And tell Hope not to worry about her car because I got it in a real safe place. Although once you two get hitched, I’d be buyin’ her an American-made if I was you. Vole-Vo. What the hell is that?”
The phone clicked.
There were times when Slate considered moving to a bigger town. One where people kept their nose to the grindstone instead of up their neighbor’s ass. This was one of those times.
He closed the phone and slipped it in the breast pocket of his shirt as Faith’s eyes remained riveted on his face.
“So where’s my car?”
“Well, darlin’, there seems to be a little misunderstanding.” He tried to keep his voice as upbeat as possible.
Her brows lowered. “What kind of misunderstanding?”
How could he explain it when he couldn’t even understand it himself? Damned small-town mentality. “It’s kind of complicated, and something we really don’t want to get into until we’ve both had a little shut-eye.”
“I’m not tired. And I need to get to California.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until morning to leave.” He reached over to pop the truck into gear but she grabbed his arm.
“Oh, no, you don’t. Not until you tell me what you did with my car.”
“What
I
did with your car? How could I do anything with your car when I was making out with you at Sutter Springs?”
Her face flushed a cute shade of red. “I know where you were, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t responsible for my car missing.”
She was probably right. In a roundabout way, he was responsible. Years ago, he should’ve let everyone know he wasn’t interested in Hope, instead of going along with the entire jilted boyfriend scenario. He just hadn’t wanted to crush their dream that someday the homecoming queen would return to the football hero and they’d live happily ever after.
That and the fact that being thought of as Hope’s man worked out pretty well for him. He got to enjoy his freedom and not worry about matchmaking mamas and overzealous women whose biological clocks were ticking. All the women who spent time with him knew it wasn’t forever.
Not when he was saving forever for Hope.
It had seemed like only a little white lie.
Until now.
Now someone else was involved. An innocent victim who didn’t deserve to be caught in the sticky web he’d helped weave. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see a way out of it. Years of lying made for a pretty tangled mess. Especiallywhen the mess included the stubborn people of Bramble. People who had spent their lifetimes believing what they wanted to, rather than the truth. Still, it was his responsibility to set them straight, and he planned to.
First thing in the morning.
“Look, darlin’, your car’s been towed, and there’s no way you can get it back until the morning.”
“Towed? But why would—” She blinked, and her hand slipped from his arm. “Because I was drinking?”
Relief washed over him. “Exactly. We have real strict drinking laws here in Texas.”
She nodded, but still looked adorably confused. “Then I guess I’ll need to get a hotel room for the night.”
“I’m afraid there aren’t any in Bramble.”
“No hotels?”
He shook his head, feeling almost as good as he had when an unexpected ice storm canceled all his high school classes on the first day of finals. He didn’t
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