One Night With The Cowboy. Brenda Harlen
The barest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he registered her body’s instinctive response to the contact before she drew her leg away. Then he shifted his attention to her friends and finally responded to Lily’s question.
“Actually, Brielle is my wife.”
“Ex-wife,” Brielle said through gritted teeth.
But her short-lived marriage was a detail she’d never shared with anyone outside of her immediate family, so it was no wonder her friends were looking at her with nearly identical expressions of shock and disbelief right now.
However, it was Caleb’s focused gaze that unnerved her. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” he said.
“So do we, apparently,” Grace murmured.
“I can’t believe you never told us you were married.” Lily sounded not just stunned but hurt.
And justifiably so, Brie acknowledged, as the two women had been not only her best friends but her surrogate family for the past seven years.
“It was a long time ago,” Brie told them. “And over almost before it began.”
“It was a long time ago,” Caleb agreed. “But over...well, I’d have to disagree with you on that, darlin’.”
“I’m not your darlin’,” she protested.
“Well, this might finally explain why she hardly ever goes out,” Lily remarked to Grace.
“And why she rarely goes out with the same guy more than once,” Grace added.
“That’s not true,” Brie said to her friends. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t analyze the intimate details of my love life in front of a stranger.”
“Our point is that there are no intimate details,” Grace said.
“And how can you refer to your husband as a stranger?” Lily chided.
“Ex-husband,” she said again. “And he’s a stranger to both of you.”
“Any friend of yours is a friend of ours,” Grace said, and turned to smile at Caleb. “So how far back do you and Brie go?”
“We went to school together, though I was a couple years ahead.”
“You were high school sweethearts?” Lily guessed.
“Secret high school sweethearts,” he clarified.
One of Grace’s perfectly arched brows lifted. “Why the secrecy?”
“There’s some...history between our families,” he explained. “And we knew they wouldn’t approve of our friendship—or our dating.”
“The Montagues and the Capulets,” Lily murmured, obviously recalling what Brie had told her when they were packing for this trip.
“Or the Hatfields and the McCoys,” he suggested.
“Tell us more,” Grace urged.
“I wish I could,” Caleb said, rising to his feet again. “But Brie will have to fill in the rest of the details, because I’ve got a wedding to get to.”
She’d thought nothing could surprise her as much as seeing him standing in front of her, but the way Brie’s stomach dropped in response to his words proved otherwise. “You...you’re...getting married?”
He sent her a look that she couldn’t begin to decipher. “I’m not the groom. I’m the best man.”
“Oh,” she said, and exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
“We’re definitely going to find out from Brie if that’s true,” Grace teased.
Caleb grinned, appreciating her friend’s flirtatious humor.
It was the same familiar cocky grin that had always made Brielle’s heart pound and her knees weak. And it was frustrating to discover that, seven years later, its effect on her was undiminished.
“Joe Bishop’s getting married,” he said to her now.
She knew Joe, because he’d been friends with Caleb for as long as she’d known him, prompting her to ask, “Is the bride anyone I know?”
“The bride isn’t anyone he knows,” Caleb remarked dryly. “They met online seven months ago and in-person—” he glanced at the watch on his wrist “—about nine hours ago.”
“I never thought Joe was the impulsive type.”
“A lot of things can change in seven years,” he said, holding her gaze. “Then again, some things never do.”
“I’m so glad you wanted to come to Vegas.” Lily’s comment to Grace cut through the heavy silence.
“I just wanted to get drunk and lose some money at the tables,” Grace replied. “This live show is so much better than anything I could have anticipated.”
“Show’s over, ladies,” Caleb said apologetically. “I’ve got Joe’s grandmother’s ring, so I can’t be late.”
“Maybe we could just consider this an intermission?” Lily said hopefully.
He chuckled at that, but his expression grew serious when he turned to Brie again. “Will you meet me for a drink later?”
She shook her head. “I can’t. We’re here to celebrate Grace’s birthday and—”
“Just one drink. Six o’clock?” He glanced at her friends, as if to enlist their cooperation. “I’m sure Grace and Lily can manage to occupy themselves for an hour or so.”
“It doesn’t matter whether they can or can’t,” Brie said. “I’m here with my friends and we’ve got plans for dinner.”
“Plans but no reservations,” Grace piped up helpfully. “So we’re not on any particular schedule. And if we’re not still here after the happy couple say their ‘I do’s,’ we’ll be in room 1268.”
He nodded to Brie. “I’ll find you there later, then.”
Of course, she watched him walk away. She couldn’t help herself. And she couldn’t deny that he looked as good now as he’d looked the last time she saw him, seven years earlier. Maybe even better.
She suspected that her friends were watching him walk away, too, because it was only when he’d disappeared through the doors and back into the hotel that they turned to her.
“Oh. My. God.” It was Lily who spoke first. “I can’t believe you were married.”
“And didn’t tell us,” Grace added.
“Because it was for a very short while a very long time ago,” she said again.
“I don’t care how short it was or how long ago,” Grace said. “That’s not the kind of secret you keep from your best friends.”
“So maybe we’re not her best friends,” Lily suggested, sounding hurt.
“You know you are,” Brie assured them sincerely.
“And yet, you didn’t tell us about your hunky husband,” Grace remarked. “Not a single word.”
“Actually, she said a few words,” Lily noted. “But only after you told us about this trip. And there was definitely no mention of a wedding or a husband.”
Brie sighed, resigned to the imminent interrogation—and maybe a little relieved that she’d finally have the opportunity to unburden herself of the secrets she’d held on to for