Page 3 of Picture This

Was he coming camping with us? I really hoped so.

“Delylah.” Emily snapped her fingers in my face. “Why is your face red? Were you checking out Noah?”

“What? No.” I straightened my bangs, hoping my hand would hide the pink in my cheeks. “It’s hot and stuffy in here. And I wasn’t checking out Noah. I just haven’t seen him in a while.”

Years of practice meant the lies flowed from my lips like running water. I’d spent my life denying this crush to Emily.

“Good. Because that would be weird.” She snorted. “Can you imagine? You and Noah?”

Oh, I’d imagined.

I’d doodled his name with mine in hearts when I was younger. I’d written my first name with his last in every diary. Delylah Chappel. I’d pictured my wedding to her brother more times than I could count on all my fingers and toes.

I’d definitely imagined, and not once had I thought it would be weird.

But Emily was as protective of Noah as he was of her. Besides, he’d only ever seen me as Emily’s best friend and constant companion. I was just the girl next door.

And while Noah would always have a special place in my heart, the truth was, that childhood crush of mine had faded with time and distance and boyfriends and life. Soon, this wedding would be over, and I’d go home to New York. It could be another three or thirty years before I saw him again.

But I could use the nostalgia of a crush this weekend.

After the breakup with Peter, I needed a reminder that good men still existed. Not a single guy I’d met in the past four months had made me feel anything but annoyed. Emily’s matchmaking attempts had been entirely futile.

Even if I only admired Noah from afar, it was nice to know that I wasn’t dead inside. That a hot guy could still make my pulse race.

“Oh, there’s Luca.” Emily raised her arm, waving down her fiancé as he walked out of the dining room off the lobby. “Babe.”

Luca gave her a smile and winked before he was mobbed by his friends, the men all abandoning their places in line to shake his hand and clap him on the shoulder.

With the path clear, I snatched up my suitcase, took Emily’s hand, and pulled her with me to the front desk.

“Welcome to Haven River Ranch,” the receptionist said. “Name?”

“Delylah Banks.” I fished out my driver’s license from my wallet, then slid it across the desk as she checked me in.

By the time she handed me my room key, the frenzy had died down, and Luca’s friends were all reshuffling into line.

“Hi, Delylah.” Luca came over for a hug. “Glad you made it.”

“Me too. Thanks again for the flight.”

“Anytime.” He put his arm around Emily and bent to kiss her cheek.

I picked up my suitcase, ready to dart upstairs to room 203 and scream into a pillow, when another man walked into the lobby. My grip faltered, and my Samsonite clattered as it fell to the floor, probably breaking the other wheel.

“Emily,” I hissed. “You didn’t invite Jake.”

“What?” She feigned innocence. “He’s our friend.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’ve only known him for a couple of months.”

“That doesn’t make him any less of a friend.”

I gave her a flat look.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s a wedding. The more the merrier. He’s nice.”

Jake Hearst was a pig. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep quiet.