Page 53 of Wild Rivals

“Say what?” I ask, covering myself with a towel, as if he hasn’t already seen me naked.

He chuckles, shaking his head but not looking at me as he steps into his jeans. “That this was a mistake. That’s what you were going to say, right?”

I press my lips together. There’s no point in denying it because that’s exactly what I was going to say, so I nod. He slides his still wet T-shirt over his head.

“I can put that in the dryer.” I motion toward his T-shirt.

“Don’t worry about it; I’m heading straight home.”

I don’t reply; there’s nothing I can say. Instead, I watch him pull the material down his body before he stops and watches me for a moment. As if he’s waiting for me to stop him. I wish I could, but this is for the best.

When I can’t stand the weight of his stare anymore, I look down at my lap, his feet in my line of vision, until he walks away and out of the room. I hear the front door close behind him as he leaves, and I can’t help but wonder if letting him go was actually the mistake this time.

32

MADDIE

I’m at Chloe’s gallery opening, staring blankly at a photograph of wild horses running through an open pasture. It’s a beautiful picture, capturing the essence of Montana, but it doesn’t hold my attention half as much as the image behind me.

In the reflection of the glass, I watch Wyatt, from where he stands across the other side of the room, talking to a goddess of a woman and laughing like he wasn’t inside me two days ago.

This is what he does. I’ve been reminding myself of that as the minutes pass and my chest tightens. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s slept with half the town since the first time we had sex.

Wyatt is a playboy. Everybody knows it; that’s just how he is. It never used to matter to me because there wasn’t ever a chance of anything happening between us. And then I became one of his women. I got attached and started to feel things for him that I have no right to feel. He never entertains the same woman twice. I guess, in that regard, I’m different, but I’d be a fool to think that made a difference to him.

And yet, the longer I watch him, the more my body reacts to the sight of him flirting with another woman, as if it’s not out of the realm of possibility for me to kick her ass. Nausea settles in my stomach as a thin layer of sweat gathers on my skin. I’m not this kind of woman, and yet he’s turning me into the sort that gets jealous.

I’m not jealous.

I repeat the mantra as if it might turn into the truth.

God, I hate this. I hate how I want him to be mine and how I let him walk away believing I regretted us coming together. The only thing I regret is that I let myself feel things for him. I don’t do casual relationships for this very reason. We’re poles apart, and yet I want him like I need my next breath.

“You know you can go over there and talk to him?” Chloe slides up next to me, reaching out to straighten the already straight picture in front of us.

I take a sip of my wine before facing her. If I strain my eyes enough, I can still see Wyatt out of the corner of my eye. I can see him reaching out to touch the arm of the woman he’s talking to and how she doesn’t push him away. Jealousy rears its ugly head, colliding with my anger and heating my skin as I try to ignore them.

The woman in question is wearing a gold dress that’s perfect for an event like this, with her hair in long braids down her back and a face of makeup that looks like she walked right out of a magazine shoot. And I’m over here in the only little black dress I own with barely a scrap of makeup on because I didn’t have time by the time I finished work.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply, ignoring the flash of jealousy pooling in my stomach.

“No?” Chloe asks, tilting her head to look at me. “Because you’ve been staring at this picture for the last thirty minutes, and even though I think it’s a beautiful image, it’s not worthy of that much attention, Maddie.”

My body sags before I catch myself and stand taller. “I—” I bite back the lie that’s on the tip of my tongue. “How do I even compete with a woman like that, Chlo? He’s never once looked at me like he’s looking at her.”

She slides her arm around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder as she hugs me into her side and turns us toward them. “That’s my best friend, Maya. She’s only in town for the opening, but I can assure you, she has no interest in Wyatt.”

It doesn’t look like Maya has no interest. In fact, she looks very interested, and who doesn’t love a good vacation fling? Hell, that’s how Chloe and Kade got together.

Chloe leans back, looking me over from head to toe before continuing, “Have you looked in the mirror lately, Maddie? You’re hot and this self-doubt isn’t like you, so either go and talk to him or find another eligible man to flirt with. There’s plenty here. Kade invited half the rodeo circuit.”

She’s right. I’m in my own head and have been since Wyatt left my house the other day. I feel all twisted up inside over a man, and that isn’t like me at all. God, I can’t go on like this. It’s time I did something about it, because if he can carry on like nothing ever happened between us, then so can I.

I scan the room, and my gaze lands on a cowboy standing in front of a picture of the valley that Coldwater sits in, a beer in his hand. He looks like he feels a little out of place, but he’ll do. I’m just flirting, testing the waters, nothing more.

I throw back my wine and pull in a deep breath before blowing it out and turning to Chloe. “How do I look?”

She picks a piece of lint off the flowy long sleeve of my deep V-neck dress before replying, “Let’s just say, if I wasn’t happily engaged and actually swung that way, I’d be begging to take you home.”