Page 16 of Maple Mountain
“I don’t think she’s the only one who likes Wyn,” Salem teased.
“What do you mean by that?”I demanded.
“Oh, come on.”Salem laughed.“It’s clear there’s something between you and Archer.”
“No there’s not,” I lied.
“No?”Hadley asked with a raise of her brows.
“If there was, don’t you think it would be the stupidest idea in the world to move into a house with him?”I asked.
“Totally stupid,” Poet agreed.“And you’re not stupid.”
“Definitely not.Well, not anymore.He needs help, and I’m happy to help.And Lenni, God, that girlreallyneeds help,” I said.
“The photo didn’t do him justice, did it?”Hadley pressed.
I held in a sigh.“No, it definitely didn’t.”
“He’s so photogenic,” Salem added.“I thought for sure Rudolph Lancaster was going to fire me and Cas and beg Archer to be the face of their campaign.”
I snorted.“Those city slickers were surprised to find real live cowboys in the wild, weren’t they?”
Salem sniggered.“Yeah, they were.”
“He’s looking at you,” Poet whispered.
A thrill of excitement shot through me, and I attempted to tamp it down.I refused to be attracted to Archer.Falling for a single dad who had to learnhowto be a dad?
Messy.With a capital M.
But I couldn’t stop myself from glancing up from the sundae to stare at Archer, too.Lenni said something, pulling his attention away from me.He nodded as he listened intently.
We polished off the sundaes and then I got up out of the booth, taking the empty containers to the trash can.Archer came up next to me with empty containers of his own.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” I replied.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”I took a napkin from the dispenser and wiped my hands.
“For helping me.I’m up shit creek here,” he said with a show-stopping smile.
“You seem to be doing okay.”
“You were watching?”
I raised my brows.“I was watching you watch her and then pretend like you weren’t.”
He swallowed and his brow furrowed.“It feels like she’s not even real.”
I reached out and touched his forearm.“I can’t even imagine.But you’re not alone.We’re all here to help.”
He looked down at my hand.
Before I could pull away, he grasped my fingers and gave them a little squeeze, as if to reassureme.
