“I just wanted to get out of here and not think for a couple of hours.”
“But you don’t want me asking where you went. I see.” Her heart fell. Damn. She’d known this wasn’t for forever. She’d known it wasn’t love or commitment, but she’d hoped it was something. “That’s fine,” she made herself say. “I get it. I know this isn’t a serious relationship, but I told you I couldn’t be one of many. So no hard feelings.”
He caught her arm as she started to turn away. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Well, whatever it was like, I hope you enjoyed it.”
“I didn’t have sex with anyone.”
“Okay. So what did you do?”
“I...went out to the ranch.”
“The Ability Ranch?” For a moment, her poor confused heart jumped into a happy dance. “Walker, that’s so great! I’m sorry I—”
“No. I meant the Fletcher Ranch.”
Her heart froze in midjig. Then it dropped like a stone. “Ah. Right. Of course.”
“It wasn’t about her, Charlie. I wanted to see my dog. That’s all. I—”
“But it became about her,” she interrupted, gesturing toward his black eye. “I don’t think anyone would cause that much trouble over your dog.”
“Yeah. I thought her husband was still out of town, but—”
“Whose husband?” she asked, but she realized the answer before she’d even finished asking.
“Nicole’s.”
“She’s married.” Her voice had dropped to a darker tone even in her own ears.
Walker’s eyes widened. “She, uh... Yeah. I thought you knew about that.”
“No. Why would I have known that?”
He shook his head, his face turning pink beneath the bruises. “I just... There’ve been some rumors going around since I was fired.”
“You mean because you were fired for sleeping with the boss’s wife?”
“No!”
“Right.” She tried not to be judgmental. She tried not to feel irritated and hurt. But it didn’t work. She punched him in the shoulder. Hard. “What the hell, Walker?”
He didn’t even react to her fist. “I know. But it’s not what you think.”
“You weren’t sleeping with the man’s wife? Right there under his nose?”
“I wasn’t. I didn’t.”
“Walker...” Her shoulders slumped. “You can’t lie to me about that. Anybody could see by the way she looks at you.”
“We never actually...” He shook his head. “I swear. It just...got out of control. And I don’t know if that’s why I was fired. No one should’ve known.”
“Your boss’s wife? Are you insane?”
He took off his hat, then put it back on, shifting from foot to foot like a little kid caught in a lie. “It’s not something I thought about. It just happened.”
“Once?”