Sometimes, if he was early, he went inside and got himself a tasty treat.
He wasn’t early tonight. If anything, he was late. He tried to care, but he was having a hard time with all of it.
When he pulled into the parking lot, Mariah’s white SUV was already parked on the outside row of spaces, and Lawrence eased his truck next to it. She always rode with him, and tonight was no different.
She smiled at him through the glass, and Lawrence started second-guessing himself. It honestly was probably a third- or fourth-guessing to be honest.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” he responded. He had the urge to tell her he was sorry he was late, but he bit back the words. She did look amazing in the flirty sundress, and she’d paired the dark dress with white flowers all over it with a pair of bright pink sandals Lawrence really liked.
He really likedher, and he didn’t understand what had turned cold between them since Blaine’s wedding. He pulled out of the parking spot and eased back onto the highway to get to her boss’s house.
They drove along, and Lawrence waited for her to ask him something. He often started the conversations with questions about her day, or a client, or a co-worker.
“How’s the ranch?” she finally asked.
“Good,” Lawrence said, hating the false quality in his voice. He sighed again, and added, “Listen, Mariah, we need to talk.”
“About what?”
“About what we’re doing,” he said, glancing at her. “I thought we were going to become a real couple after the Smash, but every time I ask you out, you have something else to do.” He swallowed, but he’d started and he couldn’t stop now. “Which is fine. Maybe you’re really busy at work right now. Ginny said she did that; she was so busy and she couldn’t date Cayden.”
He stopped to shake his thoughts back into some semblance of order. He also needed to breathe. “Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. I just want to know what you wantthisto be.” He gestured between the two of them, his frustration obvious.
She gaped at him with wide eyes, and Lawrence felt the same shock moving through him.
“I…” she said. “I don’t know.” She looked out her window, and Lawrence had his answer.
“I don’t think we should see each other anymore,” he said. “I’ll go to this party, and I’ll be exactly who I’ve been all the other times.” He shifted in his seat, his mouth so dry. “Then that’s that. Okay?”
She didn’t answer, and when Lawrence looked over at her, he found her nodding.
“Okay, then,” he said, and a cloud of awkward silence draped over the two of them.Idiot, he chastised himself.You should’ve waited until after the party to break-up with her.
Now he had to attend the party as her fake boyfriend when he was exactly that. At least before, he’d had some hope of a real relationship with her, which had made the pretending easier.
This was going to be torture.
Promoting the Cowboy Billionaire Chapter Two:
Mariah Barker woke up to the scent of pumpkin pie spice and cream, and she groaned as she rolled over. She fumbled for her phone to check the time, and it couldn’t be too late yet, because hardly any light came through her blinds.
Someone making coffee down the hall in her kitchen meant her sister had come over, and Mariah rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She’d managed to find a reason why she hadn’t been able to make the family brunches, but Dani had the nose of a bloodhound, and she’d been texting Mariah for over a week now.
She didn’t want to tell Dani about Lawrence; she didn’t want to tell anyone about Lawrence. She’d been cursing her luck, the stars, and any cracks in sidewalks she’d somehow stepped on since the middle of July.
With only a week until the Smash, Dr. Biggers had called her into his office and said he thought she’d been using Lawrence to get better jobs. Her heart thumped harder in her chest even now.
She’d denied it, and thankfully, Dr. Biggers had thought she meant she’d been mining the Chappells for more clients. She hadn’t been; she’d simply been able to network with a lot of people while she’d worked on their event. She’d met a lot of people at the event, and she’d learned to carry her business cards everywhere with her.
Dr. Biggers had cautioned her not to mix business and pleasure, and Mariah didn’t know what to do with that. She didn’t know how to separate Lawrence from her life when he was the reason she got to go to the events that kept her working with the clients she wanted to work with.
She’d tried explaining to Dr. Biggers, but he’d flat-out told her not to ask Lawrence for clients if she was going to date him.If you break-up with him, he’d said.Well, that’s a different story. Then he’s not a personal contact, but a business one.
Mariah felt trapped between two plates of steel, and she had no idea how to slip out. She’d made a mess of things by trying to put Lawrence off in a fun, flirty way, hoping he wouldn’t notice that they weren’t going out for real.
“I want to,” she whispered. “I just don’t knowhow.”