“No, but I had potential. I love you, Denise. I want to marry you.”
She heard the words, followed by a rushing sound. The room tilted, then seemed to spin out of control. All she could think about was when she’d married Ralph. How proud he’d been when the minister had introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix. How she’d known then she would love him forever.
“No,” she said involuntarily, sitting up and pulling the sheet with her. She scrambled out of the bed, wrapping the sheet around her. “I’m sorry. But no.” Her breath came in short gasps as her lungs constricted.
She stared at him, strong and handsome and naked in her bed. In her bedroom. What had she been thinking?
“I’m sorry,” she repeated, giving in to the panic.
Max got to his feet and came around the bed. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
She touched her face and was surprised to feel tears. “You’re a good person. No, a wonderful person. But this would be all wrong.” She knew she wasn’t making any sense, but couldn’t stop herself from speaking.
“Getting married would ruin everything,” she said, backing away from him. “There’s more to a relationship than great sex. More to marriage. Haven’t you figured that out by now? We’re having fun. Just two people having fun.”
He looked concerned rather than angry. “Are you feeling all right?”
“No.”
She ran into the bathroom and closed the door. “I’m not feeling very well,” she yelled to him, through the door. “I think you should go.”
“Denise, you’re not making any sense. We have to talk about this.”
“We don’t. Please, just go away.”
She sank onto the floor and started to cry. Guilt attacked her as she realized she’d betrayed the man she truly loved. She’d cheated on Ralph. She’d allowed herself to believe she could be with someone else.
She heard noises from the bedroom, followed by silence. Seconds later, the front door closed. Max was gone.
She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She was cold. And alone.
NEVADA WATCHED all the equipment being off-loaded.
“Makes your heart beat a little faster, doesn’t it?” Charlie asked.
The fire department engineer stood next to her, at the job site.
Nevada grinned. “Oh, yeah. I can’t wait to try it all out.”
“Tell me about it. I don’t technically have to be here, but I couldn’t help coming to watch. How’s the surveying going?”
“Great.” Nevada shoved her hands into her back pockets. “We still use tripods for housing construction and remodels. It’s fast and cheap. Here we’re using GPS. We can get within an eighth of an inch using a satellite twenty thousand miles away. You gotta love technology.”
“If only those satellites could put out fires,” Charlie said, watching a track loader being moved off to the side. “That one is going to be fun to ride. No wonder the guys want to keep it to themselves.”
They weren’t the only ones watching the equipment arrive. Several members of Nevada’s team were standing together, supposedly to help should something happen. Nevada caught a couple of them eyeing Charlie with a fair degree of interest.
“I think a few of my guys are going to ask for your number,” she told her friend.
“Don’t bother giving it to them.” Charlie didn’t even glance toward the cluster of men. “I’m not interested.”
“You sure? Some of them are pretty nice and a few are cute.”
“Let me guess. None of them are both cute and nice.”
Nevada grinned. “I can think of one or two who meet that criteria.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not very successful at relationships. It’s easier to avoid them. So let’s talk about something more fun. The permits for the explosives have been approved. You can go ahead and order the dy***ite.”
“I get all quivery at the thought.”
“You should. It’s going to be a hell of a day.” Charlie’s phone beeped. “I can’t believe you got a cell tower out here.”
“It was delivered last week. Janack Construction has friends in high places.”
“So I’ve heard. Let me take this, then we can go into town and have lunch.”
They were meeting Annabelle and Heidi at Jo’s Bar for a quick meal. Something they’d started doing weekly ever since the incident with the flat tire.
While Charlie talked on the phone, Nevada went back to the trailer to grab her car keys. She walked up the stairs and opened the door, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she discovered Tucker wasn’t there.
She wasn’t exactly avoiding him, but she’d been staying out of his way ever since that night at his hotel. When he’d told her he wanted her and she’d turned him down.