Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)

Isabel looked at Taryn. “You’re really not interested?”


“Yawn,” Taryn said. “It is physically impossible for me to be less interested. I know them far too well to want to be romantically involved with any of them.” She shuddered. “No. We’re close. I adore them but I would rather date a fence post. At least it wouldn’t argue.”

* * *

ISABEL AND MADELINE walked back to Paper Moon. When they got there, Ford was waiting by the front door, looking all masculine and sexy. When he saw her, he raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” he asked in a low voice. “Ogling football players? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, you promised to love me forever and look what happened there.”

Madeline giggled as she let herself into the store. “I’ll leave you two to work this out,” she said, then disappeared inside.

Isabel put her hands on her hips. “How did you know?”

“Unlike you, Patience is concerned about Justice’s feelings. She called to tell him what was going on and he told me.”

She held in a smile. “I’m sorry you had to find out that way. About the other men I was watching.”

“Ogling. There’s a difference. I’m very disappointed in you. I expect better from my fake girlfriends.”

While she enjoyed the teasing, there was a part of her that wanted his words to be true.

“I’m sorry,” she told him. “Patience called and asked me to come over. I didn’t find out why—I just went.”

“Oh, sure. Blame it on Patience.” He stepped closer to her. “I can see we’re going to have to have a serious talk about your behavior.”

“You’re probably right.” She batted her eyes at him. “Maybe I should be punished later.”

“That goes without saying. I’m thinking a tongue-lashing at the very least.”

She shivered as she remembered what Ford could do with his tongue, then dropped her head in mock submission. “Whatever you think is best.”

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “I don’t want to have to have this conversation again.”

“Of course not.”

As he hugged her, she felt the vibration of his chuckles. “You’re good at this,” he said quietly. “How do you feel about escaped prisoner and the warden’s wife?”

She grinned. “I think I could get into it.”

“That’s my girl.”

“Actually, we might need to reverse those roles. Your mom called me again to set up a one-on-one.”

“Talk about a buzz kill!”

“I know. There’s only so much longer I can put her off.”

He kissed her. “I have to get back to work. See you tonight?”

“I’ll be the blonde.”

“Thanks for clarifying.”

Isabel walked into Paper Moon and sighed. Her fake-dating situation was getting complicated. The obvious solution was to end things, but she just plain didn’t want to.

Before she could return to the back room to help Madeline with the rest of the gowns, her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her bag and pushed Answer without checking to see who was calling.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Isabel.”

“Sonia.” She crossed to one of the chairs and sat down. “I haven’t heard from you in a while. Did you get my messages?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Life’s been crazy here. I’ve been meaning to call.”

“I’m glad you did. We have a lot we need to be doing and talking about.”

“I know. Well, sure. That’s why I phoned, so we could talk.” Her friend cleared her throat. “Look, I don’t know how to say this. It’s why I haven’t returned your calls. I’ve...” Sonia paused. “I’ve gone into business with someone else.”

Isabel stiffened. “What? What are you talking about? We had a deal together. We had plans.”

“I know. I know. I should have said something before. It’s just...I didn’t want to wait. You’re not coming back until February, and that’s a long time.”

“It’s five months. With everything that has to be done, it’s not that long at all.”

“Right, but there are other things. She has more money to put in the business. We can start bigger and not take so long to get noticed. I want that. This is my dream, Isabel. I have to do this. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed.”

“Disappointed? I came back here to earn more money to put into our business. I came back to brush up on retail so I would be more of an asset. We discussed that. We discussed everything.”

“I know that but retail is risky and this is a better bet for me. Do you really have to be so harsh about it? I was hoping we could stay friends. Can’t you just be happy for me?”

For her? Isabel wanted to ask about her own dreams, but she knew Sonia didn’t care about that. She had made it very clear she didn’t care about anyone but herself.

“Good luck with everything,” Isabel said, knowing she sounded bitter but unable to care. She ended the call before Sonia could respond.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN