by Codi Gary
Justin glared at him as he popped a fry into his mouth, chewing grimly. “No.”
“Why not? Maybe you’ll finally meet someone so Steph can stop worrying about you.”
Justin sighed loudly. It was true Steph’s matchmaking attempts had increased over the last year to almost desperate leaps, but that wasn’t his fault. He was fine being on his own right now, and besides, there was only one woman in all of Rock Canyon he wanted to get closer to, and she wasn’t even on Steph’s radar.
“Why not just tell your wife to mind her own business?”
Jared looked appalled. “Because I like my skin on my back and our couch is hard as a rock.”
Justin laughed, knowing his friend was probably right. Steph didn’t like to be told when she was wrong.
“Well, hey there, Justin.”
Justin looked up to find Ellie Willis standing over him, a wide smile spread across her pretty face. “Hey there, Ellie. This is my friend, Jared.”
Jared stuck out his hand and Ellie took it, although she barely glanced at him. “I just wanted to thank you again for the other night. I wasn’t at my best.”
“Don’t mention it,” he said, trying to resist the urge to look behind her for her sister.
“So, what were you two talking about? It sounded interesting.” Ellie leaned her hip against the side of the booth.
Ignoring Justin’s warning look, Jared answered, “Justin won an all-expenses-paid weekend trip to a huge singles mixer.”
Ellie’s eyes widened. “The one in True Love, Nevada?”
It was Justin’s turn to be surprised. “You’ve heard of it?”
The smile Ellie flashed him was pure cat with the cream. “Oh, yeah. You know, my sister’s going to that. She wasn’t going to, but from the phone call I just got from her, I guess she is now.”
“Seriously?” Justin felt the air leave his lungs. “Why? I thought she wasn’t dating.”
Both Jared and Ellie watched him with interest, and he felt his neck flush with warmth.
“She’s doing it as a favor to my dad, although if you ask me, she needs to get out and meet someone,” Ellie said, leaning over the table and lowering her voice. “Maybe someone who’s totally into her? Maybe a good guy who would never break her heart, because if he did, he might end up on a missing persons list?”
He took the truck-sized hint she was throwing at him and grinned. “Guess a guy like that should get home and pack, then.”
With a toss of her head, she stood up straight. “He probably should.”
Jared watched her walk away as Justin shoved a couple more fries into his mouth and pulled out his wallet.
“All I gotta say is, if I weren’t married . . . whoa, where are you running off to?” Jared asked as Justin stood up.
“Going home and getting ready for the trip, man.”
Jared’s expression was puzzled at first, and then clarity hit. “You’re into Valerie Willis?”
“Might be,” Justin said, shrugging into his jacket.
“Dude, I don’t know, man. I haven’t heard good things about her,” Jared said, looking uncomfortable.
Justin paused and gave him a dark look. “You can’t believe everything you hear.”
“Yeah, but even if it isn’t all true, her dad hates your guts.”
“We’re adults, man. I’m not asking her father’s permission, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Justin said, getting more aggravated with his best friend.
“Okay, but think about a future with her and how it will look,” Jared said.
Justin shook his head. “It’s one weekend. Not like I’m proposing marriage or anything.”
“What am I gonna tell Steph? I think she had a date planned for you this weekend with the new vet.”
Justin didn’t bother answering as he headed for door. What Jared told his wife was the least of his concerns. Getting Valerie Willis to let down her guard and admit she was interested in him was going to take up all his energy this weekend.
VAL DROVE PAST Twin Falls and over the bridge, heading for the rock formations and dusty trails that off-roaders and bikers adored. Making a right, she kept driving until she found a dirt road that looked promising. She loved coming here when life got crazy. The first time had been when she was thirteen and Caroline and whatever guy she was dating had brought her. As he’d hit each bump and groove in the road, she’d felt a little less stressed, a little less angry, and for the first time since her mother had died, free to feel something good.
As it climbed over the first hill, her truck crawled over a rock, tipping up onto its side. Val grinned as she accelerated. Some people loved guns, some used a punching bag, but all she needed was a truck and a bumpy road.
Her phone started ringing in her purse, but she ignored it as she hit the gas and jostled to the left, letting out a loud shout as she drove through the thin layer of snow. The ground was too frozen for there to be any mud, but it was still fun.
Her phone rang again, and she thought about the trip to Nevada, spending all weekend trapped with a bunch of men she didn’t know while some nut job tried to pair her up, and her hands tightened on the wheel.
Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy” came on the radio and she turned it up, saying out loud, “You are so right, Billy.”
JUSTIN TRIED CALLING Val’s cell again, but it went straight to voice mail. Oh well, he wasn’t even sure what he would have said to her.
He headed into his house and started packing his bag, pulling a couple of collared shirts from his closet. He hoped this thing didn’t have some jacket-and-tie dress code because he had no idea where his only tie was.
Someone knocked on the front door and he yelled, “Come on in!”
His dad came in, his once-powerful frame thin. Justin thought he looked a little pale. “Hey. I wanted to talk to you about this weekend. I’ve got to head out of town for a few days and wanted to make sure you could hold down the fort.”
“I can’t, Dad,” he said, grabbing some socks from his drawer. “I’m leaving tomorrow for this thing.”
“Well, shit.”
Justin glanced up and caught his dad’s worried expression. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just have to go to Boise. I’ll ask your brother if he can handle it,” his dad said, turning to leave the room.
“You sure you’re okay?” Justin detected something off, but unless his dad wanted to give up the information, there was nothing he could do. Fred Silverton was stubborn as hell.
“I’m fine, son. Have fun at your thing.” His craggy face broke into a grin and he asked, “This thing wouldn’t happen to be with a woman, would it?”
Justin shook his head. “Nope.”
Not yet.
“Hmmm, too bad. We could use a woman’s touch around here. I keep waiting for one of you to get serious with a girl, but you keep playing the field. You do realize by the time I was your age, your mother had already had both of you.”
“Yeah, Dad, we know,” Justin said, frowning at him. “You aren’t saying this shit to Everett, are you?”
“I know your brother has his demons, and no, I haven’t said a word to him,” he said, waving his hand. “But what’s your excuse?”
“I’m working on it,” he said, grinning. Before six in the evening, his dad was actually fun to be around, and Justin could almost forgive him for all the late-night bar rescues.
“Well, hurry up. I’m not gonna live forever, you know.”
“I don’t know. I’ve heard orneriness is better than taking a vitamin a day.”
“Smart-ass,” his dad said. “All I ask is she isn’t a Democrat; I don’t care if she’s bowlegged with a squint, but if she’s a lefty, you’re fired.”
He laughed. “You have to pay me a wage to fire me. I look at this more as a partnership.”
“Well, partner, you bring home a good girl with the right way of thinking, and your old man can die a happy man.”
“Just for that, I’m
going to make sure she’s not just a Democrat but a vegetarian.”
His dad shook his head. “Well, as long as she makes you happy, I guess I could adjust.”
Chapter Eight
* * *
ON THURSDAY MORNING, after loading up her Chevy, Val looked from her sister’s innocent face to Gus’s wide, panting mouth. Crossing her arms, Val started to repeat the rules one more time, but Ellie made a sound of exasperation, cutting her off.
“God, I know, I know. Feed and water the dog, don’t have people over, especially men, and don’t have any fun. Will you just go?”
“For someone who owes me big-time, acting like a spoiled brat is probably not the best move,” Val said, reaching out to yank her sister’s hair.
“Ouch, you’re going to rip my hair out!”
Rolling her eyes, she hugged Ellie before she bent over to say good-bye to Gus. “You be good, and be sure to tell me if she doesn’t treat you nice.”
Gus’s massive jaws widened like he was smiling at her, and he snorted, reaching out a large paw. Patting his head, she walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in just as Ellie said something.
She stuck her head out of the door. “What did you say?”
“Nothing, just have fun!” Ellie hollered back.
Shrugging, Val started up the truck and pulled out onto the main road, still trying to find some silver lining to a weekend full of awkward blind dates. So far the clouds were looking pretty dark on the horizon.
THANKS TO A snowstorm slowing her down just outside Jackpot, Nevada, Val finally pulled off the highway at the True Love exit an hour later than she’d planned. She thought the name sounded ridiculous, but it wasn’t that strange for Nevada; they had Deeth Starr Valley, after all.
Val passed a few modular homes and trailers as she entered the main stretch of town. The business names had her smirking a little, making use of the word love, and nearly all of them were painted some shade of red.
Right past Love N’ Locks Beauty Shop was the True Love Inn. She parked in front of the office, grabbed her purse, and jumped out into the blistering cold. Even with a jacket and gloves, her nose and lips immediately lost all feeling.
Hurrying inside, she stood by the door and waited as the pretty woman behind the desk helped someone else.
“Well, I hope you enjoy yourself at least, and don’t write off finding someone special. My grandmother is the real deal,” the woman said before disappearing into the back.
Val fought the urge to snort as the guy took his keys and spun around.
Her gasp was loud and embarrassing. “Justin!”
“Valerie, what’s going on?” His grin gave her the distinct impression he wasn’t surprised to see her there. How would he have known, though? She hadn’t told anyone except . . .
Ellie. Val cursed her sister’s meddling. The last thing she wanted was for Justin to think she was desperate enough to need a setup. “Um, just doing a favor for my dad. What are you doing here?”
“There was a mix-up at the radio station and I ended up winning an all-expenses-paid weekend,” Justin said, waving his hand around, “to True Love. A place founded on their ability to match you with your perfect person.”
His mocking tone made her smile a bit. So she wasn’t the only one who thought the whole matchmaking thing was a load of bullshit. Still, if he had used his all-expenses-paid weekend as an excuse to bump into her, was that creepy? And if it was, why was she fighting a wave of giddiness?
“Uh-huh. It’s kind of a funny coincidence, bumping into you,” Val said as she stepped past him toward the counter. Her suspicions that she was being set up intensified when his eyes widened innocently.
“Is it? And here I was thinking my luck was so fantastic, I needed to buy a couple of scratch tickets.” He leaned against the counter next to her, his heat and proximity making her insides Zumba dance.
“Come on, did my sister put you up to this?”
“By ‘put me up to this,’ do you mean make it a point to tell me you’d be here?”
“Yes, that’s what I mean.”
“Then maybe.”
She rolled her eyes and turned away just as the desk clerk came back, looking between Justin and her with a curious smile on her face.
“Valerie Willis, checking in.”
The woman’s grin widened as she looked down at her computer. “Ah, yes, Ms. Willis. Driver’s license, and if you can fill out this paper.”
By the tone in her voice, Val assumed word of her angry phone call had made the rounds.
“So, why is your dad making you come down here and participate in a giant singles mixer?” Justin asked, stealing her attention away from the white slip of paper.
“He calls it good press. Guess he figures I need help finding a man,” she said, wishing she hadn’t answered him quite so candidly. “I don’t, though. Need help, I mean.”
Why are you stammering? Bending over the counter, she started filling in the blanks, hoping he couldn’t see the obvious blush warming her cheeks.
“If it makes you feel any better, I never thought you needed any help in that department,” he said, his voice dropping to a low whisper.
Val could feel the desk clerk’s eyes on her and whispered, “Stop it.”
“What? It’s a compliment.”
“You’re just messing around to get a rise out of me.”
“How is me being honest messing with you?”
“Because . . .” How did she not have a comeback to put him in his place? She always knew what to say. It was one of her strengths, but he had the ability to turn her into a stumbling, stuttering simpleton. “Because I said so.”
His chuckle was a deep rumble and her insides squeezed in on themselves causing a tingling between her thighs. Quickly, she handed the paper back to the desk clerk and turned to face Justin with what she hoped was a cold, hard stare.
“I don’t like to be made fun of.”
He seemed genuinely surprised as the desk clerk said, “All right, Miss Willis, here is your room key and your itinerary bag. I hope you enjoy your stay in True Love and that you have a blast at the festival.”
Val took the bag and key from the woman, resisting the urge to make a face. “Thank you.”
Spinning away from Justin, she walked back out to her truck, only to hear him exit behind her.
“Hey!” His hand circled her arm gently and he turned her toward him, but she lost her balance on the slick ground. Falling against him, her face buried in the puff of his jacket, she wondered if the fates were trying to pull some weird serendipity crap on her.
She tried to right herself, but he’d wrapped an arm around her waist and was using the other gloved hand to lift her chin, raising her gaze to meet his.
“I wasn’t making fun of you. I was being serious. You’re a beautiful woman. You just say the word and a dozen guys would line up to have you.”
Whether it was his tone or the expression on his face she didn’t know, but her mouth suddenly seemed too dry. Words failed her, but then, who needed words when a pair of warm lips were suddenly covering hers?
As Justin kissed her, his tongue pushing past her lips, she could only hold on tight as her body turned to molten lava and blood thundered in her ears.
Impatient honking and a loud voice yelling, “Hey, lovebirds, get a room,” broke through the drumbeat her heart was pounding out, and she whispered, “We shouldn’t do this.”
His lips touched hers lightly once more, and he whispered back, “You mean here or—”
The guy in the truck honked again, and Val pulled away. “I mean, I’m not here for . . . for that.”
Justin crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s too bad.”
Another blast of honking ensued, and Val shot the driver a nasty look and a worse gesture before turning away from Justin and reaching for her car door. Looking over her shoulder at him, she couldn’t stop from asking, “About the guys lined up . . .”
“Yeah
?”
“I take it you’re one of them?” She already knew the answer, but the small piece of her ego that had been smashed by Cole’s designer shoes needed to hear it aloud.
He stepped up and helped her into the car, grinning. “What do you think?”
She didn’t answer before she closed the door and started her truck.
Why did you have to ask him that?
Because she was a glutton for torture and punishment.
VAL PUSHED OPEN her hotel room door and walked inside, shutting it behind her. There was one bed, dark carpet, and dusty rose-painted walls—a color that belonged in a six-year-old girl’s room.
“Classy,” she said out loud, setting down her bags and flipping on the lights. Looking off to the side, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and noted the swollen, just-been-kissed lips.
When she’d started unloading her bags, Justin had been nowhere in sight, which was probably for the best. It was the second time in a week that Justin Silverton had thought he could haul off and kiss her. Was she giving off some kind of please-kiss-me vibe? For a woman who’d sworn off men, she sure had a hard time saying no to one of them.
And he’s not exactly what Dad would call suitable.
Like she really gave a rip what her dad thought anymore. If she wanted to date Justin, she would, but she didn’t want anyone. It didn’t matter that he could turn her to mush with a word; he was probably the type of guy who thought men worked and women stayed home with the children. And even if she could have kids, she wasn’t the type of girl to sit back and let her man handle everything. Which had been just one more failure Cole had held against her.
Between Cole and her dad, she had enough man issues to last fifty years or more. When Cole had objected to something she’d done, she’d pretty much told him to screw himself, but with her dad it had been different; she used to apologize again and again for the smallest infractions and more often for the bigger ones. It was only in the last year and a half that she’d really laid down the law with him.
