Luna paused. “He told me he lived—”
“Off Battleground and Lynn Drive?”
She swallowed hard. “That’s not where he lives?”
“It’s where he lived four years ago before he was evicted.”
Luna sniffled. “How could I have been so stupid?”
I placed my hands on her shoulders. “It’s not your fault. Men like him are very good at getting women to turn their heads his way. It’s just what they do.”
She shook her head. “I should’ve been smarter than that. I’ve always been smarter than that.”
Andrew handed the cell phone back to his co-worker. “Chances are he’s already found another campground to hang out in, so we’ll go searching around. He usually never travels far, so we’ll catch up to him sooner or later.”
Luna sighed. “At least you know who the guy is. That makes me feel better.”
I clicked my tongue. “Well, it doesn’t make me feel better.”
The more we talked with Andrew, the more this “fake boyfriend” scheme seemed to make sense. I mean, the two of us worked together anyway, so it wouldn’t be too hard to convince someone that we were together since we spent hours of our days together in the first place. If I could get Luna to agree to it, then it wouldn’t be hard to fake, either. I already liked her. I already thought she was fantastic. But, in the end, it all came down to her.
And whether or not she felt she’d have to fake too much in order to paint a believable picture.
10
Luna
Everything felt like such a whirlwind. One second, I was headed home to get changed for a nice dinner outing, and the next second, I was standing in front of Willow and Bryce’s place with bags at my feet.
And when I looked over at the person rubbing my back, I found Bart looking down at me with a soft smile. “There you are. I was wondering when you’d come back to earth.”
I blinked. “What’s going on?”
He cocked his head. “Do you remember agreeing to stay with Willow and Bryce for the night?”
Willow took my hand. “We’ve got the guesthouse all nice and set up for you.”
Bryce nodded. “And the guest bedroom is ready upstairs if you’d rather stay in the main house.”
I looked around and saw Sadie here, too. Will stood behind her with concern in his eyes, and suddenly, the weight of the world crashed against my chest. I drew in deep breaths through my nose, trying to calm myself as much as possible. It was hard, though.
“I’m sorry. I don’t—remember much after the police left,” I said softly.
Bart chuckled. “So, I take it you don’t remember me agreeing to stay with you, then.”
My eyes whipped up to his. “What?”
“In the guesthouse out back? I told you that if you were going to stay out there, then I’d stay with you so you wouldn’t be alone. And you insisted on staying in the guesthouse so you wouldn’t—”
“Be a burden,” I whispered.
Sadie gripped my shoulder. “You can also come to stay with us. We don’t have as much room as Willow and Bryce do here, but what room we have, you’re more than welcome to it.”
I shook my head. “No, no, no. The guesthouse is fine. I—thank you.”
Willow snickered. “Girl, you don’t have to thank us for shit.”
Will walked off the porch. “Your bags still in the truck, Bart?”
I turned around. “Bart doesn’t have to stay with me. I promise I’ll be fine.”
Bart’s voice sounded in my ear. “Not a chance. If you stay in that guesthouse, I’m staying with you. And I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer.”
I was much too tired to fight with him, so I threw in the towel. Will hoisted both of Bart’s bags from the bed of his truck as Willow and Bryce gathered mine from my feet. And while I knew my father wouldn’t be happy about an arrangement like this at all, especially since I could just go stay with him and his twenty-seven million guns, the idea of being around Bart comforted me.
I felt safe with him.
We all walked around back, and our bags were plopped in the middle of the guesthouse living room. Sadie walked into the kitchen and started making coffee while Will got on his phone and ordered us all food from the best steakhouse in town. I walked over to the bay window at the far end of the living room and sat down on the cushion, gazing out at the horses across the way as they freely grazed and danced around.
I was envious of their freedom.
“Luna?”
I jumped at the sound of Bart’s voice. “Holy shit, you scared me.”
His face grew concerned. “Which is why I want to stay. You can’t be this jumpy and expect to get sleep or be productive.”
I swallowed hard. “I know. I know. I just…”
He grinned. “You’re used to being the caretaker.”
I nodded slowly. “Instead of being taken care of, yes.”
“Well, if you want, I can leave my clothes strewn everywhere and expect you to do the dishes every day.”
I snickered. “If I wanted that, I’d just get married.”
“Hey, now! I only leave my socks lying around,” Will said.
“And your nasty-ass boxers!” Sadie exclaimed.
I barked with laughter as Willow brought me a mug of coffee, and I was thankful for the warm feeling it brought to my numb hands.
“Thanks,” I said.
She smiled. “Of course. You want to sit?”
I sipped my coffee. “I’m too anxious to sit.”
Will walked over. “Food will be here in about an hour. You guys want to eat here, or in the main house?”
Bart looked down at me. “Luna? Where would you prefer to eat?”
I peered back out the window. “Why don’t we all eat by the pool?”
Sadie giggled. “We can make it a pool party!”
Willow clapped her hands. “I’ve got a new bikini I’ve wanted to try out.”
Bryce grinned. “Lucky me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Willow, can I—?”
She grabbed my hand. “Borrow a swimsuit? Girl, of course, you can. Come on. I’ve got a yellow two-piece with gold trim that’ll look great against your skin.”
The dinner pool party was a rousing success, but I really wasn’t hungry. I pushed my food around in the to-go tray and took a few bites, but I couldn’t focus my mind enough to eat. Willow forced me to get into the pool for a bit before I dangled my feet in the hot tub with Sadie. And as the guys splashed us with cannonballs and soaked our towels, my mind kept swirling in all sorts of directions.
Until I looked up and saw everyone was gone.
Bart sat next to me on the edge of the hot tub. “You zoned out again on us.”
I sighed. “I’m so sorry. I just—”
He took my hand. “You have nothing to apologize for. Though, I’m going to make you eat a little more before you head to bed.”
I snickered. “If I had a nickel for how many times I’ve said that to people before.”
He squeezed my hand. “How are you feeling?”