Page 21 of Winning His Wager
Fletcher opened his mouth to deny it. But then he stopped.
What would be the point? People were going to believe what they wanted, no matter what he said.
The woman was driving him insane.
12
“You are upset about something.Tell us what it is.”
Dylan turned. Right there beside the desk were two of her million sisters. Two who she knew almost better than she knew herself. Beautiful, identical faces watched her. “I am not upset about anything.”
“How is the big bossman today?” Devaney asked, giving her that smirk her sister had perfected years ago. It could be a bit annoying, that smirk. “He was looking rather fine when he walked you in tonight.”
“He didn’t walk me in. He came in to say hello toher.” Charlotte. But Charlotte wasn’t around, so Fletcher had told Dylan he was going home to eat and take care of a few things and would be back to get her before her shift ended. Which—she had about fifteen minutes until that happened. “It is late. Shouldn’t the two of you be in bed or doing homework or off on hot dates somewhere?”
She eyed Devaney—that girl had been seen walking around the inn with one Mr. Logen Hauffman lately. And, well, she wasn’t really ready to talk about Fletcher.
There had been something in the way he looked at her tonight. And even when he’d realized Charlotte wasn’t in the inn anywhere, he had been strangely reluctant to leave. She’d also told him she’d get a ride back—her uncle had been right there—but Fletcher insistedhewas coming back to get her.
“It’s not me who needs to explain herself. So spill. What is it like living with a man?” Devaney asked. “Inquiring minds want to know.”
“It’s like living with Dad. He’s a man.” Dylan knew she was deliberately avoiding the question Devaney was really asking. “I take care of the things inside the house, and he does all the ranch stuff. We only see each other a little bit.”
“Have you been arguing a lot? Has he been really mean?” Dahlia whispered.
“Not at all. Mostly, the man just works…and eats. He really likes to eat. I left him beef stew tonight.”
But Devaney was looking at her—her sister knew. Devaney had magic powers or something. She had always known when something was bothering Dylan.
But she didn’t know what it was that was bothering her—it had been something in the way he had looked at her tonight.
* * *
Fletcher had been off-kilterall night. Ever since the damned grocery store. His damned house had seemed so damned empty without her there. He’d wanted to see her, be with her, and that was just driving him insane.
The woman was going to be the end of him.
In more ways than one.
He parked in the private family parking lot. Most times, he used the front visitor’s, but since he was picking up one of the family, he wanted to be closer. He didn’t want her slipping on the ice either. Just like he would have picked up Dusty or Nikki at the inn.
There was a small crowd of people at the entrance when he stepped in.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Charlotte said, looking at him with a confused look. “What are you doing here so late? Dining room is closed.”
“I bet I know.” His sister snickered at him. “Looking for your housekeeper, dear bubba?”
“Yes, actually. She nearby?”
“We just got here,” Charlotte said. “We’re going to find food—I am starving—and then we are going to use the conference room. We have to find identical twins fast.”
“Identical twins who look enough like Perci and Pan and who can act and are willing to do it,” Rowland Bowles said. The man looked horrible. His assistant, Jenny, was standing next to him. She looked exhausted. They all did. “They seem to be mythical creatures.”
Fletcher just hugged Charlotte like he always did and nodded. He’d heard the story of what was going on from Nikki and Hunter a few days ago. Hunter looked just as stressed. “Any luck?”
“We need to replace four women. Two shouldn’t be much of a problem. But the twins, I had trouble finding actresses as it was.” Rowland was about ready to panic.
Jenny told him to calm his ass down. His panic and melodrama weren’t helping anyone. All in a sweet, melodic tone.