Tinsel (Lark Cove #4)(46)

At that exact moment, Sofia rounded the corner from the waiting room. “Oh, hey. Are you done? I was just going to find a vending machine for a soda.” She smiled at me then noticed Petah. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s fine.” Fuck. I waved Sofia over. “Sofia Kendrick, this is Petah Tatsey.”

“Hi.” Sofia stepped up and held out her hand. She stood so close to me that our elbows were touching.

Petah was sweet and soft-spoken, but she wasn’t oblivious. She noticed how easily Sofia had merged our personal bubbles. Her face fell as she shook Sofia’s hand. Then she looked up to me, her hopes shattering before my eyes. “Your coworker?”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. “Yes, we work together.”

The pain on her face was heartbreaking. I’d never brought another woman home. It had only ever been her. I hated what I was about to do, but I sucked it up, hoping it would hurt Petah in the now so she could heal in the long run.

So she’d stop waiting around for me.

I wrapped my arm around Sofia’s shoulder and pinned her to my side. Then I kissed her temple.

Sofia stiffened, not missing Petah’s sharp breath.

I swallowed down the disgust, holding tight to Sofia as Petah stared at us both for a long moment.

Then she did something that surprised me. She straightened her spine and forced a polite smile. “Nice to meet you, Sofia. Travel safely home.”

“Shit.” I let Sofia go as Petah turned on a heel and hurried down the hallway. “I need to get out of here.”

Sofia crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at my profile.

“Look, I—”

She didn’t wait for my explanation. She walked away from me too, right through the sliding doors and outside into the cold.

I caught up to her quickly, keeping pace as she marched through the parking lot to my truck.

Her arms were still crossed as she waited for me to unlock and open her door. She didn’t take my hand when I offered it to help her inside the cab.

Shutting the door on her side, I jogged around to the other and climbed in. The truck roared to life, the heat quickly chasing away the winter cold as we sat in the parking lot.

It didn’t do much to thaw out my passenger.

“Is that why you invited me along?” she asked. “Am I just the someone you needed to piss off your family?”

“No.”

“Then why did you shove me in that woman’s face? So I could break her heart?”

“I’m sorry.” I sighed. “That was my ex-girlfriend.”

“I figured that one out.”

“She needs to move on.”

“Then be a man and tell her to move on,” she snapped. “I’ve played every game in the book, Dakota. Every. Single. One. I’m done with that. If you need a pretty face at your side to send a message, find a different one.”

“I didn’t know she was going to be here.”

“Doesn’t matter,” she fired back.

“You’re right.”

She huffed and stared out her window. The air vents in the dash blew a loose strand of hair around her cheek.

“Sofia.” I reached for her hand, taking it off her lap. “I didn’t mean to use you. That’s not why I brought you today. I just wanted someone here who was on my side. But you’re right, I played a game with Petah. The end game. She’s gotta move on. Maybe now she will.”

Sofia blew out a long breath and laced her fingers with mine. “I guess . . . I guess it just surprised me. Besides, it’s probably better to make me the bad guy since I’m never coming back.”

“Right.”

The one woman I’d brought along to meet my family was leaving.

My family would probably be glad to know she’d be gone in three days.

But me? I wasn’t sure how I’d go back home and not wish she were by my side.





“This is it.” Dakota parked his truck on the street in front of the rental property.

“It’s nice.”

The duplex was older, but Dakota had updated it recently. The siding had been freshly painted a mushroom beige, the trim a clean white. And the black shutters matched the front door, giving it a dash of character.

One side of the property had a quiet, snow-covered lawn and a sidewalk that hadn’t been shoveled. The other side hadn’t been shoveled either, but a path had been worn into the snow with lots of footprints.

“Hang tight.” Dakota left the truck running as he opened the door. “Let me shovel.”

He hopped out, shutting the door quickly to keep in the heat, grabbed the snow shovel from the back and went to work clearing the walkway.

It had been three days since our trip to Dakota’s hometown. We’d worked those days at the bar and were going in late this afternoon to relieve Jackson for the night. For my last shift at the Lark Cove Bar. But first, we’d come up to Kalispell to check on one of his tenants.

Things had gone back to normal after we’d gotten home from the reservation. After the two-hour drive back to Lark Cove, I’d shrugged off my mood, determined to enjoy my time with Dakota, since it was about to come to an end.

Dakota hadn’t been kidding about the welcome I’d receive from his family—or the lack thereof. One death glare from his dad, and I’d regretted getting out of bed and making the trip.