A Cowboy in Manhattan(68)
“Maybe you should go back to Texas.”
The waitress arrived and Danielle ordered two vodka martinis. Katrina had never tried one, but today she was game.
“Don’t think I haven’t thought about it,” said Danielle.
Katrina heaved an empathetic sigh. “But you’d end up with regrets either way.”
“Afraid so.”
“It’s not fair. It’s just not fair.” If Katrina hadn’t slept with Reed, she’d be just like Danielle, wondering what she’d missed. At least she had those few nights. At least she’d lost her virginity to a man she—
Oh, no.
The waitress set down the martinis, and Katrina grabbed one, downing a healthy swallow.
Her throat burned, and she gasped and coughed and wheezed.
“You okay?” Danielle asked, while the waitress frowned.
“Fine,” Katrina managed. The warmth of the alcohol spreading though her veins felt good. “Just fine,” she finished.
Danielle thanked the waitress, and the woman left.
“So, how does Reed feel about you?”
The question struck Katrina as odd. But then the entire conversation was odd. She shrugged. “Angry. Very, very angry.”
For some reason, the answer seemed to surprise Danielle. “You fought?”
“And how. I told him to leave New York City, and basically never to come back again.”
“Ouch.”
“It’s for the best.” Katrina nodded, ordering herself to believe it. She took another experimental sip of the martini, and it went down better this time.
“Do you think he’ll come back anyway?” Danielle asked softly.
Katrina shook her head, long and slow, lifting her glass.
“Do you think he might have fallen in love with you?”
The drink sloshed over Katrina’s hand. “What?”
Danielle shrugged. “It’s a possibility.”
“It’s preposterous,” Katrina blurted.
“He tried to talk you out of sleeping with him.”
“That’s because he’s a gentleman, a cowboy.”
“My cowboy tried to talk me into sleeping with him.”
“Yours is from Texas.”
A funny expression crossed Danielle’s face.
“Reed knew all along it would turn out badly for us if we slept together,” Katrina continued. “He’s had relationships end before. He’s had experience with ex-lovers.”
“And you haven’t?”
Katrina immediately realized what she’d given away. “Haven’t what?” She played dumb.
But Danielle was too shrewd to let it go. “Had experience with ex-lovers.”
Katrina didn’t answer, but her face heated up again.
Danielle closed her eyes for a long second. Then she opened them. “Katrina, is there any chance you’ve fallen in love with Reed?”
Katrina’s stomach turned to a block of lead. “No,” she intoned. “Never. Not a chance.” What kind of a colossal disaster would that be? She downed the rest of the martini. “But I will have another one of these.”
“You should call Mandy.”
“Why?”
“To talk to her about this.”
Katrina dismissed the notion. “I really don’t know Mandy that well.”
“She’s your sister.”
“We’re not close.”
“Well, if I had a sister, and if she was as nice as Mandy, and if I was feeling the way you are, I’d be calling her in a heartbeat.”
Katrina felt as if she were listening through cotton wool. “Say again?”
“Call Mandy, Katrina.”
“Maybe.” But what would she tell her? What could she say? That she was in way too deep with Mandy’s soon-to-be brother-in-law, and that she could never come home again?
Ten
Back home on his ranch, Reed knew he had to forget about Katrina. He had to restart his regular life and put the surreal week in New York City far behind him.
Starting right now.
But as he stared at the barbecue grill on the back deck, he couldn’t seem to rouse himself to light it. Instead, while the sun descended, he lifted the half-empty bottle of beer from the table next to him and took a desultory sip of the tepid liquid.