Delicate Promises (Southern Bride 2)

“I’m on a deer lease right outside of town. We’re here ready to shoot us some whitetail.”

I smiled. The guy had dark hair and warm chocolate eyes. The kind a girl could get lost in. If only I wanted to get lost in them.

“Girls’ night out, huh?” the stranger asked.

“My best friend Heather had a vision that she was going to meet the one tonight and dragged me out with her.”

He smiled, and I found that I liked his smile. Maybe all I needed was one night of meaningless sex. A way to get Miles out of my head and give my poor neglected body a reprieve from the hell of the last three years or so. I missed a man’s touch. The feel of a body moving over mine, bringing out pleasure that my vibrator just couldn’t manage.

“What about you, what are you looking for?” he asked.

Cheesy line, but he was cute, so I’d let it slip. “Your name would be a great place to start.”

His laugh made him even sexier. Not Miles-level sexy, but sexy, nonetheless. “Steve.”

“Steve,” I repeated slowly. My father’s name. No way in hell I could sleep with a guy and call out my dad’s name. Fabulous. Wonder if he wouldn’t mind going by his middle name?

My phone vibrated again, and I sighed. It was hard not to think of Miles. He’d been calling me damn near non-stop for the last couple of days. Somehow, I’d managed to avoid him at the store. Keeping myself locked in my office or working from home had allowed me to avoid and ignore.

“Someone wants to get a hold of you,” Steve-not-my-dad said.

I reached my hand across the table. “Kynslee is my name. It’s a pleasure meeting you.”

His eyes turned slightly dark at the hint of seduction in my voice. If Heather was going to hook up with this guy’s best friend tonight, then I was going to jump in on that action. It was perfect. They weren’t local, I would maybe run into them once or twice during hunting season, but not likely if they kept to the ranch they leased out. I could have a night of pure fun and then not feel the pressure of something more.

“You, too, Kynslee. I like that name. It’s beautiful.”

“Sounds beautiful coming from your lips.”

Steve’s smile grew bigger. Sweet Jesus, tonight I was going to get lucky and finally be able to push Miles from my thoughts.

“So, do you have a middle name?” I asked. Steve laughed like I was kidding, then looked at me seriously.

“Wait, you’re serious?”

“Yeah, my dad’s name is Steve.”

He laughed. But before he could tell me his middle name, I heard another voice. A very familiar voice. The very voice I’d been trying to rid my mind of by being here tonight.

“Well, well, fancy meeting you here.”

A thrill rushed through my entire body and heat filled my cheeks. Then came the anger. Cycle. Remember? Miles was about to cockblock me.

I lifted my eyes to find Miles standing there. My heartbeat picked up slightly. He was dressed in jeans, a button-up white shirt, his signature black cowboy hat, and favorite pair of cowboy boots. Miles glared at Steve and reached out for his hand.

“Miles Warner, nice to meet you. Not sure if Kynslee told you but we are dating.”

I nearly fell out of the seat. I thought Steve was going to run for the exit. Instead, he adjusted in his seat and looked at me, one brow raised.

“Okay, well, I didn’t see that coming. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve, um, got to use the restroom. It was nice meeting you.”

Steve gave Miles a quick nod before practically sprinting across the bar. With a sigh, I leaned back in the chair and folded my arms over my chest.

“What in the hell was that about?” I snapped.

“You didn’t deny we were dating when I told Mrs. Whitaker, so I took that as a sign that we were dating. I’m pretty sure it would be frowned upon if you were screwing some stranger when you’ve promised yourself to another man.”

I wanted to stand up and kill him. Instead, I closed my eyes and told myself life in prison would probably really upset my parents. I smiled by best smile and looked up at Miles.

“Well, you didn’t seem too concerned about talking, or I would have thought you’d come over. You know, so we could talk.”

“If you would answer my phone calls, you’d have known Bob needed help because Lana ended up getting a fever from an infection. That’s why I wasn’t able to make my way over to your place. And I would have gone after you when you left The Mercantile, but your father laid into me about how he was tired of me hurting his daughter and that I needed to let you go if I had ever cared about you.”