Honor toyed with her coffee cup, watching her best friend peel the wrapper from her cupcake, while Roxanna poured steaming water over a tea bag in her mug and reached for a honey stick. Mae was still working her remodel job a few blocks away, and she’d taken to popping in for a coffee break when Honor brought fresh cupcakes each morning.
Mae and Roxanna had clicked right away, while Honor and the psychic had moved from toleration to tentative friendship.
Her best friend’s revealing comment about her having never been with a guy this long exposed her worries in one succinct sentence, and she found herself revealing, “He asked me to go to Wyoming with him next week.”
The brunette store owner paused mid-reach for a spoon. “He did?”
She nodded, her stomach tightening at the surprise in Roxanna’s voice. “The first time he asked, he joked about me skydiving with him, so I didn’t think much of it.”
Mae jerked her attention up from the treat in her hand, her blond hair swaying about her shoulders. “You? Jump out of a plane?”
Honor laughed at her wide eyes and arched brows. “I know. I told him it was never gonna happen.” Spending three weeks with him was the riskiest thing she’d done in years. Or ever. “But this morning, he suggested I still come with since I haven’t filled the cancellation for the last weekend in June.”
Mae licked white chocolate frosting swirled with raspberry from her finger. “Are you going to go?”
Her stomach clenched again, knotted in an unsettling combination of anticipation and anxiety. “I’m not sure. I want to go, but I’m a little scared it’ll ruin everything.”
More like a lot scared.
Roxanna sat down with her mug. “How would it ruin everything?”
Indecision held her tongue. Much as she wanted her input, there was the whole best friends factor. What if Asher ended up hearing all about this little chat-fest?
“I wouldn’t betray your trust, Honor. I promise, whatever you say is between us.”
She scraped her thumbnail up and down the seam of her cup while the psychic stirred her tea. “I’m afraid he’ll read too much into it.”
In fact, Roxanna’s earlier surprise was a perfect indication the concern had merit. If the invite wasn’t standard operating procedure for him, then maybe it was as big a deal for him as it was her.
He was an amazing guy—and the sex was equally so. But in the back of her mind was the ever-present nagging reminder of the psychic’s warning the night of his parents’ anniversary party. Asher believed in love, and all the stuff they were doing together pointed to him settling in for the long haul. She’d never let herself get in too deep before and couldn’t help worrying about allowing herself to now.
“Maybe you’re reading too much into it,” Mae said.
“Really?” She frowned at her friend. “You think so?”
“It’s just a couple days away, right?”
“Yes, but you’re the one who said it was getting serious.”
“Forget that.” She waved her free hand and then tucked her blond hair behind her ear. “Forget serious. Put it all out of your head and just relax and have fun. Take your own advice, you know?”
“I am having fun.” More so than she ever had with someone before. But it was hard to put it out of her head when even that made her nervous. She kept expecting the feeling to go away, or at least fade, but each time she saw him, her pulse still leapt like the first time she’d spotted him at his friends’ wedding almost six weeks earlier.
“When you think about it,” Mae continued, “maybe this has been the longest relationship you’ve ever had, but in guy-time, you two have been together for like two minutes.”
Together. Relationship. Hard to forget serious with those other two words added to the mix.
Roxanna arched an eyebrow. “Guy time?”
“Yeah. A month or so in, most guys are stuck in the having fun-slash-hanging out phase.”
Honor cocked her head. “And you’re basing this off of what, Miss I Haven’t Had Sex in Six Years?”
“Hey—you don’t say that out loud.” She looked around, but the closest customer was at the front of the store.
Roxanna pantomimed zipping her lips shut and tossing the key over her shoulder. Honor flipped her palms skyward. “It’s a fair question.”
Mae made a face before answering. “Jen and Becca each waited over three years for their engagement rings. It took my brothers five and seven years to propose. And what about the guys you consult for proposals? Are they promising ‘til death do us part after barely a month?”