Tough Luck Hero

“So are you.”

“No, I just don’t think she’s my problem anymore. That woman is a project. And I did my very best to make her happy.”

Lydia should not feel at all like she had to defend her friend. Natalie had abandoned Colton at the altar. Not only that, the relationship between the two of them had been borderline toxic during the planning of the wedding. The only reason that Lydia had continued to be involved was for appearances. Which was what her entire life was beginning to feel like it came down to.

Still, Natalie had been the first friend she had made in Copper Ridge. And things might have been rocky in the ensuing years, but she still didn’t think that Colton had a right to act like he had no stake in what had happened. Natalie cared more about appearances than Lydia did. Possibly more than Lydia and Colton combined.

“Right. You had nothing to do with her running out on the wedding.”

“I told you, I was totally shocked.”

“Totally. Completely. There were no indicators that things were perhaps not completely healthy?”

“I didn’t know. If I’d known I would not have submitted to standing up in front of the entire town with my dick in my hand.”

Heat flooded her face, which was stupid, because he was being crass on purpose, and not talking about his actual...that. Still, it forced her mind there. And that, in combination with the scent of the soap, was a little too real.

“Fine. I’m just saying. It’s clear to me the relationship wasn’t perfect. And I sincerely doubt that she’s the only one at fault here.”

“Oh, are you a relationship expert? Does that mean that this marriage is getting in the way of a close, intimate relationship you’re in?”

She shot him her deadliest glare. “Yes. The relationship I hold most dear. The one I share with my personal space.”

“Well, as the more experienced party, I’ll just say this. There is no justification for leaving someone at the altar.”

“Did you cheat on her?” She didn’t know what was driving her just now, why she wanted to push him. But then, that was kind of the story of her entire history with Colton. From the moment they had been introduced they had pushed each other’s buttons. And that didn’t happen to her. Everyone liked her. She was diplomatic by nature. It was one reason she was going into politics.

More than that, she just liked people.

But him, she didn’t like. She just hadn’t. Not from the first moment they had been introduced. They had been at Ace’s, and Natalie had been chomping at the bit to introduce Lydia to the man she had been dating for a couple of months. It was serious, according to Natalie, so it was time to see if he passed the friend test.

She could remember it clearly because she’d had such a visceral, intense reaction to the sight of him. Like a hand had wrapped itself around her spinal cord, squeezing hard, tension climbing up from that point and up to the base of her neck.

“This is my boyfriend, Colton West.” Natalie smiled like she was holding a winning lottery ticket.

Lydia knew the name Colton West. Everyone in Copper Ridge did. But she’d never met him before. And she hadn’t realized he was quite so good-looking.

Lydia stuck out her hand and he grasped it tightly. Immediate discomfort rolled over her like a wave and she let go of him, taking a step back.

“I’m Lydia,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

Her throat felt scratchy and dry and she felt uncertain. Insecure. She never felt uncertain or insecure.

The corners of his mouth had turned up slightly before flatlining again. “You too.”

She attempted conversation with him all night, only to have every topic killed after a couple of one word answers.

She wandered to the bar, hoping to get another diet soda, since she was driving. And after placing her order she turned and brushed right up against Colton West’s hard chest.

Something raced through her that felt a whole lot like an electric shock, and his already stoic expression turned to granite.

“Had too much to drink?”

“I never drink too much.”

“Then I guess you just need to be a little more careful.”

Anger spiked through her, canceling out that electrified feeling. “I’m always careful.” She didn’t need to be scolded, not by anyone.

“Except for now.”

“Maybe you should make sure you aren’t standing so close to people.”

He looked slightly stricken. “I wasn’t close to you.”

“Close enough for me to run into you when I turned around.” What was happening to her? She didn’t talk to people this way. She took a deep, calming breath. “For which I’m sorry.”

“Good.”

He brushed past her and went to the bar. And the two proceeded to ignore each other for the rest of the night.

He had been arrogant and impossible from the moment she’d met him.

Yes, she liked people. Most of them. Not so much him.

“No,” he said now, through gritted teeth, “I did not cheat on her.”

“I just think that...”

“I think that you should maybe acknowledge the fact that you don’t actually know very much about my relationship with Natalie. You know how she is about appearances. She kept you in her wedding when she was pretty angry with you.”

“That’s just somebody standing next to you at a wedding. You’re the person she was supposed to be married to for the rest of her life. So of course she would go through with keeping me in the wedding to minimize stress and gossip. I don’t think there’s an equivalent to the two.”

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter why she left.”

“It doesn’t? I feel like I would need to know why my fiancé ditched me at the altar. But to each his own.”

“Well, when you get ditched at the altar you can make that decision for yourself.”

She sputtered, and he ignored her indignant rage, moving over to the bed to zip the suitcase shut before picking it up, throwing it over his shoulder, then grabbing the duffel bag in what was definitely an over-the-top display of masculine strength.

“Are you ready?”

“I guess so.”

“Do you know where I live?”

It occurred to Lydia then that Natalie had never once invited her out to Colton’s. The two of them had lived together for the past eight months and yet she had never been to Colton’s house.