later, he had left for the California offices of Lassiter Media where he had stayed for the past nine months. Now he was back for the wedding and to smooth out some local Lassiter Media business and Kayla really didn’t want to see him again. Well, she did, but she didn’t.
It was all very complex.
But she couldn’t very well say any of that to Angie. “He’s just not my favorite person, okay?”
“I’m getting that. But the wedding’s two weeks away now so can you just pretend you don’t hate his guts for now?” Angie lifted her coffee cup in a salute. “Once Evan and I are off on our honeymoon, Matt will go back to the L.A. office and you two can return to avoiding each other, okay?”
“I didn’t say I hate his guts,” Kayla muttered. This would be so much easier if she did hate him.
Instead, like a complete crazy person, she still wanted him. In spite of everything—including the fact that after their one unbelievable night together there had been...nothing. He hadn’t called. Probably hadn’t given her a second thought. Oh, she had known that he would be moving to California, but he hadn’t even bothered to say thanks for the good time. And now he was back. However briefly. For the sake of her pride, she was going to have to pretend that nothing had happened between them.
Oh, the next couple of weeks were going to be so much fun!
“Enough about Matt,” Kayla said abruptly, not wanting to give him any more of her time. “What’s going on with you and Evan?”
Angie shrugged. “Wedding stuff. You know. Counting down to the big day, so we’re both really busy.” She checked the slim, gold watch on her wrist, took a quick, last sip of coffee and set the cup down. “Evan’s great. We’re great. Look, I’m sorry, sweetie, but I have to run. I’ve got a meeting in twenty minutes and if I don’t leave now, I’ll be late.”
Frowning slightly, Kayla said, “Okay, sure. Are you still coming to the showing tonight?”
“Wouldn’t miss it. I know you’ve been working for weeks to set this up.” Angelica slid out of the booth, grabbed her brown leather bag and smiled. “We’ll be there. All of us.”
Kayla went still. “All?”
Angie winked at her. “Me, Evan and Matt.”
Kayla’s stomach did a quick, discomfiting twist that she really didn’t want to think about. “Why are you punishing me?”
“Because it’s so much fun!” Angie grinned and added, “Besides, after the showing, Evan wants to go and listen to a new band he heard about for the reception.”
“I thought you already chose the band.”
“I did.” Angie wrinkled her nose. “Evan wants something different.”
“Getting kind of last minute, isn’t it?”
“Really feels that way.” She checked her watch again and started walking. “Gotta go. See you later.”
Kayla watched her friend hurry from the diner and couldn’t help thinking that more and more often lately, her lunches with Angie were cut short by business. Angie had always been the heir apparent to Lassiter Media and had devoted herself to helping the company grow and expand. But ever since her father J.D. Lassiter’s health had taken a serious downturn a few months ago, Angie’s devotion had pretty much taken over her life. She’d been splitting her time between Cheyenne and the L.A. office for years, but lately, she’d spent more time in Wyoming in order to be closer to her father—along with putting the finishing touches on her wedding. In fact, Kayla thought, Angie was just too busy.
Not that Kayla had an issue with a woman loving her career or being good at it. She herself loved every minute of managing the gallery. But it seemed that lately Angie was letting her life slide by unnoticed. Heck, she and Evan were hardly ever together anymore and that worried Kayla. It worried her even more that Angie wasn’t worried about it. Used to be that Angie and Evan were inseparable, but those days had gone.
She didn’t want to see her friend lose the man she loved because she’d been seduced by her own success. Okay, not a very feminist attitude, but everyone was entitled to their own opinion, right?
Idly, she picked up her coffee, took another sip and stared out at downtown Cheyenne. The wind was howling, pedestrians were huddled into their coats and the sky looked ready to spill snow down onto a city that was more than ready for spring. But that was Wyoming weather for you. They could have snow clear into May and beyond.
“But oh, please don’t,” she murmured. Having to deal with Matt Hollis was more than enough. She didn’t need a blizzard on top of it.
Two
“You don’t need me with you to listen to the band,” Matt protested even while Evan laughed.
“This isn’t about the band,” Evan said after a minute or two. “You’ve been avoiding Kayla since you got back to Cheyenne.”
“Not avoiding, exactly,” Matt argued, stopping outside the art gallery where they were supposed to be meeting Angie and Kayla. He’d known that coming back to Wyoming meant seeing Kayla again. But he had planned to do it in his own time. And he hadn’t wanted anyone else around for this first meeting.
On the other hand, with Angelica and Evan both there, Kayla probably wouldn’t refuse to speak to him. Probably.
“I’ve been busy. Hell, you work for Lassiter Media, too,” Matt pointed out. “You know how crazy busy we are.”
“And yet,” his friend countered, “I manage to have a life.”
“Not so much lately, from what I’ve seen,” Matt mused, watching Evan’s expression. “You and Angie don’t get a lot of time together.”
Evan frowned a little. “She’s always been a fiend for work, but yeah. Since her dad’s health went bad, things have been more intense. And with us both spending more time in Cheyenne these days, she’s really focused.”
“And yet, you’re not giving her grief over it like you are me.”
Evan laughed and shook his head. “I don’t believe this.”
“What?” Matt asked. “What’re you talking about?”
“You’re actually stalling,” Evan said, clearly amazed. “I’ve never known you to back away from anything, but you really are leery about seeing Kayla again.” Shaking his head, he said, “Just what the hell happened between you two, anyway?”
Scowling, Matt shoved one hand through his hair and turned his face into the icy, gusting wind. “Long story and one I’m not interested in sharing, thanks.”
“Touchy.”
He glanced at Evan. “You have no idea.”
“You don’t have to like her, you know.” Evan hunched deeper into his black overcoat in an effort to fight off the chill of the wind. “Just be civil.”
Civil.
Matt swallowed the bark of sardonic laughter crowding the base of his throat. He wasn’t going to have trouble being civil to Kayla. The hard part was going to be keeping his hands off her.
For the past nine months, Matt had been in California, running the marketing division of Lassiter Media. He’d taken the promotion and the move to L.A. and considered it a plus that he could put some distance between himself and Kayla so that he could think clearly. If he’d stayed in Cheyenne, he never would have been able to sort out what he was thinking...feeling.
Kayla had blindsided him, plain and simple. There had been chemistry between them from the first and the one night they’d spent together had jolted him right down to his bones. Never before nor since Kayla had he experienced what he had that one spectacular night. She had turned his world inside out and rattled him enough