The Bluff (Love Stories in Sheet Cake, Texas, #2)

by Emma St. Clair

Winchester Boyd is a hangnail on my soul. The current bane of my existence. And as of today at nine a.m., my employee.

Winnie says nothing, and I continue pretending she isn’t there, even as every cell in my body seems to have swung her way like tiny, malfunctioning satellites. Being around her is like being massaged with rough-grit sandpaper.

My attraction to her is a reflex, one I plan to eradicate. So far, it’s like trying to stop myself from sneezing. Any day now, the things I dislike about her will sour the attraction. Any. Day. Now.

I take a deep breath and do what I do best when nervous or upset. I don my snarky armor and pick up my sarcasm sword. Just like I did earlier today when I made a fool out of myself in front of James.

Something about her sets off a series of connected reactions in me, spanning the distance from anger to attraction. Turns out, those two are closer in proximity to one another than I ever thought.

“I slept with James.” “What?!” Lindy’s screech is ear-splitting and makes me realize what I’ve said or more how it sounds. “Like, in a bed.” “Winnie! I don’t need details!” I slap a hand to my forehead. “No! I’m not saying this right. What I mean is we slept in the same bed. Just for the sleeping. Not the sexing.” Hi. I’m Winnie. I’m twenty-eight, and I just referred to sex as The Sexing. I need more sleep or more coffee. Maybe more of both.

The problem is: no still is my favorite word. And now there are two people in the world, in this little town even, I can’t seem to say it to. One is pint-sized and can school me in chess. The other has a sassy mouth, inked skin, and her hand wrapped around my heart.

“We see you, James. But sometimes we forget that you need help because you’re so capable. I never meant for you to carry so much, son. It isn’t your burden to carry alone. It never was.”

“Not that I have tons of experience in this department, but I’m pretty sure you can’t have a relationship without hurting someone. Or being hurt. I think that’s what happens when two imperfect people are in a relationship.”

Okay, this is entirely too much. The cat. The proximity. The words—oh my gosh, who knew when James decided to use more than one-syllable words it would be so devastating?